"So, here are my choices. Be with them both? No. Pat would agree with it, if I wanted to do it, but it would break her heart. Break up with Pat and be with Claudia, if she would even want a full-time lover? Claudia, who doesn't care about any of this? No, then I've walled off two parts of my life, and I can't think that's a good idea."
"Well, the problems of two little people don't amount to a hill of beans–"
Her dimples made a rare appearance. "Oh, hush," she said. Then she shook her head. "They don't, though."
She finished her beer. "You know why it's good to talk to you? Because I can tell you what a rotten person I am." She caught my expression. "I am, though. Because I'm saying all this good and noble stuff, and in the back of my mind there's this little voice. It's reminding me that, if I did choose Claudia, it wouldn't work anyway. It would never be the same, not after that scene today. She hated that, really hated it. She hated admitting about our relationship, she hated me putting my hand on her shoulder in front of you all, she hated people talking about her lover and her ex-lover fighting over her, she hated everything about it. It wasn't going to be the same after that." She sighed. "She'll leave town, I'll bet on it." She looked up and stuck out her hand, her pinky finger extended. "Bet? Dollar?"
I shook my head. "Sucker bet. You're right, and I'll bet Erika goes with her."
She nodded as she stood up. "That's a sucker bet, too." I got up also, and she circled her arm through mine (through my forearm, really, given the difference in our heights). "Come on," she said, "we've got a couple of nice ladies waiting for us. Let's not make them wait any longer."
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