Mindbend

Dr. Norton had stopped him not once but twice for grammatical errors, interrupting Adam’s train of thought. Consequently, Adam had left out an important part of the case history. At the end Dr. Norton had merely nodded and asked the chief resident about another patient.

Then, to round out the day, Adam had been called down to the emergency room because it was understaffed and had been given the job of pumping out the stomach of a young attempted suicide. Inexperienced in such a procedure, Adam had made the girl vomit, and he’d caught it smack in the chest. And if that weren’t bad enough, fifteen minutes before he was to be off duty, he got a complicated admission: a fifty-two-year-old man with pancreatitis. That was the reason he was so late coming home.

Passing the alley that communicated with the scenic airshaft outside their apartment, Adam saw the assortment of trash cans that the sanitation department noisily emptied three mornings a week. Today the cans were full to overflowing, and a couple of scrawny alley cats had braved the rain to investigate.

Adam backed through the front door to their building and closed the worthless umbrella. For a moment he stood in the ancient foyer and dripped onto the tiled floor. Then he unlocked the inner door and began mounting the three flights of stairs to their apartment.

To announce his arrival he pressed the doorbell as he pushed the key into the first of several locks. They’d been broken into twice during the year and a half they’d lived there. Nothing had been stolen, though. The thieves probably realized they’d made a mistake as soon as they saw the beat-up furniture.

“Jen!” called Adam as he opened the door.

“I’m in the kitchen. I’ll be out in a second.”

Adam raised his eyebrows. Since his hospital hours were so irregular, Jennifer usually waited until he was home to start dinner. Sniffing the savory aroma, he went into the bedroom and took off his jacket. When he walked back to the living room, Jennifer was waiting. Adam gasped. At first it appeared that she was only wearing an eyelet apron. Naked legs stretched from the bottom edge of the apron to high-heeled mules. Her hair was brushed straight but held back from her face with combs. Her oval face seemed to be illuminated from within.

Lifting her arms and positioning her fingers as if dancing a classical ballet, Jennifer slowly revolved. As she turned, Adam saw that under the apron she was wearing a lavender teddy edged in lace.

Adam smiled. Eagerly he reached out to lift the front edge of the apron.

“Oh, no!” teased Jennifer, avoiding his grasp. “Not so fast.”

“What’s going on?” laughed Adam.

“I’m practicing to be the Total Woman,” quipped Jennifer.

“Where in heaven’s name did you get that . . . thing?”

“This thing is called a teddy.” Jennifer lifted the front of the apron and pirouetted again. “I bought it at Bonwit’s this afternoon.”

“What on earth for?” asked Adam, wondering how much it cost in spite of himself. He didn’t want to deny Jennifer something she wanted, but they had to be careful on their budget.

Jennifer stopped dancing. “I bought it because I always want to be attractive and sexy for you.”

“If you were any more attractive and sexy for me I’d never get through medical school. You don’t have to dress up in frilly stuff to turn me on. You’re plenty sexy the way you are.”

“You don’t like it.” Jennifer’s face clouded over.

“I like it,” Adam stammered. “It’s just that you don’t need it.”

“Do you really like it?” asked Jennifer.

Adam knew he was on thin ice. “I love it. You look like you belong in Playboy. No, Penthouse.”

Jennifer’s face brightened. “Perfect! I wanted it to be right on the border between sexy and raunchy. Now, I want you to march right back into the bathroom and take a shower. When you come out, we’ll have a dinner that I hope will make you feel like a king. Go!”

Jennifer forcibly propelled Adam back into the bedroom.

Before he could say anything, she shut the door in his face.

When he was finished showering, he discovered that the living room had been transformed. The card table had been brought from the kitchen and laid for dinner. Two empty wine bottles with candles stuck in them provided the only light.

The silverware sparkled. They only had two place settings.

Each had been a present from Jennifer’s parents, one on their wedding day, the other on their first anniversary. They rarely used them, leaving the pieces wrapped in tinfoil and hidden in the freezer compartment.

Adam walked over to the kitchen and leaned against the door. Jennifer was working feverishly, in spite of the handicap afforded by her high-heeled slippers. Adam had to smile. This woman tottering around his kitchen did not look like the Jennifer he knew. If she noticed him, she gave no indication.

Adam cleared his throat. “Jennifer, I’d like to know what’s going on.”