The Pajama Affair Read Online Free PDF Page A

that she felt the piece of tape.
    “I have to tell you something weird,” she prefaced.
    Marion gagged and choked on a sip of coffee. “You’re pregnant.”
    “What? No,” Liza yelled before making herself relax. “Why would you even guess that?”
    Marion shrugged and wouldn’t meet her gaze.
    “ Marion ,” she pressed.
    “It would be a guaranteed way to get Dirk’s attention and snag a commitment.”
    Liza’s cheeks flamed. Marion knew her better than anyone in the world. The fact that she thought she would stoop so low was a blow, and also a revelation. Had she sunk so low in her pursuit of Dirk?
    “What was the weird thing?” Marion asked tentatively. Her eyes were apologetic. She knew she had given offense, but she hadn’t meant to.
    Liza sighed and tried to brush aside her bruised feelings. “This,” she said. She pulled the piece of tape out of her pocket and set it on the table.
    “It’s a piece of tape,” Puck said, clearly unimpressed.
    Liza nodded. “I found it in my pajamas.” She told them the strange tale of waking to find the tape in her pajamas.
    “I’m sure it was there all along and you missed it,” Marion said reasonably.
    “But the tape wasn’t wrinkled, and the ink is fresh. You know how masking tape looks when it goes through the wash,” Liza argued.
    Marion shrugged, clearly disinterested. She stood and began to clear the dishes.
    Puck leaned forward intently, his eyes gleaming. “Was there anything else unusual lately, anything out of the ordinary you noticed?”
    Liza pressed her lips together and thought hard. “The lock on my front door was sticky, and the mat was askew.” She frowned, remembering. “And when I came inside I caught a whiff of strange cologne.” She had forgotten all that in light of the tape. But those were all such little things. They couldn’t mean anything, could they?
    Puck smiled triumphantly and brushed a lock of long bangs out of his eyes. He was really quite cute, in a little boy sort of way. “Aw, man, I can’t believe this. This is awesome.”
    “What is awesome?” Marion asked the question Liza was thinking.
    “Don’t you see? Someone broke into Liza’s place and left that message in her pajamas.” In his excitement he rocked back and forth a couple of times as he spoke.
    “Who leaves messages in pajamas? A disgruntled Fruit of the Loom?” Marion asked, although she spoke affectionately because she was looking at Puck with a smile.
    “Nah. Come on, Mar. Think about it. What better place to leave a message than the pajamas of an unsuspecting schoolteacher?” he said.
    “Anywhere on the planet,” Marion replied, then giggled when Puck drew her onto his lap and bit her neck.
    Liza looked away and fought back the sudden sting of tears. Such a simple, loving gesture, but one Dirk had never performed with her. In fact, she had never sat in his lap, and she didn’t remember him ever touching her in a way that would make her giggle. This was why they never double dated with Puck and Marion. Not only because it was difficult to imagine stable and conscientious Dirk spending the evening with someone named “Puck” but also because it would be a glaring example of all that was lacking in their relationship--the causal intimacy, the little touches and looks. The romance .  
    “Seriously, though,” Marion said, straightening. “What possible motive could someone have for leaving a message in Liza’s pajamas?”
    “That’s what makes it brilliant,” Puck said. “There is none.” The two women were looking at him in confusion. He sighed in exasperation. “Don’t you see? If you wanted to hide something, really hide it, you would put it in the least likely place. If someone was looking for that message they would search all the usual places, but they would never think to search somewhere random. It’s like instead of making your computer password the name of your dog, you make it the name of your third grade teacher’s dog.