by Sue Margolis
“I’m sorry.”
“Thanks.”
“So, what happened?”
“After you left the other day,” she said, “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I realized I’d made a mistake and that Albert and I were never going to work. I adore Jake, but I couldn’t sacrifice my happiness for him.” Frank nodded. “And anyway,” she went on, “you can’t marry someone when you’re in love with someone else.” Despite herself, her face broke into a ridiculous smile.
“What?” he said.
She told him she’d just realized she was quoting Christopher Plummer’s line from the gazebo scene in The Sound of Music. “You know, that bit where he tells Julie Andrews he’s ditched the baroness.”
“I’ve never seen The Sound of Music,” Frank said.
“Oh, you should,” she said, relieved to have a chance to witter on about something inconsequential instead of having to explain why she was really there. “People laugh at it and make fun, but it’s got everything: music, romance, comedy, Nazis. You can borrow my video.”
He nodded without showing any emotion and she knew she couldn’t avoid the real issue any longer. “Frank, I know I’ve treated you very badly, but …” Her sentence trailed off.
“But what?”
“OK, it’s probably ridiculous, but I was wondering if there was any hope of us getting back together.”
He stared at her. “What? And have you change your mind again? I don’t think so.”
“But I won’t. I promise.”
“How do I know that?”
“I guess you don’t. I suppose I’m asking you to trust me. Anyway, Albert’s got somebody else.”
“Oh, I get it,” Frank said, springing up and walking toward the line of washing machines. “Albert walks out and so you come looking for me. Good old Frank, he’ll come running.”
“No, that’s not how it was,” she cried out, her voice full of hurt and indignation. But she could see his point. By now she was on her feet too. He had his back to her. “Frank, look at me.” He turned round to face her. “I’d decided to end it with Albert before I discovered he was seeing somebody else. And that’s the truth. I swear on Jake’s life. Ask Lizzie and Cass if you don’t believe me.”
He looked at her, his eyes boring into her. It seemed to go on forever. “I love you, Frank. That was never the issue. You know that. This was always about me trying to do what I thought was best for Jake. I got it wrong. You told me and I ignored you. Please forgive me.”
“I love you too,” he said finally. “I never stopped loving you. Not for a moment.” He allowed his face to break into a smile. “Come here,” he whispered. She practically threw herself into his arms, which he wrapped so tight around her she virtually couldn’t breathe. “And thinking about it,” he went on, “I really could do with somebody who knows about washing machines to come with me to choose a new one.”
“Oh, absolutely,” she said, looking up at him. “I mean, if you fancied, we could go on a trial date to the John Lewis white-goods department. You know, see how we get on.”
“I might be up for that,” he said.
“So, am I forgiven?”
“You’re forgiven,” he said, giving her another squeeze. “Although I’m not so sure about this weird fascination you have with The Sound of Music.”
“Believe me, you’ll love it.” She grinned.
“I’ll try anything once,” he said, clearly amused.
“Good. So, before we go on this trial date, could we maybe go back to your place and … you know.”
“People usually go out first and have sex afterward,” he said.
“Yes, but technically we have already been out on a date.”
“I suppose,” he said. The next moment he was kissing her on the mouth. By now her back was resting against one of the washing machines. As their kissing grew more urgent, the machine lurched into a violent, almost earthquakelike spin. Her back and hips shook as if she were performing some wild erotic dance. “I don’t know about you,” she giggled “but I think somebody up there is trying to tell us something.”
Frank grinned. “OK, c’mon, let’s go.”
“What about the washing?” she said. “It’s still in the dryer.”
“Sod the washing.”
They got to the street. “Oh, Frank, by the way, there’s just one thing.”
“Oh, God, what now? Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts again.”
“Absolutely not. But would you mind if I just took a quick look at your ears?”
“My ears? Why?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
He presented his head for her inspection. She examined one side and then the other. “Perfect,” she announced. “Absolutely perfect.”
Also by Sue Margolis
Apocalipstick
Spin Cycle
Neurotica
Praise for
Sue Margolis’s Novels
Apocalipstick
“Sexy British romp … Margolis’s characters have a candor and self-deprecation that lead to furiously funny moments… . A riotous, ribald escapade sure to leave readers chuckling to the very end of this saucy adventure.”
—USA Today
“[An] irreverent, sharp-witted look at love and dating.”
—Houston Chronicle
“Quick in pace and often very funny.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Margolis combines lighthearted suspense with sharp English wit … entertaining read.”
—Booklist
“A joyously funny British comedy … a well-written read that has its share of poignant moments … There are always great characters in Ms. Margolis’s novels. With plenty of romance and passion, Apocalipstick is just the ticket for those of us who like the rambunctious, witty humor this comedy provides.”
—Romance Reviews Today
“Rather funny … compelling … brilliant send-ups of high fashion.”
—East Bay Express
Spin Cycle
“This delightful novel is filled with more than a few big laughs.”
—Booklist
“A funny, sexy British romp … Margolis is able to keep the witty one-liners spraying like bullets. Light, fun …”
—Library Journal
“Warmhearted relationship farce … a nourishing delight.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Margolis does a good job of keeping several balls in the air at once.”
—Southern Pines Pilot
“A nice, refreshingly funny read.”
—America Online’s Romance Fiction Forum
“Satisfying … a wonderful diversion on an airplane, poolside, or beach.”
—Baton Rouge Magazine
Neurotica
“Screamingly funny sex comedy … the perfect novel to take on holiday.”
—USA Today
“Cheeky comic novel—a kind of Bridget Jones’s Diary for the matrimonial set … Wickedly funny.”
