"Honey, have you seen my wallet?" "Isn't it on the bedside table?" "Now listen, we' re running a little late." "I know." "How do I look?" "Perfect." "Is my hair okay?" "It's great." "You' re not even looking at it." "It's beautiful." "You always look beautiful." "Did you give Roz the phone and pager numbers?" "Yeah, I put it on the fridge." "Let's go." "Coming." "All right." "I' m ready." "What's the babysitter's name?" "Roz." "Okay, Roz, we' re going now." "You look amazing, Mrs. Harford." "Thank you." "Helena, are you ready for bed?" "Yes, Mommy." "Can I stay up and watch The Nutcracker?" " What time's it on?" " 9:00." " You can watch that." " Can I stay up until you get home?" " No, darling." " It'll be a little late for that." "The phone number is on the fridge and there's food in there, so help yourself." "We shouldn't be later than 1:00." " I'll hold our cab to take you home." " Thanks, Dr. Harford." "You be good, baby." " Good night, sweetheart." " See you in the morning." " Victor, Illona." " Bill, Alice." " Merry Christmas." " Thank you for coming." " Thanks so much for coming." " We wouldn't miss it for the world." "Alice, look at you." "God, you' re absolutely stunning!" "I don't say that to all the women." "Do I?" " Yes, he does." " He does?" "That osteopath you sent me to, the guy that worked on my arm?" " You ought to see my serve now." " He's the top man in New York." "I could have told you that, looking at his bill." "Go inside, have a drink, enjoy the party." "I'll see you in a little bit." "Thanks for coming." "Do you know anyone here?" "Not a soul." "Why do you think Ziegler invites us to these things every year?" "This is what you get for making house calls." "You see that guy at the piano?" "I went to medical school with him." "Really?" "He plays pretty good for a doctor." "He's not a doctor." "He dropped out." "Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you' re enjoying yourselves." "The band's going to take a break." "We'll be back in 10 minutes." "Thank you." "Let's go over and say hello." "I desperately need to go to the bathroom." "You go and say hello, and I'll meet you where?" "At the bar?" "Good." "Nightingale." "Nick Nightingale!" "Oh, my God!" "Bill." "Bill Harford!" "How the hell are you, buddy?" " How long has it been?" " I don't know. 10 years?" "And a couple." " Do you have time for a drink?" " Sure." "You haven't changed a bit." "Thanks, I think." "So how you doing?" "Not too bad, you know." "Not too bad." "I see you've become a pianist." "Oh, yes, well, my friends call me that." "How about you?" "You still in the doctor business?" "You know what they say:" ""Once a doctor, always a doctor."" "Yes, or in my case:" ""Never a doctor, never a doctor."" "I never did understand why you walked away." "It's a nice feeling." "I do it a lot." "Cheers." "Excuse me." "Nick, I need you a minute." "Be right with you." "I gotta go do something." "If I don't catch you later I'll be down at the Village for two weeks at the Sonata Café." " Stop by if you get a chance." " I'll be there." " It's great seeing you." " Good seeing you too, man." "I think that's my glass." "I' m absolutely certain of it." "My name is Sandor Szavost." "I' m Hungarian." "My name is Alice Harford." "I' m American." "Delighted to meet you, Alice." "Did you ever read the Latin poet Ovid on The Art of Love?" "Didn't he wind up all by himself crying his eyes out in some place with a very bad climate?" "But he also had a good time first." "A very good time." "Are you here with anyone tonight, Alice?" "With my husband." "Oh, how sad." "But then I' m sure he's the sort of man who wouldn't mind if we danced." "What do you do, Alice?" "Well, at the moment I' m looking for a job." "I used to manage an art gallery in SoHo." "But it went broke." "What a shame." "I have some friends in the art game." "Perhaps I can be of some help." "Thank you." "Someone you know?" "My husband." "Don't you think one of the charms of marriage is that it makes deception a necessity for both parties?" "May I ask why a beautiful woman who could have any man in this room, wants to be married?" "Why wouldn't she?" "Is it as bad as that?" "As good as that." "Do you know Nuala Windsor?" "No, and it's very lovely to meet you both." "How do you spell Nuala?" "N-U-A-L-A." "You don't remember me, do you?" "You were very kind to me once." "Only once?" "That sounds like a terrible oversight!" "I was doing a photo session in Rockefeller Plaza on a very windy day...?" " And you got something in your eye." " Just about half of Fifth Avenue." "You were such a gentleman!" "You gave me your handkerchief which was also clean." "That is the kind of hero I can be sometimes." "You know why women used to get married, don't you?" "Why don't you tell me?" "It was the only way they could lose their virginity and be free to do what they wanted with other men." "The ones they really