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."Richard's hand slammed into the wall above the computer console.There was a crack, the sizzle of short-circuited electricity.The computer chirped.He turned his back to her, the muscles rippling in his shoulders.Cat shrank against the hallway wall.Richard turned and glared at her, his face flushed red, his eyes burning like two stars going supernova."Get out," he said."Get out.I can't look at you.""What? I live here.It's my house too.""No, it's my house, I fucking bought it, and I'm telling you to get.The fuck.Out."The computer continued to beep."Fine," said Cat."I can't stand looking at you anyway." She slid past him, and even though she made sure their skin didn't touch, static electricity sparked between them, forcing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end.She picked up her purse and slipped on a pair of shoes she kept next to the door.She could feel his rage in the way he watched her leave.And then she was outside.It was still too hot to breathe.The storms hadn't shown up yet but she felt them on the air.She climbed into the car and flew out of the driveway.She didn't bother to switch to the fully automated mode.She wanted to direct her energy, her anger, her grief, into driving.Two days since Finn disappeared into a taxi cab parked outside her house.He would be in Florida by now, surrounded by orange trees.Cat fumbled in her purse, trying to find her cigarettes.They weren't there.Neither was her comm slate.The suburbs shimmered as she drove out of the subdivision and onto the freeway.She was too inflamed to stop at a vice stand.She clutched the steering wheel so tightly her fingers tingled as she sped past the cars dotting the road.The city lit up the horizon, turned the rim of the sky violet.She drove to the studio.Lights glowed in the windows when she pulled up to the curb.Felix's car was parked out front, but no one else's.Cat put her car into park but didn't turn off the engine.She left the air conditioning running, wanting the cool, dry air to blow across her hot face.She took a deep breath.All of the anger from before had evaporated on the drive into downtown, and now she was deflated, dried out.Wind rustled the pecan trees lining the street.Cat turned off her car and walked to the studio.In the city the air felt different: wilder, hotter, more toxic.She rang the buzzer next to the door, her key at the glass house.Felix's laughter drifted through the cracks in the foundation.She heard his footsteps.The door swung open."Holy shit, it's Cat!" He looked at her and said, "What's wrong? Get in here and tell me everything."Cat stepped inside.The studio was flooded with soft white light.The loom sat patiently where she'd left it.She realized with a jolt of sadness that she had nearly finished the tapestry for Finn.And he'd never see it.Felix wasn't alone in the studio.Miguel sat on the floor beside the potting wheel, drinking from a bottle of apple schnapps, and when he saw Cat he raised the bottle and called her the mad scientist's beautiful daughter.And for half a second Cat was back in college and Finn was only a few hours' drive away and she had never met Richard."You look upset." Felix took both of her hands and pulled her over to the potting wheel.Miguel handed her the bottle of schnapps.She took a long, burning drink."Richard kicked me out of the house." Said aloud, in the light of the studio, it sounded absurd.She laughed and took another drink."Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?" said Miguel."Did you sleep with your secretary or something?""I need a cigarette," said Cat."I left my pack at home."Felix pulled his pack off a nearby table."It's my last one," he said, handing it to her."And I won't make you go outside." He paused."Just this once.""I'll buy you an entire case." Cat drew the smoke into her lungs, and that deep toxic breath almost made her feel normal.She closed her eyes and saw the afterimage of the studio lights fractalling against her lids.Inhale, exhale.It didn't matter if the smoke caught in the tapestry."So," said Felix."Do you need a place to stay?""I don't know.Probably.I don't want to think about it.""Seriously, I want to know what you did to him." Miguel leaned forward, a smile teasing up the corners of his mouth."Did he find out about the ADL donations?"Cat shook her head."I insulted his manhood.At least, I think that's what did it.Everything sort of blurs together.""His manhood?" Miguel and Felix looked at each other and laughed."I'm sorry," said Felix."It's not funny.""No, it is," said Cat."I told him he could only get it up for a venture capitalist."This made Felix and Miguel laugh even harder, and Cat laughed a little, and then a lot, and then her laughter edged over into hysteria.She knew it wasn't only because of Richard.She wiped the tears away from the edges of her eyes and finished the cigarette.Dropped it into the sink stained with paint and clay."Also," she said slowly, looking down at the veins in her hands."Finn went away.""Who the hell's Finn?" Felix said."Shut up, Felix," Miguel said.Then, to Cat: "Where'd he go?""The moon." Cat picked up the bottle of schnapps and drank.It tasted awful, the way turpentine smells.She sat next to Miguel, and he put his arm around her shoulder."Is that some sort of… metaphor?"Cat shook her head."We're talking about the android," she said to Felix, and then she told them how Finn had come to her house unannounced, how he'd sold himself off, how he was about to disappear into the night sky.Miguel held her tight the entire time, and when she finished, he pulled her into a hug."That's pretty fucked up," said Felix."Insightful." Miguel put his hands on Cat's shoulders and peered up at her between the parted curtain of her hair."I don't envy your situation," he said.Cat shut her eyes.She would not cry.Not here."I talked to him at the wedding," Miguel said."I like him.I don't like your reg of a husband, but hey, you didn't ask me." He leaned back."It's a shame you couldn't marry Finn.I told him that, by the way."Cat's head jerked up."Why?"Miguel smiled at her.She looked back down at the dried clay dusting the floor, and then she asked, "What did he say?""I don't remember.Nothing.It was during your first dance with what's-his-name.He watched you the whole time.I saw his eyes moving around the room." Miguel shrugged."I think he agreed with me.""That's not possible.""You keep telling yourself that." Miguel stood up.Cat looked between him and Felix.Everything swirled together.She was exhausted or drunk or maybe both."Come back to my apartment," Felix said."Worry about it in the morning.You can sleep on my couch." He jerked his head toward the door."I'll even drive."Cat smiled.It didn't feel right, smiling, but she did anyway, and she followed Felix and Miguel out to the car, and she curled up in the back seat to the sound of their voices.The neon street signs filled the car with color [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]