She was out of breath and wanted to sit down somewhere outside so that if Hugh came after her she would have a chance to see him first and get away. On top of the Fifth Avenue bus she saw that the night was starry and remembered about the new fortuneteller who read the stars. Tessie said she was wonderful. She went to the woman, who did arithmetic about her for a long time and it seemed silly. If the woman really knew what was going to happen she would rule the world and not have to do arithmetic at ten dollars a person. She walked all the way back to Fifth Avenue and didn't know where to go next. The broad low steps of St. Patrick's led to a wide open door and women were going in so she did too and the church quiet and incense soothed her. So many people were praying it seemed too much to ask God to pay special attention to someone who never went to church, but she felt cleaner from sitting there. Being in the church made her think of Simone, who was very religious. If only she had some of that stuff Simone had to make her feel better. There was that writer in Greenwich Village she had met who knew all about such things. Maybe the thing to do was get her mind off trouble and everything and she might get a good idea of how to start over again on Broadway. The writer seemed nice and friendly over the phone and said he wished she'd come right down. She took a taxi and when she got there he gave her a few drinks and then some hashish. She lay on a couch and flies as big as human beings crawled around the ceiling molding. That was all. Except that the writer began to bother her so she left and it was four o'clock in the morning and a policeman gave her a look and luckily there was a taxi and she got in and went to the Athenée where they knew her and let her in and it was clean and quiet and she could sleep.
But she couldn't sleep. Every time she heard a man's or woman's voice in the hall it was Hugh's or his spy Lily's and once when she dozed for a minute the door opened and Horta, Hugh, and Lily walked in and she woke up screaming. Then she was sick in the bathroom.
Later she telephoned the druggist who had her prescription to send the sleeping pills. When the bellboy came with them she told him to leave the package outside because it might be a trick of Hugh's to get in. Two capsules didn't work, so she took another.
The next morning she tried to make up her mind about ordering coffee. If she did, the waiter would be a man. She would wait until