wanted." "Fascinating." "Do you know what's so nice about doctors?" "Usually a lot less than people imagine." "They always seem so knowledgeable." "Oh, they are very knowledgeable about all sorts of things." "But I bet they work too hard." "Just think of all they miss." "You' re probably right." "Ladies, where exactly are we going?" "Exactly?" "Where the rainbow ends." "Where the rainbow ends?" "Don't you want to go where the rainbow ends?" "Now that depends where that is." "Well, let's find out." "Excuse me, ladies." "Sorry, Dr. Harford." "Could you come with me for a moment?" "Something for Mr. Ziegler." "Fine." "To be continued?" "Bill, thanks for coming." "We had a little accident here." "What happened?" "Well, she was..." "She was shooting up and she had a bad reaction." "What did she take?" "A speedball or a snowball or whatever the hell they call it." "It's heroin and coke." "Heroin and coke?" "Anything else?" "We had a couple of drinks, some champagne." "That was it." "How long has she been like this?" "Maybe five minutes, six minutes, something like that." "What's her name?" "Mandy." "Can you hear me, Mandy?" "Can you hear me?" "Move your head if you can hear me." "Move your head if you can hear me, Mandy." "There you go." "You can hear me." "Can you open your eyes for me?" "Mandy, can you do that?" "Let me see you open your eyes." "There you go, come on." "Come on, look at me." "Look at me." "Look at me." "Look at me." "Look at me." "Look at me, Mandy." "Good." "Good." "I love Victor's art collection, don't you?" "It's wonderful." "Have you ever seen his sculpture gallery?" "I haven't." "He has a wonderful collection of Renaissance bronzes." "Do you like the period?" "I do." "I adore it." "The sculpture gallery is upstairs." "Would you like to see it?" "I can show it to you." "We won't be gone long." "Maybe not just now." "That was really one hell of a scare you gave us, kiddo." "Sorry." "How are you feeling now, Mandy?" "Better." "You are a very, very lucky girl." "You know that?" "I know." "You' re gonna be okay this time." "But you can't keep doing this." "You understand?" "You' re going to need some rehab." "You know that, don't you?" "I know." "Well, Victor I'll leave the rest to you." "Is it okay if I dress her and get her out of here?" "No, I'd keep her here for another hour." "Another hour?" "Then I'd have someone take her home." "Good night, Mandy." "I can't thank you enough for this." " You saved my ass." " I' m glad I was here." "Bill, I probably..." "I know I don't have to mention this but this is just between us." "Of course." "Thanks." "I think I've had a little too much champagne." "I think I have to go and find my husband now." "But I' m sure he'll be all right on his own a little longer." "Yes but will I?" "Of course you will." "I really have to go." "I have to go." "You don't, you know." "Yes, I do." "I must see you again." " That's impossible." " Why?" "Because I' m married." "Good morning, Lisa." "Good morning, doctor." "Your mail." "Good." "Please ask Janelle to bring me my coffee." " Sure." " Thank you." " Good morning, Sarah." " Good morning, doctor." ""'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse."" "Okay." "That's fine." "You can put your gown on." "Hold this for Mommy." "Looking forward to Christmas?" "Does this hurt?" "Right there?" "Daddy's gonna like that." "Very good choice." ""...before me when I jump into my bed."" "We should call the Zieglers and thank them for the party." "I've taken care of that." "Good." "So how do you feel about wrapping the rest of the presents?" "Let's do that tomorrow." "Tell me something." "Those two girls at the party last night..." "Did you by any chance happen to fuck them?" "What?" "What are you talking about?" "I' m talking about the two girls that you were so blatantly hitting on." "I wasn't hitting on anybody." "Who were they?" "They were just a couple of models." "And where did you disappear to with them for so long?" "Wait a minute." "I didn't disappear with anybody." "Ziegler wasn't feeling too well and I got called upstairs to see him." "Anyway, who was the guy you were dancing with?" "A friend of the Zieglers." "What did he want?" "What did he want?" "Sex upstairs." "Then and there." "Is that all?" "Yeah, that was all." "Just wanted to fuck my wife." "That's right." "Well, I guess that's understandable." "Understandable?" "Because you are a very very beautiful woman." "Wait." "Because I' m a beautiful woman the only reason any man ever wants to talk to me is because he wants to fuck me." "Is that what you' re saying?" "Well, I don't think it's quite that black and white but I think we both know what men are like." "So on that basis I should conclude that you wanted to fuck those two models." "There are exceptions." "And what makes you an exception?" "What makes me an exception is that I happen to be in love with you." "And because we' re married and because I