"Lauren and I will expect you at seven-thirty next Saturday night." He gave Mallory an address on Nob, Hill.
"I'll be there," Mallory said. Will I ever!
Mallory had promised to take Kat to the theater that evening, but it would be easy to cancel. He had collected his winnings, and he enjoyed having sex with her. Several times a week they had managed to get together in one of the empty on-call rooms, or a deserted hospital room, or at her apartment or his. Her fires were banked a long time, Mallory thought happily, but when the explosion came—wow! Well, one of these days, it will be time to say arrivederci.
On the day he was to have dinner with the Harrisons, Mallory telephoned Kat. "Bad news, baby."
"What's the matter, darling?"
"One of the doctors is sick and they've asked me to cover for him. I'm afraid I'm going to have to break our date."
She did not want to let him know how disappointed she was, how much she needed to be with him. Kat said lightly, "Oh well, that's the doctor business, isn't it?"
"Yeah. I'll make it up to you."
"You don't have to make anything up to me," she said warmly. "I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Ken, when are we going to talk about us?"
"What do you mean?" He knew exactly what she meant. A commitment. They were all alike. They use their pussies for bait, hoping to hook a sucker into spending his life with them. Well, he was too smart for that. When the time came, he would regretfully bow out, as he had done a dozen times before.
Kat was saying, "Don't you think we should set a date, Ken? I have a lot of plans to make."
"Oh, sure. We'll do that."
"I thought maybe June. What do you think?"
You don't want to know what I think. If I play my cards right, there's going to be a wedding, but it won't be with you. "We'll talk about it, baby. I really have to go now."
The Harrisons' home was a mansion out of a motion picture, situated on acres of manicured grounds. The house itself seemed to go on forever. There were two dozen guests, and in the huge drawing room a small orchestra was playing. When Mallory walked in, Lauren hurried over to greet him. She was wearing a silky clinging gown. She squeezed Mallory's hand, "Welcome, guest of honor. I'm so glad you're here."
"So am I. How is your father?"
"Very much alive, thanks to you. You're quite a hero in this house."
Mallory smiled modestly. "I only did my job."
"I suppose that's what God says every day." She took his hand and began introducing him to the other guests.
The guest list was blue-ribbon. The governor of California was there, the French ambassador, a justice of the Supreme Court, and a dozen assorted politicians, artists, and business tycoons. Mallory could feel the power in the room, and it thrilled him. This is where I belong, he thought. Right here, with these people.
The dinner was delicious and elegantly served. At the end of the evening, when the guests started to leave, Harrison said to Mallory, "Don't rush off, Ken. I'd like to talk to you."
"I'd be delighted."
Harrison, Lauren, and Mallory sat in the library. Harrison was seated in a chair next to his daughter.
"When I told you at the hospital that I thought you had a great future before you, I meant it."
"I really appreciate your confidence, sir."
"You should be in private practice."
Mallory laughed self-deprecatingly. "I'm afraid it's not that easy, Mr. Harrison. It takes a long time to build up a practice, and I'm ..."
"Ordinarily, yes. But you're not an ordinary man."
"I don't understand."
"After you finish your residency, Father wants to set you up in your own practice," Lauren said.
For a moment, Mallory was speechless. It was too easy. He felt as though he were living in some kind of wonderful dream. "I ... I don't know what to say."
"I have a lot of very wealthy friends. I've already spoken to some of them about you. I can promise you that you'll be swamped the minute you put up your shingle."
"Daddy, lawyers put up shingles," Lauren said.
"Whatever. In any case, I'd like to finance you. Are you interested?"
Mallory was finding it difficult to breathe. "Very much so. But I ... I don't know when I would be able to repay you."
"You don't understand. I'm repaying you. You won't owe me anything."
Lauren was looking at Mallory, her eyes warm. "Please say yes."
"I'd be stupid to say no, wouldn't I?"
"That's right," Lauren said softly. "And I'm sure you're not stupid."
On his way home, Ken Mallory was in a state of euphoria. This is as good as it gets, he thought. But he was wrong. It got better.
Lauren telephoned him. "I hope you don't mind mixing business with pleasure."
He smiled to himself. "Not at all. What did you have in mind?"
"There's a charity ball next Saturday night. Would you like to take me?"
Oh, baby, I'm going to take you all right. "I'd love to." He was on duty Saturday night, but he would call in sick and they would have to find someone to take his place.
Mallory was a man who believed in planning ahead, but what was happening to him now went beyond his wildest dreams.
Over the next few weeks he was swept up in Lauren's social circle, and life took on a dizzying pace. He would be out with Lauren dancing half the night, and stumble through his days at the hospital. There were mounting complaints about his work, but he didn't care. I'll be out of here soon, he told himself.