The Easy Hour: A Novel of Leisure

LESLIE STELLA is the author ofbFat Bald Jeff/b. She lives with her husband in Illinois. Visit her website at www.lesliestella.com.Chapter 1brbrSobriety was on me before I could get out of the way. It was the mirror's fault. I woke up with the worst hangover of the modern era but was not shocked into full equanimity until I saw that creature lurching out of the glass. What...what happened to me? I had worn a smock and clogs to bed--why? A cigarette butt had burrowed deep into my hair. I combed out other debris (cork remnants, a toenail, a toothpick with a bit of bacon clinging to it) and deftly applied makeup with the help of a grout bag and trowel. The phone rang.brbr"How horrible for you!" began Tim in a delighted voice.brbr"It's a bad one," I admitted. "I slept in clogs."brbr"Not your hangover! I'm talking about the Chicago Society article. What did you do to that reporter last night? He hates you."brbrTim saved me the trouble of running out to the nearest newsstand in my clogs, smock, and fatback hat, and began to read aloud.brbr-------brbrDIETRICH'S HALLOWEEN--A HONEY OF A TIMEbrbrBy Babbington HawkesbrbrThe fabulous and salty Honey Dietrich outdid herself last night with a Halloween dual benefit for two new projects, the restaurant Nub (you know where it is) and infantile melanoma (a very sad type of cancer). Amazing to see the Daleys (cowboy and cowgirl) rubbing elbows with Dennis Farina and Keanu Reeves (Mafia hitman and extremely cute mad scientist). Honey herself, divine in retro couture, provided an outstanding Sonoma chardonnay from her family's West Coast winery and Nub chef Pietro Bangalore offered the best of Nub's eclectic nouvelle American bistro cuisine...brbr...dancing to the sounds of the Weasel Walter Five were our own Roger Ebert (thumbs up on the cabbage patch, Ebes!), Judd Nelson (with new Prince Valiant coif--methinks a starring role in the next Merchant-Ivory