Chapter 10: Rule Two

She came at ten that night, with no coat and no pins in her hair.

"It's not the office," she said. "Rule one."

"It's not the office."

I let her in, and for a minute we stood in my kitchen not touching.

I had been trying to work out how to say it all day.

"Justine was in your lobby this morning," I said. "She told me something about Nigel."

Margot went still.

"Rule two," she said.

"I know. I broke it. I'm sorry."

"What did she tell you?"

"That he has a wife in Chicago. Married over a year, and he's been lying to everyone, her included."

I kept my eyes on her face.

"I keep thinking about the wife," I said. "Somebody ought to tell her."

For a long moment Margot did not breathe.

"She knows," she said at last. "She's known since the spring."

"Do you know her?"

"Rule two, Nathan."

"Why would she stay married to a man like that?"

"Her reasons are hers."

It was a strange answer for a woman who had never met her.

I noticed it, and I put it aside to ask about later.

Then Margot took hold of my shirt with both hands.

"Stop talking," she said. "Take me to bed."

"I'm not sure that's..."

"You said you wouldn't pretend it was a mistake. I'm holding you to it."

I kissed her.

She kissed back with her whole weight.

We crossed the room that way, bumping the counter and the door frame.

She got my shirt over my head in the hall.

By the bedroom door she was out of her blouse.

By the bed I was unhooking her bra with unsteady hands.

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