—People (Beach Book of the Week)
“A fast and furiously funny read … Scenes that literally will make your chin drop with shock before you erupt with laughter.”
—Cleveland Plain Dealer
“Taking up where Bridget Jones’s Diary took off, this saucy British adventure redefines the lusty woman’s search for erotic satisfaction.… Witty and sure … A taut and rambunctious tale exploring the perils and raptures of the pursuit of passion.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Splashy romp … giggles guaranteed.”
—New York Daily News
“A good book to take to the beach, Neurotica is fast paced and at times hilarious.”
—Boston’s Weekly Digest Magazine
“This raunchy and racy British novel is great fun, and will delight fans of the television show Absolutely Fabulous.”
—Booklist
“A lusty laugh-out-loud tale about adultery.”
—Woman’s Own
Sue Margolis’s
Other Hysterical Novels
NEUROTICA
SPIN CYCLE
APOCALIPSTICK
All available as Delta paperbacks
NEUROTICA
If He Always Has the Headache,
Why Should You Suffer?
Tabloid reporter Anna Shapiro can pinpoint the day, three years ago, when she and her husband, Dan, last had great sex. Anna would be grateful if something as ordinary as a mere headache were her husband’s excuse; Dan’s hypochondriacal terrors include brain tumors, tropical diseases, and spontaneous combustion. But now an assignment for a racy tabloid exposé inspires Anna to go where no journalist has gone before, to answer some questions that suddenly seem very important: What is the perfect outfit for committing adultery in? Is it beyond the pale to pick up a man—no matter how sexy—at a funeral? Yet the most crucial question is one Anna never expected: Is she willing to give up her marriage and children for the biggest gamble of her life?
“Taking up where Bridget Jones’s Diary took off, this saucy, sexy British adventure redefines the lusty woman’s search for erotic satisfaction… . Witty and sure… . A taut and rambunctious tale exploring the perils and raptures of the pursuit of passion.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Screamingly funny sex comedy … the perfect novel to take on a holiday.”
—USA Today
SPIN CYCLE
Her Husband Left Her for Another Man.
Her Boyfriend May Be Cheating.
Her Mother’s Got a Secret.
Is Everyone Having Great Sex but Rachel?
Lately, stand-up comic Rachel Katz’s life has begun to resemble a not-so-funny comedy routine—the kind where nobody laughs and everybody inches toward the door. It began when her husband cheated … with another man. Now she’s raising a ten-year-old son who’s fixated on Barbra Streisand and wondering if her dentist boyfriend—who won’t stop flossing long enough to make love to her—is having an affair.
Enter Matt Clapton, a wickedly sexy washing machine repairman who likes Rachel’s jokes and makes her feel like a woman for the first time in ages—maybe in her entire life. With her mother busy planning a wedding Rachel isn’t sure she wants, her son dead set on inviting Barbra to the reception, and the groom-to-be in South Africa working on someone else’s oral hygiene, the question is: What’s she going to do about it? Especially when fame and fortune beckon in a comedy contest that could put her on the map and change her life forever.
SPIN CYCLE tells a wickedly funny, shamelessly erotic story of lovers and liars, exes and children, parents and other strangers. This hip and hilarious novel features a heroine who never loses her sense of humor and who discovers, somewhere between the rinse and spin cycles, that love—and laughter—can truly conquer all.
“Rachel [Katz] is a first-rate comic, and this delightful novel is filled with more than a few big laughs.”
—Booklist
“Warmhearted relationship farce …
a nourishing delight.”
—Publishers Weekly
APOCALIPSTICK
A Wickedly Funny Novel About Sex, Romance, Wrinkles … and Other Natural Disasters
When it comes to men, beauty columnist Rebecca Fine always seems to be on the scruffy end of the mascara wand. But all that changes the morning she meets Max Stoddart, her new colleague at the Daily Vanguard. With his upscale suit, Hugh Grant hair, and obscenely good looks, he’s a single woman’s dream come true. But is Max the catch of the decade—or just a major babe magnet?
Meanwhile, Rebecca’s old high school nemesis has resurfaced, a former blond bombshell called Lipstick who is now engaged to Rebecca’s widowed dad. And it’s good-bye to articles on toe cleavage when a hot tip sweeps Rebecca to the center of the Paris cosmetics world, where a miracle antiwrinkle cream is about to be launched. That is, until she blows the whistle on a scandal that could set the beauty business—and the future of world peace—reeling. Will Rebecca win the recognition—not to mention the Pulitzer—she yearns for … and get the man of her dreams? Stay tuned.
“Sexy British romp … Margolis’s characters have a candor and self-deprecation that lead to furiously funny moments… . A riotous, ribald escapade sure to leave readers chuckling to the very end of this saucy adventure.”
—USA Today
“[An] irreverent, sharp-witted look at love and dating.”
—Houston Chronicle
BREAKFAST AT STEPHANIE’S
A Delta Book/June 2004
Published by
Bantam Dell
A Division of Random House, Inc.
New York, New York
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
All rights reserved
Copyright © 2004 by Sue Margolis
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the written permission of the publisher, except where permitted by law.
Delta is a registered trademark of Random House, Inc., and the colophon is a trademark of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Margolis, Sue.
Breakfast at Stephanie’s / Sue Margolis.
p. cm.
1. Women musicians—Fiction. 2. London (England)—Fiction. 3. Jewish women—Fiction. 4. Pianists—Fiction. I. Title.
PR6063.A635B74 2004
823’.914—dc22
2003064603
Visit our website at www.bantamdell.com
eISBN: 978-0-440-33501-6
v3.0