The Only Living Boy in New York Page #5

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Am I the only living boy

in New York?

You are.

Hey, I was

outside your apartment.

You're not there.

I brought the essays.

I wanted to show you.

Did you sleep with her?

With who?

Johanna?

Why would you ask that?

They left the wedding

as quickly as we did.

I may be oblivious,

but I'm not stupid.

Why do you care?

- I just do.

- Why?

Thomas.

- Are you jealous?

- No.

- You sure?

- Thomas.

- I think you're jealous.

- Did you sleep with her?

She's my father's mistress.

You think that I would do that?

No.

Thank you.

You're sweet.

You're not like them.

- Like who?

- This city.

I want you to stop seeing him.

Come on,

I'm putting my foot down.

You don't get to tell me

what to do, Thomas.

I don't care

if your foot's down or up.

Why? 'Cause you don't care

about anything?

- What? -You obviously don't

care about anything at all.

Oh, so I'm a nihilist now,

am I?

I don't know anything

about you.

Where'd you grow up?

Brooklyn, Thomas.

That's why I have this accent.

Did you play sports?

No.

When did you first have sex?

Oh, my god, we're gonna talk

about my childhood now?

Yeah. I want to know you.

Where'd you grow up?

I grew up in London.

Which part?

Belsize park.

And then kilburn.

Why the move?

Because kilburn's

so much more real.

What'd your dad do?

What'd your dad do?

He put a gun in his mouth

and pulled the trigger.

I'm sorry.

I didn't know.

Why do you sleep with me?

Because I like you.

What do you like about me?

Your innocence.

Were you ever innocent?

I forgot.

Come on. Tell me.

I want to know

about when you were innocent.

- Why?

- Because I like the idea of it.

If you want someone so pure,

why are you with me?

Because I care about you.

Do you care about me?

I don't care about anyone,

remember?

But the truth was

she cared about them both.

And that's when she knew

this mess

would only get worse.

She had to make a clean break,

starting with Ethan.

What she didn't anticipate was

he'd surrendered too much

of his past

to give up on his future.

They're all moving

to, uh, Los Angeles.

New York, we're becoming...

Do you think

he's in love with her?

This has to stop.

Eh, you and your father,

you suffer from

the same disease.

Johanna.

"Visions of Johanna

conquer my mind."

- Mm.

- Why are you writing about me?

That's what I do.

I write about people I know

and then give it a thin veil.

But why me?

Look, I...

I got the apartment

to get out of the house

and write

a completely different story.

It just, it didn't

come across, you know?

- And mine did.

- Um...

And like everything good,

it happened by accident.

I met you. Now I got 118 pages.

My father's publishing house,

they're throwing

an anniversary party tomorrow.

You should come.

No.

You've heard all about these

people, but you never met 'em.

Be good for the book.

Huh.

Find a window. Pounce.

Pounce.

I broke up with Nick.

Did you?

You're supposed to be

more excited than that.

Hey.

Thanks for coming.

It's a great party.

Yeah. It always is.

Look. That's my mother

and Mimi.

She's beautiful.

Mm. I told you she was.

I was talking about

your mother.

Huh.

It's amazing.

It is amazing,

but I think you could...

Uh, sorry.

I want you to come

meet someone.

Oh! Who are we meeting?

- We're meeting my new friend.

- Your new friend.

- All right, I'll be back.

- Sorry. See you later.

I'll be back.

He was just here.

He was?

Oh, well, I'll meet him later.

- Come on. He was just here.

- Oh, there's Diana.

"I have looked down upon

the city from high windows."

"It is then

that the great buildings"

"lose reality and take on

their magical powers."

"Squares and squares of flame

set and cut into the ether.

Here's our poetry, for..."

"For we have pulled down

the stars to our will."

"To our will."

Ezra pound.

Johanna, I'm assuming.

We haven't met, have we?

No, but I know you very well.

And I know

that you're having your fun

and that he's young and easy.

But you'll have me to deal with

if he scars.

I don't like

strange conversations...

So I'm gonna walk away now.

I'll be back in a second.

Hey.

Uh...

What?

I really think we should

stop seeing each other.

- Thomas.

- What?

It looks bad. Come on.

I was ending it

with your father as well.

And not because

i didn't care for him.

I actually really do.

I care for him very much.

But, Thomas,

the thing is he proposed.

What?

And I said yes.

No. No.

- No, no. -Please, I don't

want this to be disruptive.

- Disruptive? He's not gonna leave her.

- Stop, stop, stop.

I'm not gonna let that happen.

No, this is

the best thing for everybody.

- For who?

- For everybody.

Judith's gonna be

so much better off.

She won't be suffering anymore

under the weight

of a dead marriage.

He's going through a cri...

He's just going through

a f***ing crisis,

that's all this is.

Come on, this doesn't

have to be this difficult.

Please, everybody can win here.

God made a mistake

when he made you beautiful.

Well, god's mistake

is marrying your father.

Not yet she isn't.

Look, can I just ask you

one thing?

If any of this comes out, who

do you think's gonna get hurt?

It's not me.

It's not Ethan.

We both know how to land

on our feet. And it's not you.

- You're so young.

- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

There's one person... one

person who will be destroyed,

and we both know who that is.

What do you think's

gonna happen?

You think you can get married,

you think you can have

the obligatory second family

and live happily ever after

in your dream world?

Well, obviously

that can't happen.

What is that supposed to mean?

- Wait, what is that

supposed to mean? -Hey.

What is it supposed to mean?

Stop it.

- Stop it, Thomas. Come on.

- I'm gonna tell him everything.

- I'm gonna tell him. Don't...

- Thomas.

Thomas!

Thomas, what are you doing?

It's raining.

Um...

Okay.

I...

I broke up with Nick...

Because I got into Croatia.

And I want you to come with me.

I slept with Johanna.

No.

You're not like that.

- And I thought that I was

in love with her. -Mm-mm.

You're good.

No, Mimi, I'm not good.

Mimi!

Mimi!

I'm sorry.

You are just like them.

They won, Thomas.

God, they've f***ing

bankrupted you.

- Hey. -Thomas!

Did you spend last night here?

Yeah.

Well, that was the best party

that kenta has thrown in years.

Everybody was drunk... and

not just our alcoholic friends,

but everybody.

Why did you spend the night?

I don't know.

I just... wanted to come home.

Are you upset?

Tell me about it.

What?

Is it about a girl?

And I'm your mother, so...

Things have gotten messy,

and...

I want to bail.

But I can't.

Well, then you know.

The only way out... is through.

Right?

Where's dad?

He left early.

He said he had to go to

the office and get some files.

He seems to have

gotten over what a...

Thomas?

- Dad?

- Thomas. Huh.

- We need to talk.

- Mm-hmm.

There are...

There are some things

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