Free Small World by Tabitha King

heel and walked away.
    Leyna nodded a dismissal to her crew and handed in her mike, saying thank yous as she passed by. She was free to join the party. As she searched the crowd, decided where to move first, someone handed her a glass of champagne. She found herself hand in hand with Nick Weiler.
    ‘Thanks, love,’ Nick said. ‘Dorothy’s pissed at VIP for that trick, and now she’s pissed at you for it, and she’s royally pissed at me.’
    ‘Good. Maybe she’ll drown in it,’ Leyna said pleasantly.
    ‘You miss the point. She might have endowed the Dalton, she might have given us the bloody dollhouse, the rest of her collection. She owns several Sartorises, you know!’
    Leyna shrugged elegantly. ‘I had no idea old Mike had stolen so much. Sorry, I didn’t know. Thought it was all wrapped up. And I think you’re being greedy about the Sartorises. Isn’t your father going to dump the lot on the Dalton when he kicks it?’
    ‘Who knows what my father’s going to do?’
    ‘Well, can’t you fuck her out of them?’
    ‘Why don’t you talk like that on the air?’ Nick couldn’t help grinning. ‘Millions of perverts would be ecstatic.’
    ‘I was saving it for you.’ Leyna swayed closer to him. ‘I remember hearing you and Dolly aren’t that close anymore.
    Picked up with sweet little Lucy, the hero’s brave widow, haven’t
    you?’
    ‘I thought you were looking after the interests of the Republic, keeping an eye on the politicians, and here I find out you spend your time listening to low gossip,’ he twitted back.
    ‘Same thing, and I do have time for other things. Your ears should be getting red, darling. I just saw your friend Lucy with Dolly. I bet they’re comparing notes. Not that you have any shame.’
    ‘I was saving it for you,’ Nick said.
    Leyna laughed, low in her throat.
    Nick Weiler clasped his hands behind his back. He looked like a cat near a swinging door.
    ‘Will you do the Sunday segment on the Dalton?’ he asked.
    ‘Roddie’s doing enough film tonight to paste something together,’ she answered him. ‘We’ll need some talkee-talkee with you, of course. Let’s plan it out tonight.’
    Leyna wasn’t kind enough to look the other way while Nick fought with himself. He damned her internally for her boldness. But why should she be shy with him?
    ‘I’ll be here late, shutting up the store,’ he said at last. ‘I’ll try.’
    Leyna nodded. ‘Good.’ She waved at someone she knew.
    ‘Excuse me,’ Nick said, but it was Leyna who moved off, with a vague pat on his arm, and a cool social brush of her lips on his.
    The Dalton was empty of all but staff when Nick found Lucy again, curled up in a tangle of wraps on the sofa in his office. She was not so much asleep, as he discovered when he bent to kiss her, as passed out. So much for the prince’s magic kiss tonight.
    He managed to bundle her into the car. She huddled as far from him as she could, slipping from half-consciousness to sleep and back again many times on the ride home. He was wretchedly aware of the distance separating them. It was as if the sea had ebbed unexpectedly and left him with the endless flats and a distant curl of water catching light.
    Mr. Novick was asleep too, in front of the rolling patterns of the television screen. Nick paused to turn off the set, while Lucy kicked off her shoes. She presented a blind cheekbone for a glassy kiss and, picking up her shoes, slipped up the stairs to her bedroom without a word.
    Nick let himself out, relieved to escape her silence. It had been bad enough that she wouldn't talk to him, worse that she seemed to prefer unconsciousness to his company. He felt distinctly like a blind date that hadn’t passed approval.
    He turned back to the lights of the city, aware of not being the least bit sleepy. It seemed as if he might be the only person among millions who was not asleep. A rare and sudden surge of anger tore through him. He wanted to go back into the house and