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she said. "Yum yum." It was supposed to be a joke but, like Frank, Elsie was incapable of obscuring her motive with words.
      "That's right," I said, pulling open the cabinet door. Suddenly I felt that tingling in my temples again. It made my hand twitch. I looked back over my shoulder, half expecting to see that woman. There was only Elsie.
      "You should have told me," she minced. "I'd have put on something more-appropriate."
      I swallowed and took down the glasses. I had the very definite inclination to tell her to get out of the house. I didn't know why. There was just something about her that disturbed me. And it wasn't the obvious thing either.
      "How long are they going to be gone?" Elsie asked.
      I turned with the glasses.
      "Why do you ask?" I made the mistake of smiling as I said it.
      To Elsie it probably looked as if I slipped at that moment. I didn't. I reeled as a wave of raw sensation hit me. I caught for balance at the sink and managed to catch myself without breaking a glass.
      "No reason," she said, obviously taking my slip for a form of fluster. "Why? Should I have?"
      I stood there looking at her. She wasn't smiling. She stood there without moving, one hand on the out-jutting curve of a hip. I noticed the line of dewy sweat across her upper lip and how the sunlight behind her was shining through the golden aura of hair along the edges of her shoulders, arms and neck.
      "Guess not." I walked over and handed her the glasses. I don't know whether it was an accident that our hands touched. I jerked mine away a little too quickly to hide it.
      "What's the matter, Tom?" she asked with the tone of voice used by a woman who is convinced she's irresistible.
      "Nothing," I said.
      "You're blushing!"
      I knew I wasn't; and realized that it was a trick she used to fluster the men she flirted with.
      "Am I?" I said coldly. That desire was thrusting itself through me; the desire to push her violently from the house.
      "Yes," she said. "I'm not embarrassing you in this suit, am I?"
      "Not at all," I said. I felt physically ill standing so close to her. She seemed to radiate something that wrenched my insides. I turned to the door and opened it. "I have a little headache, that's all," I explained. "I was just about to lie down."
    "Oh-h." The sympathy was false too; I felt it. "You lie down then. Lying down can help a lot-of things." She finished as if it were an afterthought.
      "Yes. I will."
      "I'll bring the glasses back tonight," she said.
      "No hurry," I answered. I wanted to scream into her face- Will you get the hell out of here! Repressing it made me shiver.
      "That was quite a party we had last night," said Elsie. Her voice seemed to come from a distance. I couldn't see her face distinctly.
      "Yes," I managed to say, "very interesting."
      "You really knew what you were doing, though, didn't you?" she told me.
      I nodded quickly, willing to say anything to get her out. "Yes. Of course."
      "I knew it," she said, satisfied. I closed the door halfway. "Well." Elsie took a deep breath and the bathing suit swelled in front. "Thanks for the glasses," she said as if she were thanking me for something else.
      I closed the door behind her and gasped dizzily.
    "Get in that backyard!" Elsie screamed.
      I jumped so sharply I banged my knee against the door. As I bent over, rubbing it, I heard Candy outside in the alley, whining.
      When Elsie was gone I sank down at the table and closed my eyes. I felt as if I'd just climbed out of a well. I tried to tell myself it was only imagination but that didn't work. Mind ran second again, poor competition for my emotions. I felt dazed and weakened. On the surface that was senseless. Elsie was quite ordinary, not very attractive. She'd never bothered me before. I'd always felt slightly amused by her antics.
      I wasn't amused now. I almost felt afraid of her.
     
      And, no matter how I went about it,