MEANWHILE, AS I BECOME MORE AND MORE ABSORBED WITH the campaign, trying to wrap it all up before my contract with $isi is officially up, Gloria decides to say that she’s pregnant. She refuses to take the test to prove it, yet insists on an imaginary bulge in her belly. I try not to show my anxiety. Once, I scream into a pillow like a crazy lady in a movie. I want to remind Gloria that she’s past forty, but I know that would be insensitive of me, so I keep quiet and pent up. Then, when Gloria gets her period, I try not to show my relief. To celebrate, I go out that evening all by myself and pay a stripper to not rub against my new Paul Smith suit while I stare at her t**s for the duration of two songs.
The stripper reminds me of Dolores – she is small and much prettier, but she is a mouth-
