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looked at David. He was looking away from her, up at the trees. The very top branches were waving in a high wind. She wondered what he was thinking. She held tighter to his arm. “The changes I want…I don’t know. I mean, sometimes, you need help, you need someone else.”
    David looked at her and smiled, but he didn’t say anything. As they emerged from the park the streetlights flickered on, and they found themselves in a pool of amber light.
    “What are you doing tonight?” Lillian asked. “Would you like to get a drink? Or some dinner?”
    “I don’t think so,” said David, extricating his arm from Lillian’s. “I think I’ll head home.” Actually, he was meeting Heath at the Japan Society to see a movie. He knew if he mentioned it to Lillian he would have to invite her, and he didn’t want to. He wanted to be alone with Heath. That’s fair, he told himself, but he still felt a little guilty.
    “Well, good night then,” said Lillian. “It was good to see you. Maybe we can do something this weekend.”
    “Call me,” said David. He leaned over and kissed Lillian’s cheek. “Good night,” he said. He began walking down Fifth Avenue, along the cobblestone sidewalk, beneath the canopy of trees. When he looked back, Lillian was still standing where he had left her. Although he was too far away to see her face clearly, something in the way she stood alarmed him. She looked as if she were lost—or lost at least in thought—and he stood for a moment and watched the people hurry around her, everyone either going home or going out, everyone walking quickly and purposefully to their singular destinations.
    Gregory ordered a bottle of champagne.
    “What’s the occasion?” Loren asked.
    “Actually, I do have some news,” Gregory said. “But first I want to ask you something.” He buttered a piece of bread. Loren was looking particularly beautiful tonight, and her beauty unnerved him. I don’t want to blow this, he thought.
    “What?” Loren repeated. She took a piece of bread but didn’t eat it. She tore it into little pieces.
    “Do you always want to live in New York?” Gregory asked.
    “That’s an odd question,” Loren said. “What do you mean?”
    “Have you ever thought about moving away?”
    “Of course,” said Loren. “I’ve thought about it.”
    “And what did you decide?”
    “Nothing. I mean, obviously I’m still here. But I’ve never had a real reason to think about it very seriously.”
    “Now you do,” Gregory said.
    The waiter appeared with their champagne. He opened it deftly and poured two glasses. Gregory picked his up. “Cheers,” he said. “To us.”
    “Wait a minute,” said Loren. “What’s going on?”
    Gregory put his glass down. “I’ve been offered a new job,” he said, smiling. “Producing at Lorimar.”
    “In LA?”
    “Yes,” Gregory said.
    Loren sipped her champagne. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, holding up her glass. “Congratulations. That’s great—cheers.”
    Gregory touched his glass to hers. “Cheers,” he said.
    “And you’re going to take it?” Loren asked.
    “I don’t know. It depends.”
    “On what?”
    “On you.”
    “Oh,” said Loren.
    “I was thinking maybe we should move to California,” said Gregory.
    “Oh,” said Loren. She drank more champagne. A vaguely famous looking woman entered the restaurant. Who is that? Loren thought. Is that Pat Harper?
    “What are you thinking?” Gregory asked.
    “I don’t know,” Loren said. “I mean, wow—California. I’d have to leave my job. And what about Kate?”
    “You have joint custody. You could work something out, I’m sure.”
    “I don’t know as I’d want to. And what about David?”
    “What about him? How does this concern him?”
    “Well, taking Kate. He wouldn’t like that. It would be horrible. And I don’t know, you know…I like seeing him. I mean, Los Angeles is pretty far away.”
    “I think that’s good. I think it would be good for you to