Gomez Gomolinski

Gomez Gomolinski, also known as Jan Gomolinski, is Charisse’s boyfriend and a forcefully sociable presence in Clare’s circle. His first meeting with Henry turns a nervous dinner visit into an immediate exchange of jokes and recognition; later, Gomez’s curiosity about Henry’s unexplained reputation opens a path toward their future friendship.

First Meeting with Henry

On November 30, 1991, Henry arrives at Clare’s apartment for dinner carrying yellow freesia and Australian Cabernet. He has not met Clare’s friends and does not know what to expect. A deep voice directs him up four flights of stairs, where he meets a tall, blond man with an immaculate pompadour, a cigarette, and a Solidarnosc T-shirt. Henry finds him familiar but cannot place him; the name Gomez seems incongruous with his Polish appearance. He learns only later that Gomez’s real name is Jan Gomolinski.

Gomez greets Henry as “Library Boy,” and Henry answers, “Comrade!” The pair exchange the flowers and wine while sizing each other up, their political joke establishing an easy, provocative rapport before the dinner has begun. Gomez then leads Henry down the long hallway of Clare and Charisse’s railroad apartment, where the decor mixes antique petit-point chairs with velvet Elvis paintings and Duke Ellington plays at the far end.

Place in Clare’s Circle

In the kitchen, Gomez announces Henry to Clare and Charisse as a new toy, inviting the women to call him Library Boy. Clare greets Henry with a chaste kiss, and he turns to meet Charisse. Gomez’s playful introduction gives way to Charisse’s dry rebuke: she tells him to stop talking and jokes that she keeps him around to lift heavy objects. Gomez immediately adds sex to the list. Their banter presents him as a familiar, teasing partner to Charisse, while making clear that she can answer his theatrics in kind.

Gomez also takes on the practical role of host. When Henry accepts a beer, Gomez retrieves a Blatz from the refrigerator and hands it to him. The casual gesture helps draw the new arrival into the apartment’s domestic gathering, even as Gomez remains its loudest and most conspicuous presence.

What Gomez Knows About Henry

Later, over a meal, Gomez tells Henry that he is not as clueless as he may look. He has been paying attention to Henry for some time, even before Clare brought him home, and has heard about him through people who know him—particularly women. He says that those women tell strange stories. Henry, preoccupied with his own earlier misdeeds and reluctant to justify them, initially regards the subject as none of Gomez’s business; nevertheless, Gomez’s accumulated observations bring Henry’s hidden life into the conversation.

Henry explains that he vanishes unpredictably, sometimes for minutes, hours, or days, describing the disappearance as a reliable trick. Gomez asks whether they know each other in 2000. Henry replies that they do, and that they are good friends. The answer confirms a future intimacy that their first encounter only hints at, while leaving its intervening history unstated.

Curiosity and Narrative Role

Gomez immediately asks Henry to tell him his future. Henry refuses, recognizing the request as a bad idea. The exchange gives Gomez a direct, comic response to Henry’s disclosure: he is fascinated enough to ask for personal knowledge across time, but Henry draws a boundary rather than turning that knowledge into a prediction.

Across these scenes, Gomez serves as both a social bridge into Clare’s circle and a perceptive observer who has begun to notice the odd stories surrounding Henry. His boisterous jokes establish the surface of his character; his attention to Henry’s reputation reveals curiosity beneath it. The promise that they will become good friends makes the first meeting more than a comic introduction, while the refused request for a forecast marks a limit on what their new intimacy can provide.