his trousers. Lie back, he said, and the man, with his eyes still closed, lay back upon the bed. He felt the businessman lifting up his hips and sliding his pants down, but they would not come off over his boots.
Damn it, the businessman said. He knelt down and unlaced the man’s boots and pried each one off.
Socks on or off? he asked.
On, said the man.
All right, said the businessman, I want you to stand up just for a second so I can turn back the covers. You don’t really have to stand, just get your ass up off the bed. Can you do that?
Yes, said the man. He leaned up and off the bed.
The businessman steadied him with one arm while the other quickly snatched back the bedclothes. There we are, he said, and pushed the man back down on the bed. You can lie down now. Why don’t you open your eyes now? It might make it easier.
Yes, said the man. He opened his eyes. The businessman’s hotel room was similar to his own only all the colors were different. The coverlet, for example, was royal blue.
Lie down, said the businessman, and I’ll tuck you up.
The man lay back upon the bed and let the businessman yank the bedclothes out from beneath him and then pull them to his chin and tuck them tightly under the mattress.
Don’t move, he said. I’m going to get you something that will help you sleep.
The man watched him enter the bathroom. A moment later he returned with a glass of water in one hand and a pill in the other. He held out the hand with the pill but the man’s arms had been tightly tucked beneath the coverlet and he did not want to extract them so he opened his mouth.
The businessman put his hand on the man’s back and lifted him up a bit, and then he put the pill in the man’s mouth. He held the glass of water to the man’s lips and the man sucked in enough water to swallow the pill. The businessman put the glass, which was still almost full, on the night table. He turned off the bedside lamp. Now the only light came from the lamp on the other night table and from the open bathroom door. The businessman sat on the bed, stroking the hair off the man’s forehead. I’ll stay here till you fall asleep, the man heard him say.
Thank you, the man said. You’ve been very kind.
The businessman moved his hand from the man’s forehead to his cheek, which he cupped with his large hand. The man felt the warmth and surprising softness of the businessman’s hand on his cheek and pushed his face against it, like a cat making sure it gets petted the way it wants.
THREE
The lobby was empty and cold. It was the size of a skating rink. It was dark; there was no red glow from the bar. It looked like the photographs the man had seen of ballrooms in sunken ocean liners.
He had left the businessman sleeping in his bed and had gone down to retrieve his room key from the reception desk but there was no one there and his key was not in the appropriate cubbyhole. He could not remember if he had returned it to the reception desk before going out to dinner the night before. Or perhaps it was in the businessman’s room, or perhaps he had lost it in the basement toilet of the restaurant. But in any case he did not have the key and if he wanted to get back into his room he would have to knock on the door and awaken his wife, assuming she was sleeping. Assuming she was in the room.
He took the elevator to the fifth floor and walked down the darkened hallway. Just as he was about to knock he noticed a mezuzah affixed to the door frame. He had not noticed it before. Was it the wrong floor? Or the wrong room? But no, there was the number, 519, affixed in faux-gold plastic numbers at the center of the door.
He knocked, quite loudly, because he wanted to only knock once. He waited a moment, but nothing happened, so he knocked again.
He was about to knock a third time when he heard his wife say, Who is it?
It’s me, he said.
The door opened and his wife stood there, but for a moment, in the dimness, he did not recognize her. She was