would never lie to you or hurt you." "Do you realize that what you' re saying is that the only reason you wouldn't fuck those models is out of consideration for me?" "Not because you really wouldn't want to." "Let's just relax, Alice." "This pot is making you aggressive." "No!" "It's not the pot." "It's you!" "Why can't you ever give me a straight fucking answer?" "I was under the impression that's what I was doing." "I don't even know what we' re arguing about here." "I' m not arguing." "I' m just trying to find out where you' re coming from." "Where I' m coming from?" "Let's say, for example, you have some gorgeous woman standing in your office naked and you' re feeling her fucking tits." "Now, what I want to know..." "I want to know what you' re thinking about when you' re squeezing them." "Alice, I happen to be a doctor." "It's all very impersonal and you know there's always a nurse present." "So when you' re feeling tits, it's nothing more than your professionalism?" "Exactly." "Sex is the last thing on my mind when I' m with a patient." "Now, when she is having her little titties squeezed do you think she ever has fantasies about what handsome Dr. Bill's dickie might be like?" "Come on, I can assure you sex is the last thing on this fucking hypothetical woman patient's mind." "And what makes you so sure?" "If for no better reason because she's afraid of what I might find." "So after you tell her that everything's fine, what then?" "What then?" "I don't know, Alice..." "What then?" "Women don't..." "They basically just don't think like that." "Millions of years of evolution, right?" "Men have to stick it every place they can but for women, it is just about security and commitment and whatever the fuck else!" "A little oversimplified, Alice." "But yes, something like that." "If you men only knew." "What I do know is you got stoned, you tried to pick a fight and now you' re trying to make me jealous." "But you' re not the jealous type, are you?" "No, I' m not." "You've never been jealous about me, have you?" "No, I haven't." "And why haven't you ever been jealous about me?" "Well, I don't know, Alice." "Maybe because you' re my wife." "Maybe because you' re the mother of my child and I know you would never be unfaithful to me." "You are very, very sure of yourself aren't you?" "No." "I' m sure of you." "Do you think that's funny?" "All right." "Fuck it." "Now we get the fucking laughing fit, right?" "Do you..." "Do you remember last summer at Cape Cod?" "Do you remember one night in the dining room there was this young naval officer and he was sitting near our table with two other officers?" "No." "The waiter brought him a message, at which point he left." "Nothing rings a bell?" "Well I first saw him that morning in the lobby." "He was checking into the hotel and he was following the bellboy with his luggage to the elevator." "He glanced at me as he walked past." "Just a glance." "Nothing more." "But I could hardly move." "That afternoon Helena went to the movies with her friend and you and I made love." "And we made plans about our future and we talked about Helena." "And yet at no time was he ever out of my mind." "And I thought if he wanted me even if it was only for one night I was ready to give up everything." "You." "Helena." "My whole fucking future." "Everything." "And yet it was weird, because at the same time you were dearer to me than ever." "And at that moment, my love for you was both tender and sad." "I barely slept that night and I woke up the next morning in a panic." "I didn't know whether I was afraid that he had left or that he might still be there." "But by dinner I realized he was gone and I was relieved." "Yes, this is Dr. Harford." "When did it happen?" "I have the address." "Thank you." "Lou Nathanson just died." "I think I have to go over there and show my face." " Hello, Rosa." " Good evening, Dr. Harford." " How is Miss Nathanson?" " Not so good." "She's in the bedroom." "Thank you." "Come in." "Marion..." "Oh, Dr. Harford..." "How good of you to come." "I came as soon as I got the message." "Thank you." " I' m so sorry." " Thank you." "Your father was..." "He was a very brave man." "Oh, thank you." "How are you holding up?" "I' m a bit numb." "I don't think it's really sunk in yet." "Would you like to sit down?" "It's so unreal." "Daddy had such a good day." "His mind was clear, and he remembered so many things." "Then he had a little dinner and he said he felt like taking a nap." "I went into the kitchen and talked to Rosa for half an hour at most and when I went to see how he was I just thought he was asleep." "Then I realized he wasn't breathing." "From what you've said I' m sure your father died peacefully in his sleep." "Oh, God, I hope so." "I think I've been more afraid of the way it was going to happen than his death itself." "Have you had a chance to phone any of your relatives?" "I tried to call