Page 15 - The Myth and the Moment

Morning

“He just walked in, looking for an audition. What’s the matter,
Nate: don’t you recognize her?”
“I’m afraid the face is familiar, but the name—”
“Oh, Nate, I’ve truly gone through a metamorphosis. You may
remember Allison Schlimmer, the actress.”
What! Put the hose down before you kink it, nitwit! This is too
much.
“You’re her sister?”
“Ha-ha-ha! Come on, Nate, don’t look so baffled. Aestheria is
Allison, or used to be, or something. I wish I had a camera, Nate, just
now when it dawned on you. Well, I insist on getting you at least a
ginger ale. Why don’t you entertain him for a minute, Madame
Butterfly? Metamorphosis, hee-hee!”
Slow down, heart. God, she still has the power to cloud men’s
minds. Get the hose coiled and onto the hook. Twist the vacuum
intake valve closed. No air in the line; pressure okay. But not in my
rusty old pipes. Just go back and walk out the gate and everything will
be fine. Oh. Still there.
“It’s been a long time, Allison.”
“Aestheria, Nate. I’m not the person you knew a long time ago. Or
did you know me? Why is your aura flickering with confusion?” Oh,
no.
“Well, of course, I do feel somewhat at a loss, seeing you and
Kolpak all of a sudden.”
“Why are you cleaning pools, Nate? Have you given up your
Muse?”
“Really, Allison—” Oops! “—Aestheria, very few people make
money writing, but almost all of us need to make a living. It’s not bad
work, really; out-of-doors, light exercise, reasonable hours.”
“But for you writing wasn’t just a means of making money, Nate.
You wanted to communicate ideas, present political possibilities to an
audience. And your plays could do that: I know; I acted in one of
them.”
“Yes, I remember it well: you played Margo Dashti in Archimedes’
Lever. But you had me change the part in some significant ways, I also
recollect.”
Does she know what she did to that play? Turned a technocratic
satire into a bedroom farce.

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