The Edible Woman

When Marian gets home, Ainsley is huffy; she thought Marian was going to be with Peter tonight, so she has planned for Len to come over. Though Marian has tried to avoid finding out too much about the whole situation, it is clear that things have gone awry. Ironically, Ainsley has made herself seem so young and so vulnerable that Len refuses to make real advances—and Ainsley cannot overtly flirt at all, as that would ruin the illusion of innocence she is trying for.

Ainsley presses Marian to go out of the house for the night. Marian can’t go to Peter’s, as Peter might accuse her of being possessive or jealous; she also can’t go to Clara’s, as Clara just had the baby. So Marian decides she will go to a movie. Elated, Ainsley informs Marian that she plans to use Marian’s room to seduce Len—if Marian sees a tie on her door, that means not to enter. Marian says nothing, just stares at the sink, with all its dirty dishes. Marian does not feel like cleaning the dishes right now.

Marian heats up a frozen dinner, waiting for the late movie showing to start. Again, Marian wonders if she should warn Len—but would Len even believe her, given how convincing Ainsley’s performance has been? Marian is also worried about the lady down below: what will she think if a man spends the night? With a sigh, Marian resigns herself to having to find a new apartment, and she heads to the movie theater. 

Marian chooses a Western movie and arrives to her seat after the film has already started. She watches the movie hazily, not even trying to follow the plot, which involves lots of good guys killing bad guys. Marian hears a cracking sound over her shoulder. When she turns to look, she is surprised to see Duncan, the man from the laundromat. He is eating something with shells, too small to be peanuts.

Though Marian does not acknowledge Duncan, she feels irrationally happy that he is beside her. Marian feels an instinctive urge to touch Duncan’s shoulder, but she holds herself back from doing so. A few minutes later, Marian hears a whisper in her ear—“pumpkin seeds.” But when she turns around to look at Duncan, he is already gone, having left only the “visible trail” of the shells.

Marian goes home, eager to fall into sleep. But when she arrives, the lady down below is waiting for her, ready to inform Marian that Ainsley has brought a man back with her and he has not yet left. Marian assures the lady down below that no such thing is possible. Back in her flat, Marian sees Len’s tie on her door.