my stepmother in London, but she was out." "My boyfriend, Carl, is making some calls and he'll be coming over soon." "I think you've met Carl here a few times." "Yes, I remember him." "He's a teacher, isn't he?" "A math professor." "We' re going to get married in May." "Well, that's wonderful news." "Congratulations." "Thank you." "Carl has a new teaching appointment at the University of Michigan." "We'll be moving out there soon." "Michigan's a beautiful state." "I think you'll like it a lot." "It really could be a wonderful change for you, Marion." "Oh, my God, no..." "I love you." "I love you." "I love you, I love you, I love you." "I don't want to go away with Carl." "Marion, I don't think you realize..." "I do." "Even if I' m never to see you again, I want at least to live near you." "Marion, listen to me." "Listen to me." "You' re very upset, and I don't think you realize what you' re saying." "I love you." "We barely know each other." "We haven't had a single conversation about anything except your father." "I love you." "That's probably Carl." "Please don't despise me." " Hello, Rosa." " Hello, Mr. Thomas." " Is she in the bedroom?" " Yes, she is." "Thank you." "Come in." "Darling." "I' m so very sorry." "Are you all right?" "I' m okay." " Dr. Harford, good evening." " Good evening, Carl." "Thank you very much for coming over here tonight." " It's the least I could do." " It means a lot to us." "Thank you." "I was actually on my way out." "Marion your father was very proud of you and I know you gave him great comfort these last months." "Thank you." "I'll show you out." "Good night." "Listen to this." "She had a red rose in her mouth." "She was doing a Mexican lap dance right in my face." "I' m serious!" "I got scars on the back of my neck." "What team's this switch hitter playing for?" " Looks like the pink team." " Look at this faggot!" "Hey, watch it, you faggot!" "Merry Christmas, Mary!" " Your butt-brothers are back there!" " Prime cut of meat!" "You want to take a ride in this fudge-tunnel, you stupid faggot?" "You should have tits, you' re standing so close!" " I got dumps that are bigger than you!" " Come on, macho man!" " You want a piece of this, baby?" " Exit only, honey." "Go back to San Francisco where you belong, man!" "Excuse me." "Do you know what time it is?" "Ten past 12." "Going anywhere special?" "No, I' m just taking a walk." "How'd you like to have a little fun?" "I' m sorry?" "Have a little fun?" "I just live right down there." "Would you like to come inside with me?" "Come inside with you?" "It's a lot nicer in there than it is out here." "You live in there?" "By yourself?" "No." "I have a roommate, but she's not home." "Hey, it's okay." "Listen, no one will bother us." "It's okay." "Come on." "Come on." "This is it." "That's a nice tree." "Sorry about the mess." "Maid's day off." "It's cozy." "It's a cozy place." "It's okay." "Do you suppose we should talk about money?" "Yeah, I guess so." "That depends on what you want to do." "What do you want to do?" "What do you recommend?" "What do I recommend?" "I'd rather not put it into words." "How about you just leave it up to me?" "I' m in your hands." "And how does 150 sound?" "Sounds wonderful." "Don't worry." "I don't keep track of the time." "Thank you." "Prego, prego." " Grazie." " You're welcome." "If I was Italian, he'd have answered me in Italian." "Shall we?" "Excuse me." "Is everything all right?" "I was just wondering if you were going to be much longer?" "Listen, it's a little difficult to talk right now." "It could be awhile." "Any idea how long?" "No, I don't really know." "We' re still waiting for some relatives to arrive." "Well, I' m gonna go to bed now." "Was that Mrs. Dr. Bill?" "Do you have to go?" "Do I have to go?" "I think I do." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I' m afraid so." "But listen, I want to pay you anyway." "How much did you say it was?" "Hundred and fifty?" "But you know what?" "You don't have to bother about that." "No, it's all right." " No, really." "You don't have to." " No, I want to." "Really?" "Well, thank you very much." "Thank you." "Would you like a table, or would you like to sit at the bar?" " I'd like a table." " Please follow me." " Can I take your coat?" " Thank you." "Could I get you anything to drink?" " I'd like a beer." " Certainly." "One, two, one-two-three-four." "That's it for tonight, ladies and gentlemen." "On the bass, Mr. Larry Mc Vey." "On the drums, Kip Fleming." "And on the guitar, the one, the only, Mr. Bobby Berman." "We'll be here for the next two weeks, so please do stop by." "I' m Nick Nightingale." "Good night." " Nick, that was great." " Thanks." " Nightingale." " Hey, Bill, you made it." "I' m sorry, I got here just as you were finishing your last set." "That's all right." "The band sucked tonight anyway." " What are you drinking?" " A vodka and tonic, please." "Thank you."