Julia stood up to meet him; she called him darling and thanked him sweetly with a hand squeeze. Then she sat back down on the couch, her cigaretted hand outstretched, the other hand resting on the pack of two hundred as if it were a toy dog. I have never seen anyone more regal. She reminded me of Leon. They must have been a great couple. Beautiful, fun, charismatic, those special creatures it’s hard to envy because, despite their flaws and lies and shallowness, they enhance the world by existing. Julia saw the awe on my face. She recognised it. She pouted and graced me with a small, wry smile,
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