Free Odd Girl by Artemis Smith

think of Esther and she wanted to cry.
    They had reached the Fifties and Jacques turned off Fifth Avenue and parked. Carl's house was white and had three floors. A wrought-iron gate had to be passed before the steps to the front door could be reached. Behind the gate a beautiful fountain surrounded by ivy plants immediately took them away from the heart of the city.
    "What a waste," Jacques sighed. "He lives in all of it and won't even rent me the attic!"
    Anne laughed. "Why should he? It's marvelous that he can live in a whole house in the middle of the city."
    Jacques rang the doorbell timidly and they waited, feeling awkward in such impressive surroundings. The iron door finally opened and a small and quiet maid recognized Jacques and let them in.
    The inside was very dark and smelled of lemon-oil polish on old oak. At the end of a long hallway they saw an open door and a light.
    "He's in the study," the maid said to Jacques, led the way to that door and immediately disappeared when she had done so.
    From the study they heard Carl shout, "Do come in. Don't just stand there."
    They entered timidly and saw books from floor to ceiling and a Jackson Pollock on a white wall. Carl was on a ladder, replacing a book. The hi-fi set's turntable was revolving silently at the end of a record.
    "Do come in," Carl repeated. "I just want to put this away."
    He wore a dressing gown of pure silk, Arabian in its rich design and very likely authentic. "Darlings, I'm so glad you came," he said, climbing carefully down the ladder. "I thought I was doomed to an afternoon of drink." He walked slowly and carefully to two leather easy chairs and motioned for them to sit. "Now at least I'll have company. What'll you have?"
    They both said scotch and he poured three and brought them on a tray to where they were sitting.
    He is handsome, Anne decided, lean and sickly, but handsome.
    "How nice of you to come," Carl said to her, smiling warmly although it distorted his face. "I hope Jacques warned you that Esther isn't home."
    Anne nodded: "We came to visit you."
    "That's nice, that's very nice," he said, handing them the drinks. Then he sat down on the carpet between them, looking quite Oriental in his many-patterned robe. Anne noticed that his feet were bare. He had left his slippers by the French windows.
    "Jacques, will you put another album on the hi-fi?" he said. Jacques immediately rose and went to the record section. He was being so obedient, Anne thought with amusement.
    Jacques put on some Cesar Franck and returned to his chair. There was a long silence. Finally Carl said, "What sort of girl are you, Anne?"
    "She's gay," Jacques volunteered, thinking to clear the air. But it did nothing to further the conversation.
    Carl smiled and winked at Anne. "I meant, what do you do?"
    "I paint," Anne said.
    "She acts, too," added Jacques. "It's too bad she's given it up."
    "It wasn't my calling in life," Anne smiled. "What do you do?"
    "I drink," Carl said. He put the glass to his lips wickedly and then sat looking down at his toes.
    Anne decided that he was not as old as he seemed, perhaps not more than thirty-five. But he seemed older, perhaps because of bad health. She wondered what was making him ill.
    "He was a captain in the Navy," Jacques said after a pause.
    "Please let's not talk about my past," Carl exclaimed with faint annoyance, "let's talk about you, Anne." He leaned forward. "Jacques didn't tell me you were so pretty."
    "I'm not," Anne said. Inwardly she rebelled at this remark. She always rebelled when men complimented her.
    "She's a mad bull inside," Jacques laughed. "You haven't seen her in drag!"
    "My mistake," Carl smiled. "I saw the dress and thought she was femme." They were both playing for laughs and it irritated Anne. She rose impatiently and went to look out the French windows.
    Cesar Franck was now quite loud and the two men let it create a pause in the conversation, and then Carl turned to Jacques and asked him how he had