XXI
Rosemary had another dinner date, a birthday party for a member of the company. d**k ran into Collis Clay in the lobby, but he wanted to dine alone, and pretended an engagement at the Excelsior. He drank a cocktail with Collis and his vague dissatisfaction crystallized as impatience, he no longer had an excuse for playing truant to the clinic. This was less an infatuation than a romantic memory. Nicole was his girl, too often he was sick at heart about her, yet she was his girl. Time with Rosemary was self-indulgence, time with Collis was nothing plus nothing.
In the doorway of the Excelsior he ran into Baby Warren. Her large beautiful eyes, looking precisely like marbles, stared at him with surprise and curiosity. ‘I thought you were in America, d**k! Is Nicole with you?’
‘I came b
