In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

"Thanks, my name is Penelope Bell, and this is Alessandro
Tivoglio, choreographer. We're working on a piece together. Thanks,
Otto, it's been a pleasure. I'll think about what you said. We should be
in New York after the new year, I'll look you up then." She fumbled
around her knapsack for her card, but couldn't find it, so she pulled out
her Palm Pilot.
"Can I beam you my card?"
"Certainly, my dear! Undt I vill beam you mine!"
They aligned their handhelds and cross zapped the info.
Dr Züt got up, nodded curtly to Sandro, and clip clopped out.
"Wow! That was weird!"
"Why did you do that?" he hissed in her ear.
"Don't you see? This guy's was at a conference in Bruxelles,
that's where NATO is, right? I mean, he's a big shot. He could help us
with the purple problem and he could help us with the Ng problem,
even with that surveillance stuff back home. I'm kinda worried about
returning there without some one to turn to, you know?”
"Porca Miseria! I thought you did not trust your government,
this guy has a Washington office!" he cried, clutching his brow.
"What makes you think he's a government man?"
"I dun know, I dun know, but no government will help you."
"Probably not, but this Dr. Züt is a free agent, he's a foreign
intellectual, he's interested. Maybe he can help!"
"Oh, Dio, Penny."
"What's your problem, all of a sudden?"
"Niente! Camarero, encora due! Pardon, Lucien, je suis
completement foutu, ce soir. Encore deux bières, non, une bière et un
whiskey, un Black Label."
"Pronto, mon vieux." Lucien winked at Penny on his way.
"What am I going to do? The music's frying my brain. I've been
real careful with my ears, but if I blow one I still have another. Only got
one brain."
"Maybe the cumulative effect, Ula says."
"Yeah, maybe," She twirled her lemon on the froth.
"So, how's our dear Ula doing?"
"You dunt want to know." He leaned on his elbow, his eyelids
clamped shut.
"Worse?" Penny waited for a response.
"Unfortunately, no. Now that she is feeling better and has
nothing to do and no one to torment, she is obsessing on you!" he
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