Read Loonglow for Free Online Page A

out? Shit. I haven’t even seen it. Can you get some copies from sub rights and messenger her a few? And we should express-mail the Stud calendars to Bambi this afternoon.”
    â€œAlready done. She called yesterday in a snit demanding to speak to you. I told her she’d have them in her twisted little hands by noon today.”
    â€œAngel.”
    â€œDon’t start with me. I had a whole army of people yesterday who took your uncharacteristic absence very badly. Took it all out on me, in fact.”
    â€œI’ll never get a brain tumor again, I promise.”
    â€œAre you feeling better?” He hovered near her with genuine concern.
    An ashen taste filled Louey’s mouth as she recalled the feeling of waking up the previous day without Mia. Her stomach lurched; they might as well have broken up two days and not two years ago.
    â€œMust be feeling better,” she said. “How could I face another day with Daisy if I weren’t?”
    â€œOr a day without me?”
    â€œOr a day without you,” she agreed, patting him on the shoulder. “Well,” she sighed, “I suppose it’s time I made some actual phone calls.”
    â€œBe brave,” Kevin said, leaving her office. “Wake me when it’s over.”
    Tuesday Louey had spent the entire morning in bed, staring at the cracks in her ceiling and replaying the moment when Mia had turned around to face her, that easy, guiltless smile lighting her beautiful features and destroying whatever tenuous hold Louey had on sanity. The past two years she’d obviously been deluding herself; she was never going to get over Mia. Mia had been put on the planet specifically to pluck her from the world of the merely mortal and then let go to watch Louey plummet to the depths of hell. All in a day’s work, she supposed; no reason to let a small thing like permanent emotional paralysis get in the way of leading a rich, productive life.
    A hot shower would make her feel better, she knew, but she didn’t want to feel better. She wanted to stay in bed until someone had to send a squad car to make sure she hadn’t been brutally murdered. She wanted Mia to call now that she’d seen her and find her number out of service, for Mia to open the paper and see her picture under a grisly headline. Was that asking so much?
    Given the nature of the city, she realized, it was amazing that their paths hadn’t crossed before now. (Normally, brushes with her past were limited to those with whom she’d shared 3 a.m. cocktails or a junior high school softball association, it was true.) Still, it was sadly appropriate that the first time she’d seen Mia since being deposited on her nose in the rubble would be on the subway. Just her luck to have such an opportunity for a long, soulful reconciliation.
    After the bulk of the day had slipped by, Louey hauled herself out of bed and went to make some tea. On a whim, she added a good helping of the rum she kept for guests. The sting was comforting. A stray memory of the first time she’d ever seen Mia wafted into her head, and she choked on a scalding gulp of her drink. A fit of coughing dissolved into sudden tears.
    Pathetic: sobbing into her tea. Who was responsible for this behavior? No one she knew. Still, she had an idea when it would stop: when Mia called to tell her that seeing Louey had made her realize she’d been insane to toss aside the best thing life had thrown her way. No doubt she would put Louey on retainer just to be her girlfriend, and Louey could quit her job for good. Louey could see it now: Mia would put on a tiny maid’s costume and clean Louey’s house every week. She’d beg to do Louey’s taxes. Who was Louey to say no?
    Pouring another shot, she put on a Billie Holiday album. Billie was such a cheery entertainer, she never failed to provoke hilarity. Perhaps I should take control of my life, she mentioned to Billie. She could