Read Tales of the City 06 - Sure of You for Free Online Page B

“He does. It isn’t easy being married to Mary Ann Singleton.”
    He blinked at her for a moment, then asked: “When did you start seeing him?”
    “Oh…a year or so after you left.” Make that a week, she told herself. No, make it four days. She remembered all too well the weepy night she had headed up to Brian’s room with a joint of Maui Wowie and a bottle of rotgut Chianti. He’d been dating Mona Ramsey at the time, but he’d been ready and willing to offer consolation.
    How odd it was to sit here now with the man who had caused her all that pain and feel nothing but a sort of pleasant sense of shared history. She could scarcely remember their passion, much less reconstitute it for a moment’s titillation.
    “How’s Mrs. Madrigal?” he asked.
    “She’s O.K., I guess. I saw her down at Molinari’s a month or so ago.” She smiled and shook her head. “Just as dear and loony as ever.”
    Burke smiled back.
    “Brian and I moved out of the house after we got Shawna. It had a certain funky charm, I guess, but it wasn’t much of a place to raise a kid.”
    “What about Michael and…Jon, was it?”
    She nodded solemnly. “Jon died of AIDS in ’82.”
    “Damn.”
    “I know.”
    “Is Michael O.K.?”
    Another nod. “He’s got the virus, but so far he’s been fine.”
    “Good. Thank God.”
    “He has a new boyfriend,” she told him. “They bought a house in the Castro.”
    “What does Michael do now?”
    “He runs a nursery out on Clement.”
    “No kidding?”
    “Yeah. He and Brian run it together, actually.”
    He seemed to like this idea. “All in the family, huh?”
    “Yeah.”
    He nodded slowly, absorbing their lost decade with a look of sanguine acceptance. “You look great,” he said finally.
    Fine, she thought, but isn’t this where we came in?

    This particular waiter knew she didn’t like a chatty presentation, so their tuna arrived without fanfare. Burke took a few bites and said: “I’m producing now. For Teleplex. Did you know that?”
    “Sure,” she said. “Doesn’t everybody?”
    He chuckled. “No way.”
    “Well, I do.”
    He focused on his plate as he composed his words. “I’m developing a new morning talk show. Out of New York. We think there’s a real market for something more home-oriented and…more intelligent than what’s currently being offered.”
    “You got that right. People have had it with this tabloid shit. There’s bound to be a backlash.”
    “I think so,” he said, still addressing his tuna. “I think we can make it happen, in fact. We’ve got the backing, frankly, and some very real interest from the networks. What we need now is the right host. Someone who knows how to chat with, say, Gore Vidal and yet still be lively in a kitchen segment.”
    Mary Ann’s fork froze in mid-descent. Don’t, she warned herself, jump to any hasty conclusions. Maybe he just wants your advice. Maybe he…
    “What do you think?” His eyes met hers at last.
    “About what?”
    “Doing it.”
    She set the fork down and waited for a count of three. “Me?”
    “Yes.”
    “As host?”
    “Yes.”
    It took all the discipline at her command to conceal her excitement. “Burke…I’m tremendously flattered…”
    “But?”
    “Well, for starters, I have my own show.”
    “Right. Local.”
    Stung, she composed herself, then said coolly: “This is one of the most sought-after markets in the country.”
    He gave her a patient smile. “I know you know the difference.”
    “Well, maybe so, but…”
    “And I think you’ll find the money is a whole lot better.”
    “That isn’t the point,” she said calmly.
    “Well, what is? Tell me what I have to do?”
    He was practically begging. God, how she loved this. “I have a home here, Burke, a family.”
    “And they wouldn’t want to move?”
    “That’s part of it, yes.”
    “O.K.” He made a little gesture of concession with his hands. “What’s the other part?”
    “When have you even seen me,