probably got a lot of pride and doesn't want to feel
like some kind of failure. My father has never made a
mistake in twenty years of practicing law."
"Really?"
"That's what he makes it sound like, and
everyone who works for my mother is a half-wit." He
smiled. "I come from a pair of regular geniuses." He made me laugh. Clarence is handsome. I
thought. He has a twinkle in his eye that gets pretty
sexy sometimes, whether he knows it or not. He acts
like he doesn't. but I was always suspicious of people,
especially boys. Their smiles and words were like
little balls in the hands of a magician: now you see
them, now you don't.
When I finished eating. I paid the check and
lingered for a few moments.
"Now what do we do?" he asked.
"I want to be sure he's upstairs at his desk. I'll
call and pretend I'm a client and ask for him," I said.
"Afterward, we can go to the magazine and
newspaper shop and then we'll hang out and wait until
the market closes to see what he does. We've just got
to keep inconspicuous."
He went to the bank of pay phones in the lobby
and I dialed Daddy's number. His secretary answered
and I asked for him.
"Oh," she said. "he's just this moment left. Can I switch you to Mr. Posner who's handling his
accounts in the interim?"
"No," I said and hung up quickly.
"He left," I told Clarence excitedly. "Just now!" We hurried back to the lobby and went into the
newspaper and magazine store, pretending to be