“I’m sorry, I know you told me not to but I couldn’t…” She looked away again. I gave up and put them in her purse, along with her cellphone and keys. Sex I kept her phone open on the table beside me while I dined and hit the redial button whenever I happened to think of it, sometimes just letting it ring once, other times letting it continue until my voice-mail kicked in before hanging up. She actually seemed in pretty good shape: her eyes seemed a little crazed and her hair was disheveled and her make-up a little smeared around her eyes and mouth but she seemed alert and focused, if highly strung, for which I could hardly blame her, considering everything that had been happening. Sometimes I would use a very light touch, other times enough pressure to leave parallel rows of tiny red welts. She embraced me as well, and rested her head on my shoulder. I pulled her desk chair into place behind her and sat down. It was already somewhat crowded and I had to wait a while to be seated, so I entertained myself by programming my number into the speed-dial on Nadine’s phone, then setting it so that the picture I’d just taken of her would pop up every time I called – I thought that
