Four

They arrive at the condo. It is part of the Ritz hotel, close to Battery Park at the tip of New York City. It is art. Every room looks like the pictures in design magazines. It smells so clean. The children are sleeping and the babysitter leaves after he is paid.

She stands at the corner of the condo alone. Millions are getting ready for bed behind the huge glass windows. Others are working, but not most. The river is black, tucked in hours ago by the city lights. It is not her time to sleep.

This is her new family. She wants to understand this life in the sky. Eric, Michael's cousin, takes her upstairs to pick the wine, but he already knows what bottle they will have. She does not get to look at the collection. She could have studied it for hours, but he reaches for one.

"Have you had this?"

"Wow. No, but I have read about it many times. Very special wine."

"Then we need to have this."

They do not need this, but she appreciates the generosity and his sensitivity to her knowledge and love of wine. She opens the wine and prepares the glasses.

They are in the music room now. The speckled horizon waits while they play. Eric loves music too. She melts into Michael as she sips this lovely wine and listens to Louis Armstrong sing to her, to them. The purest sound ever heard from speakers. Eric asks for requests and gets very excited when he can gratify them almost instantly. He also makes his own selections. His eyes light up when his audience shares the same liking. Ester, Eric's wife, never joins us in the music room. The children stay sleeping.

Michael leaves and it is just Eric and her. She is wrapped in a blanket on the couch, smiling. He tells her Michael could never do any better, thinking that is a nice compliment. She understands what he means, but this isn't how she thinks about anything. But he always thinks about what is best. There is a penthouse in his building. There is a partner at his law firm. There is a 45 year old woman who loves music and being a mother. Michael returns and she kisses him and asks if he is also ready for bed.