Page 66 of Edge of Eternity (The Century 3)

"Oh." George was taken aback. Somehow it had not occurred to him that she might already be dating. "Uh, I have to go to Atlanta tomorrow, but I'll be back in two or three days. Maybe over the weekend?"

"No, thanks." She hesitated, then explained: "I'm kind of going steady."

George was devastated--which was stupid: why would a girl as attractive as Maria not have a steady date? He had been a fool. He felt disoriented, as if he had lost his footing. He managed to say: "Lucky guy."

She smiled. "It's nice of you to say so."

George wanted to know about the competition. "Who is he?"

"You don't know him."

No, but I will as soon as I can learn his name. "Try me."

She shook her head. "I prefer not to say."

George was frustrated beyond measure. He had a rival and did not even know the man's name. He wanted to press her, but he was wary of acting like a bully: girls hated that. "Okay," he said reluctantly. With massive insincerity he added: "Have a great evening."

"I sure will."

They separated, Maria heading for the press office and George toward the vice president's rooms.

George was heartsick. He liked Maria more than any girl he had ever met, and he had lost her to someone else.

He thought: I wonder who he is?

*

Maria took off her clothes and got into the bath with President Kennedy.

Jack Kennedy took pills all day but nothing relieved his back pain like being in water. He even shaved in the tub in the mornings. He would have slept in a pool if he could.

This was his bathtub, in his bathroom, with his turquoise-and-gold bottle of 4711 cologne on the shelf over the washbasin. Since the first time, Maria had never been back inside Jackie's quarters. The president had a separate bedroom and bathroom, connected to Jackie's suite by a short corridor where--for some reason--the record player was housed.

Jackie was out of town, again. Maria had learned not to torture herself with thoughts of her lover's wife. Maria knew she was cruelly betraying a decent woman, and it grieved her, so she did not think about it.

Maria loved the bathroom, which was luxurious beyond dreams, with soft towels and white bathrobes and expensive soap--and a family of yellow rubber ducks.

They had slipped into a routine. Whenever Dave Powers invited her, which was about once a week, she would take the elevator up to the residence after work. There was always a pitcher of daiquiris and a tray of snacks waiting in the West Sitting Hall. Sometimes Dave was there, sometimes Jenny and Jerry, sometimes no one. Maria would pour a drink and wait, eager but patient, until the president arrived.

Soon afterward they would move to the bedroom. It was Maria's favorite place in the world. It had a four-poster bed with a blue canopy, two chairs in front of a real fire, and piles of books, magazines, and newspapers everywhere. She felt she could cheerfully live in this room for the rest of her life.

He had gently taught her to give oral sex. She had been an eager pupil. That was usually what he wanted when he arrived. He was often in a hurry for it, almost desperate; and there was something arousing about his urgency. But she liked him best afterward, when he would relax and become warmer, more affectionate.

Sometimes he put a record on. He liked Sinatra and Tony Bennett and Percy Marquand. He had never heard of the Miracles or the Shirelles.

There was always a cold supper in the kitchen: chicken, shrimp, sandwiches, salad. After they ate they would undress and get into the bath.

She sat at the opposite end of the tub. He put two ducks in the water and said: "Bet you a quarter my duck can go faster than yours." In his Boston accent he said quarter like an Englishman, not pronouncing the letter r.

She picked up a duck. She loved him most when he was like this: playful, silly, childish. "Okay, Mr. President," she said. "But make it a dollar, if you got the moxie."

She still called him Mr. President most of the time. His wife called him Jack; his brothers sometimes called him Johnny. Maria called him Johnny only at moments of great passion.

"I can't afford to lose a dollar," he said, laughing. But he was sensitive, and he could tell she was not in the right mood. "What's the matter?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "I don't usually talk to you about politics."

"Why not? Politics is my life, and yours, too."

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