Chapters 49-62 <\/a><\/p>\nWRITING NUMBER 63<\/p>\n
\u201cThat girl is a convoluted mess!\u201d Tom exclaimed to Dennis when he found him back at the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you that the other day,\u201d said Dennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe stayed five minutes. After I walked all the way to Caf\u00e9 Blu to meet her!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you walked to Caf\u00e9 Blu, big deal. That\u2019s nothing to complain about. Caf\u00e9 Blu\u2019s four blocks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought her another bouquet of carnations which she kept. That was ten dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell you\u2019re the biggest sucker on earth then, aren\u2019t you, when it comes to this woman.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow could she stay just five minutes with me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it was too crowded for her. Did you think of that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCrowded? At Caf\u00e9 Blu at five-thirty, who would be there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows? That place is cramped.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was empty, Dennis. What\u2019s your point?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to find some reason she left so fast. If it wasn\u2019t crowded, the only reason I can come up with is she couldn\u2019t stomach you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re wrong about that, Dennis.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad to hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re a hundred percent wrong about her not stomaching me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad to hear you\u2019re stomachable, seeing as I\u2019m around you a lot. What\u2019d Andrea leave for then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told you she left because her head\u2019s a mess.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight her head\u2019s a mess. And I told you I knew she was a mess two days ago. So you\u2019ve told me nothing and taken me exactly nowhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 63<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 64<\/p>\n
As soon as Tom and Andrea had seated themselves at a table in the corner, Andrea said, \u201cThis is probably going to be a waste of your time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell I\u2019m here,\u201d Tom shrugged still pleasant, \u201cand so far it\u2019s pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
As the waitress came over to them, Tom waited for Andrea to say something, but when she kept her eyes lowered, Tom regretted his attempt at a compliment. He asked tentatively, \u201cWould you like a drink?\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrea shook her head and said, \u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGive us a couple more minutes,\u201d Tom said waving the waitress away.<\/p>\n
Andrea shook her head a few more times without saying anything. \u201cI shouldn\u2019t have come here,\u201d she said finally. She picked up the bouquet and stood up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait, have one drink with me,\u201d Tom said quickly.<\/p>\n
Andrea shook her head again no.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t have to worry about your mother\u2019s buildings,\u201d she said, \u201cthat\u2019s all I wanted to tell you. But I don\u2019t want my company to hurt the tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re worried about the tenants,\u201d said Tom surprised, \u201cif that\u2019s what\u2019s bothering you, it shouldn\u2019t,\u201d said Tom. \u201cSit down. Come on. My mother takes good care of her tenants.\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrea remained standing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know she does,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m glad she does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell? So?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said I was misleading your mother, remember?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, but, I apologized to you for that.\u201d
\n\u201cBut you were right. I did mislead her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK,\u201d said Tom slowly, \u201cwhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Andrea remained silent until Tom said, \u201cWhat is it? What did you do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI said things to your mother I didn\u2019t mean.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that\u2019s what\u2019s bothering you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. I don\u2019t want to deceive your mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I deceive people,\u201d Tom said simply. \u201cSometimes I talk too fast. It\u2019s business. It happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like this business!\u201d said Andrea suddenly furious. She took a step away from the table and turned to the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait, what\u2019s so bad about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to deceive people!\u201d said Andrea turning back around to face Tom. She held his bouquet with both hands tight up against her chest. \u201cI don\u2019t want to deceive people like your mother! I\u2019m sorry for what I said to her. When you talk to her, tell her I\u2019m sorry!\u201d she said and she walked as quickly as she could through the tables and left.<\/p>\n
End of writing number 64<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 65<\/p>\n
So little happened at this first meeting between Andrea and Tom and I so much expected something sexually significant would pass between them.<\/p>\n
Andrea\u2019s soft straight shiny hair and her breasts had attracted Tom\u2019s gaze, there is that. Breasts can be powerful certainly to a man like Tom but how important can soft hair be? There are three billion Chinese and thousands of Eskimos with soft straight hair like Andrea\u2019s and Tom has never been attracted to any of them. Andrea\u2019s hair was light brown and she played with it a little with a mild red dye so that coloring might have made a difference. But it was the shine and the straightness much more than the color that had caught Tom\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n
Andrea\u2019s voice and her hair and her breasts of course are recommending her to Tom right now. Nothing however is recommending Tom to Andrea.<\/p>\n
I wanted Andrea to see in Tom something handsome and confident and liberating also, but she was too dissatisfied with herself and too upset about deceiving Bertie to notice much about Tom. Tom has given Andrea three bouquets of white carnations. These three bouquets might lead somewhere eventually if this narrative turns out to be nine-hundred pages long.<\/p>\n
