She sat down next to me and ordered a glass of wine. “Hi, Harvey,” she said.
“Hi,” I said, feeling awkward because I didn’t know her name.
We sat around for a minute.
“Where’s Al?” I asked.
She shook her head. “Trying to sleep. Typical Aries. I’m staying away after the last time.”
“What was the last time?”
“Tuesday night. He was going to do that stunt Wednesday, until they canceled the day, and he was worried about it and couldn’t sleep all Tuesday night.”
“Uh-huh.”
“So tonight, I’m just staying away.” She sipped her wine. “Listen, you know that guy Perkins?”
“Yes. Why?”
“You know what sign he is?”
“No.”
“I bet he’s a Scorpio,” she said, frowning at her wineglass. “He has that Scorpio look to him around the eyes.”
“Why do you ask about Perkins?”
“Well, Claude said he wanted to see me for an interview for something. I just had the interview. It was pretty strange.”
“How do you mean?”
“Well, what he asked me. He was asking about Tuesday night.”
“And...”
“And what happened, you know. Al’s room is right next to Mr. Mann’s. And Al couldn’t sleep, so I was awake too. I can’t sleep if the guy can’t sleep. And it was noisy, anyway. Al kept jumping up, real irritable, and looking out the window whenever there was any noise.”
“Did you look too?”
“That’s one of the questions he asked. Perkins. No, I stayed in bed. I was trying to sleep. But what a night, people coming and going, doors slamming. I’m a Libra. I like things a little calmer. And it was very tense.”
“What else did you talk about with Perkins?”
“Well, he was interested in Al and Mr. Mann. Now the funny thing is, Al and Mr. Mann never got along until yesterday or so. And all of a sudden, Mr. Mann is a good friend of Al’s. And Al won’t say anything bad about him either. Isn’t that strange?”
“What do you think it all means?” I asked.
“I think they’re up to something. But that Mr. Mann is a Taurus. You have to watch out for him. Also, I happen to know he’s Sagittarius rising.”
“Is that bad?”
“The worst,” she said.
On that note, we had a reflective silence to sip our drinks. She pulled out a cigarette and I lit it for her.
“Al taking many drugs these days?”
“Not before a stunt,” she said. “He wouldn’t even have wine tonight.”
