Midori paused, then said, 'Sure, why not. Let me just call the nanny first, make sure she can stay a little longer.'

Delilah raised her eyebrows innocently. 'Oh, you have kids?'

Midori nodded. 'Baby boy. Hang on.' She pulled out a mobile phone and walked a little way off. After a moment, she came back. 'Okay, we're fine. How about L'Angolo, right next door? It's a neighborhood kind of place, if you like.'

'That sounds great.'

'Just give me a few minutes, then.'

Delilah nodded. Midori disappeared in back for a moment, then came out in a waist-length black leather jacket. They headed for the door. A few more patrons thanked Midori on the way out. She got hugs from the bassist and the drummer. The bartender waved and the bouncer gave her a European double kiss. She was obviously liked here, and at ease. It was her world.

They walked over to the bar Midori had in mind. Delilah unobtrusively checked their surroundings as they moved. She noted that Midori did not.

The bar was nice – a neighborhood place, as Midori had said. It was old and dark, with couches and other upholstered furniture arranged in clusters across an expanse of white tiled floor. The sounds of conversation and music were nicely balanced. You could talk here without shouting.

They sat at a table in one of the corners. Delilah took one end of a couch, her back to the wall; Midori, an overstuffed adjacent chair, her back to the window. Delilah paused for a moment to listen, then said, 'Good song. Oystein Sevag. Learned about him from a friend in Oslo.'

'So it's not just jazz, then?'

Delilah smiled. 'Oh, no. I like everything.' She picked up a menu. 'Well? What do you feel like?'

'Oh, I don't know. Probably just a glass of wine.'

'Should we see if they have a Beaujolais? The Nouveaux just came out, and there are some fun ones this year.'

'That sounds great.'

Delilah looked at the menu and was pleased to see that they had the Domaine Dupeuble, which she thought was among the best of the recent harvest. When the waitress came over, Delilah ordered a bottle. That might have been more than Midori had in mind, but she didn't object.

'How do you like New York?' Delilah asked. 'Your website says you're originally from Tokyo.'

'I love it. This is the second time I've lived here, and it feels like another home.'

'What brought you back?'

'Mostly a job opportunity.' The reply had been smooth enough, but Delilah thought Midori's features had clouded just for an instant as she recalled the circumstances of that move. Interesting.

The waitress brought the wine and moved off. Delilah picked up her glass. 'Cheers,' she said. 'It's very good to meet you.'

'Likewise,' Midori said. They touched glasses and drank.

Delilah knew to start slowly. The secret to seduction isn't really the target's attraction to the seducer. It's more how the seducer makes the target feel about himself. Or, in this case, herself. Yes, looks and appearance are important, but only as a foundation. What has to follow is the feeling of pleasure and flattery brought on by the notion that such an alluring creature could be so genuinely fascinated with me. Making someone feel important, worthwhile, the center of a universe to which he would ordinarily fear to aspire… that was a seduction.

So during their first, and then their second, glass of wine, Delilah asked mostly about Midori's jazz background. Delilah was a fan, after all, and the questions were natural enough. Where did you learn to play the piano? What's the connection to New York? What attracted you to jazz? Who are your influences? What does it feel like to compose a song?

Unlike most men, Midori wasn't entirely blinded by Delilah's attention. She asked lots of questions of her own. But Delilah always managed to turn the conversation back to Midori.

When they had poured out the last of the bottle, Delilah glanced at Midori's hand, as though noticing for the first time that she didn't have a ring. 'Are you married?' she asked.

Midori shook her head. 'No.'

'Forgive me. You had mentioned a baby, so…'

'Nothing to forgive. The father lives in Japan.'

Delilah thought it had the feeling of a rehearsed response. It was just deliberately vague enough to ward off further inquiries without causing discomfort.

'That must be hard,' Delilah said.

'No. It's actually for the best.'

Midori offered nothing further, and Delilah understood that, even buzzed from the wine and Delilah's evident interest, Midori wasn't inclined to talk about this.

Change tack. Try a revelation, a shared confidence.

'My mother raised me alone,' Delilah said, now entirely improvising. 'When I was a girl she wouldn't talk about my father.'

Midori leaned forward slightly. 'Why?'

'Well, I didn't find out until much later. My father left her pregnant with me for another woman.'

'Did you… are you in touch with him now?'

Hmm. Midori had just jumped about two conversational steps ahead of what Delilah had been expecting. Delilah's story had obviously tapped into something that was on Midori's mind.

'I've seen him,' Delilah said, holding back to see whether her story provoked enough curiosity to get Midori to ask more questions.

It did. Midori asked, 'How was that? I mean, if I'm not being too personal.'

Yes, this subject was definitely on the woman's mind. Interesting. Delilah shook her head and said, 'It was okay. He'd like to have a relationship now, but I don't know. I grew up without him and never missed him. At this point, I don't know that I need him in my life.'

Midori nodded. 'So you didn't miss him when you were a girl? You didn't wish… you know, that he and your mother had reconciled, that kind of thing?'

'No. I think it was better that they didn't. Some things shouldn't be forgiven.'

'Not even for the children?'

'No, of course for the children. But the question is, what's best for the children.'

Midori took a sip of wine. 'You're right. That is the question.'

There was a long pause. Delilah said, 'It sounds like this is something you've been thinking about.'

Midori nodded. 'Just recently, the father showed up unexpectedly and paid us a visit.'

Delilah felt her heart beat harder, but her face betrayed nothing.

'Really? How was that?'

Midori sighed. 'Confusing. I thought I'd made up my mind, but now… I don't know.' She took another sip of wine.

Delilah saw an opening. 'Well, if he's the father, why isn't he in your life?'

'It's a long story, actually, and not something I'm comfortable talking about.'

Okay, that wasn't the right approach. She would have to find another way. 'I'm sorry.'

'No, it's all right. It's just… you know, when he saw the baby, that's what really turned my head around. He cried. I'd never seen him cry before. He's not the crying type. And then, two minutes later, we were kissing like I couldn't believe. I don't know how I managed to ask him to go. If he'd pushed it a little harder… I don't know. I just don't know.'

Delilah's face went hot with jealousy and anger and she hoped she wasn't flushing. She had always assumed that, when he wasn't with her, Rain had other women. She certainly had her fill of other men. They didn't get to see each other frequently, and she didn't expect either of them to remain celibate during the other's absence. But a passionate kiss with an ex-lover, which sounded like the start of something much, much more? That was totally different. After all, he had said he was coming to New York to see his child, not to fuck his old girlfriend. And he would have, that was clear, he'd been trying to do just that but Midori had turned him away.

She let out a long breath and took a sip of wine. 'Sounds like you have a pretty strong connection.'