“Christ, I wish somebody would,” Stone said.
41
DINO WALKED INTO STONE’S ROOM AT 6:30 A.M., in his pajamas, whistling loudly. “Up and at ’em!” he shouted.
Stone groaned, rolled over, and pulled a pillow over his head.
“Don’t you want to brush your teeth before breakfast?” Dino asked, ripping the covers off Stone.
“No,” Stone replied, trying vainly to get the covers back.
“That’s disgusting,” Dino said. “You can’t eat breakfast without brushing your teeth; it’s unsanitary.”
Stone peeped out from under the pillow. “What breakfast? I haven’t ordered breakfast.”
There was a sharp rap on the door.
“That breakfast,” Dino said, opening the door and admitting the waiter.
Stone went and brushed his teeth; when he returned, an elaborate breakfast had been laid out.
Dino handed him a large glass of orange juice. “Come on, wake up.”
Stone took the orange juice. “This must be what it’s like to be married.”
“Are you kidding?” Dino asked. “The day you get married is the last day you’ll ever get breakfast in bed.”
“I’m not in bed,” Stone said, sipping the orange juice.
“Close enough. What’s your plan for the day?”
“I’m planning for you to solve all my problems,” Stone said.
“Okay, I can do that. Not Arrington, of course, or Sarah; you’ll have to handle those yourself, though of course, I’ll be there with lots of advice.”
“I’d rather not hear it,” Stone said, digging into his scrambled eggs.
“Man, these are really terrific eggs,” Dino said. “How do they get them like this?”
“I asked about that,” Stone replied. “Seems they cook them very slowly, with a lot of butter, in a saucepan, not a skillet, and they serve them on a hot plate, very soft, since they continue to cook on the plate.”
“No kidding? I’ll have to get Mary Ann to do them that way.”
“Lots of luck. Your wife doesn’t strike me as the kind of woman who would spend the early moments of her morning making you English scrambled eggs.”
“Who would have thought the English could cook?”
“Someone, I think it was George Bernard Shaw, once said that you could eat very well in England, as long as you have breakfast three times a day.” Stone was waking up now.
Dino laughed. “I gotta remember that one.”
“Don’t bother; it isn’t true anymore; the Brits cook very well indeed these days. Okay, how are you going to solve all my problems?”
“I slept on your problems,” Dino said, “and I think you can best solve them by leaving London and going back to New York. That would remove you from the evil influence of the people around you in this town.”
“They aren’t all evil,” Stone replied.
“No? Name me one person you know in London that you can prove not to be evil.”