Richard continued. "Oh, wait, let me get you what I have for you."
"My surprise?"
"Right. I think you'll like it."
"So, Rune, how do you know Richard?" Karen was calling from the kitchen.
Yeah. He picked me up the other night and's been trying to fuck me ever since.
"Met in a video store. We talk about movies some."
"I love movies," Karen called. "Maybe we could all go sometime.
"Maybe."
Richard appeared from his bedroom. He was carrying a white envelope.
That's my present?
"Be right back," he said to Karen.
"This sauce is so good," she called from the kitchen. She stuck her pert head into the doorway. "Nice meeting you. Oh, love the earrings!"
As they walked to the elevator Richard said, "Karen's a friend. We work together."
Rune wondered: How does somebody work with you when you write novels?
They got four doors down the corridor before he said, "This's a little awkward but she and I really are just friends."
"W e are going out, aren't we? You and me, I mean."
"Sure, we're going out. I mean, we aren't going out all the time though, right? We can have other friends."
"Sure. That's the way it has to work."
"Right."
I am absolutely going to murder Frankie Greek....
He pushed the down button.
Aren't we in a hurry.
"Oh, here." He thrust the envelope at her.
She opened it. Inside was an application to the New School, over on Fifth Avenue.
A joke. It had to be a joke.
"I've got a buddy works for admissions," Richard explained. "He told me they're starting this new program. Retail management. You don't even need to get a degree. You get a certificate."
She felt sick. "Wait. You're giving me career counseling?"
"Rune, you're so smart, you've got so much energy, you're so creative.... I'm worried about you wasting your life."
She stared, numb, at the paper in her hand.
Richard said, "You could work your way up in the video store business. Become a manager. Then maybe you could buy a store. Or even a chain. You could really be on a hell of a vertical track."