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.I hope you’re hungry.”Julie stopped in front of an unprepossessing brick building with a few tables and chairs outside.“Here we are,” she said.“Ernie’s got an all-you-can-eat spaghetti and salad bar.” She pushed open the door and a wave of noise came from inside.“You get us a table,” she said.“I’ll hit the buffet line.”Camilla searched the crowded room, saw a couple get up from a small table in the corner and dove for their seats, draping her coat over one chair as she sat in the other.The patrons of the café were mostly young.A noisy group next to her had pushed a number of the little tables together and were loudly ordering breakfasts from a tired-looking waitress.“Hey, listen to this,” said a young man in black who had just ordered three eggs and double hash browns.“The good doctor is in rare form today.” He began to read aloud in a piercing falsetto—“Dear Dr.Lavinia—my boyfriend and I are having an argument that I hope you can settle.He said you can’t get herpes from a hot tub, but I say you can if you go in without a suit.He said that there’s no point in getting in a hot tub if you wear a suit and I’ll embarrass him in front of his friends if I do.What do you say? Also, is it true that eating garlic can help you develop an immunity to herpes?—Paranoid”There was general laughter from the group.“So what does the doctor say?” said a big woman with a lot of red hair.The man cleared his throat and read again, this time in a stately English accent.“Dear Ms.or Mr.Noid—” he began.“Dr.Lavinia is of the belief that keeping one’s clothes on is an excellent precaution against all social diseases.She welcomes your suggestion of eating garlic as a further deterrent, but is afraid the average reader might find the measure too drastic.Very Truly Yours, Dr.Lavinia.”“The lady is awesome,” said another of the men.“Can’t you see her? Sort of a Margaret Rutherford type with a pince-nez and beige support hose.”“Not Dame Margaret.I was doing Edith Evans.” The man in black looked injured.Camilla couldn’t help feeling pleased.Other people had inner children, but she seemed to have gotten in touch with an inner great aunt with her Dr.Lavinia voice.Julie emerged from the crowd with two heaping plates of gooey orange pasta “Isn’t this a fantastic place?”“It certainly seems—popular.” Camilla gingerly tasted a forkful of the spaghetti.It didn’t taste quite as bad as it looked.“Julie, you old snake!” said a voice from the next table.“Where have you been keeping yourself?”The large, red-haired woman waved at Julie.“Sit over here with us.We’re giving dramatic readings from Dr.Lavinia’s column.You’ll love it!”Julie shook her head as she swallowed, but it was too late.The red-haired woman stood over them.“I’m Bernie Magee,” said the red-haired woman.“Short for Bernadette.” She pushed a chair between them.“I’m…Randy,” Camilla said as she tried to shrink to make room for her.“Bernie’s the stage manager at the ‘F’ Street Theater,” Julie said.“I’ve worked props over there on a couple of shows.”“She’s great, too,” Bernie said.“This woman knows the inventory of every thrift shop in the county.She found us nearly a hundred toasters for True West.” She slapped a hand on Julie’s shoulder.“We really need you back.You wouldn’t believe the flea-brain I have to work with on this show.We close Sunday, thank God, and he’s going to some theater in L.A.How about it? We don’t open the next show for three weeks.”“I’ve got a real job now.There’s no way I’d have the time.”“Your paper sure has livened up.The reviews are biased, of course, but I love Dr.Lavinia—and all that great dirt about Jon-Don Parker.” She paused to pour the contents of three Sweet ’n’ Low packets into her coffee.“Hey, do you know her—Dr.Lavinia?”Julie giggled.“As a matter of fact—”Camilla stopped her with a kick under the table.“The doctor is a very private person” she said, anxious to protect her new secret identity.She turned to give Bernie a full-on debutante smile.“Tell me about your theater,” she said [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]