I need to accept yet again that Andrea will not do what I want her to do. I have tried with Andrea, I have tried very hard, but she refuses me and the way she refuses is by becoming false. It is as if Andrea says to me, \u201cI know what I\u2019m about and I will fall in love here if you force me to, Claude, you sorry hopeless ass, but I\u2019m not anywhere near ready and my love will sound phony. If you can live with a love phony and forced, if that is the kind of love you want, Claude, I can set that love out for you very prettily so it almost seems authentic. Than you can wrap yourself up in it with Tom and me and see how good this phony love makes you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 65<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 66<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrea hates businessmen,\u201d Dennis explained to Tom. \u201cI suspected so listening to her that night with your mother but now I\u2019m sure of it. That\u2019s the whole problem with her right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow can she hate businessmen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know, Tom. That\u2019s what I\u2019m saying to you, it\u2019s lunatic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut that\u2019s ridiculous, Dennis. We\u2019re Americans. Business is what a lot of us do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure it is. She\u2019s spoiled. Probably comes from privilege. That stuff about deceiving your mother is crap floating in her head. She just doesn\u2019t give a shit about making a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you figure that, Dennis?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s ignorant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t say Andrea\u2019s ignorant, Dennis, because she doesn\u2019t want to make a lot of money.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not but she doesn\u2019t know what she\u2019s talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe seemed to know what she was talking about to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m telling you she doesn\u2019t know anything about life. All right? Life. That\u2019s an unknown realm to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, Dennis, you\u2019re mistaken about her. She was convinced she did something wrong to herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLike what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. But like she\u2019d been corrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe doesn\u2019t know how to spell corrupted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe sounded like she\u2019d corrupted herself. That\u2019s what she sounded like.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cListen to me please, Tom. I\u2019ll be quick.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGo ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe needs to have that kind of mental shit kicked out of her head once or twice really hard with a boot so she\u2019ll wise up to life\u2019s demands! She thinks business and money corrupt people? Since when and where? A few errors some business people made over five centuries?<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething horrible needs to happen to her, I\u2019m absolutely certain about that now. Suffering\u2019s the only way she\u2019ll learn how wrong-headed she is. Some nights in a city hospital would be a start. A week of poverty-stricken medical care in some Medicaid hospital room, with three terminally ill patients moaning all night for morphine, some nights like that would do her good. Let her live through some agony like that lying next to her and she\u2019ll come to see the importance of having a soft cushion of money to lie on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot maybe. When life bruises her enough, or scares her enough, she\u2019ll run to money and bury herself in it no matter who has it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not so sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m telling you she\u2019s a problem, Tommy. If I were you, I\u2019d be careful if you\u2019re thinking about seeing her again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, I know you\u2019re not but I\u2019m saying if you do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, if I do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were attracted to her, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhysically?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat other way is there, Tom, frankly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you asking me about then? You saw her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dennis smiled. \u201cSo you were, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew it. You better watch out. You\u2019re not as indifferent as you like to think. None of us are.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnless you want to get closer to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, I know you don\u2019t but I\u2019m saying let\u2019s say you do. If you\u2019re thinking about messing around with her, take her to some nice restaurant and drop a hundred dollar bill at her feet like by accident, like a hundred dollars whoops but it\u2019s nothing, you don\u2019t really give a shit. If she doesn\u2019t stoop to pick that money up and smile and start acting sweeter towards you, she\u2019s rebellious and irrational so tell her you need to use the bathroom and get out of that restaurant fast. That\u2019s my advice.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 66<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 67<\/p>\n
When Tom called his mother to find out what Andrea had said to deceive her, Bertie exclaimed, \u201cAndrea didn\u2019t deceive me at all!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me she did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell she did no such thing!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrea told you not to sell your buildings, didn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe talked about different,\u201d Bertie began uncertainly but Tom interrupted her.<\/p>\n
\u201cMother, did Andrea tell you not to sell your buildings? Yes or no?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAndrea said I should be careful about selling my buildings, yes she did say that to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid she tell you not to sell them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell yes, I suppose she may have said that in a way.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would a real estate broker tell you not to sell your buildings? What\u2019s she up to?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, this is stupid, this is so stupid!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean stupid? What\u2019s stupid about it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re behaving ridiculously, Tom!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you see those buildings don\u2019t mean anything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThose buildings are worth a lot of money, Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to hear about money! Is that all you think about, you and Dennis?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHold on, Mother.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t! Andrea\u2019s tormenting herself for no reason!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do you know what she\u2019s doing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTom,\u201d said his mother coldly, \u201cyou listen to me now. If you can\u2019t feel Andrea\u2019s torment, you are seriously out of whack with yourself as a human being. I mean it, Tom. You call that poor woman and you find out what\u2019s troubling her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll call her. All right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll call her today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, you better, and you find out what\u2019s troubling her or I will.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 67<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 68<\/p>\n
But Tom did not call Andrea.
\nInstead, that afternoon Tom walked home slowly past Andrea\u2019s office building thinking about what his mother had said to him and nursing the faint hope he would bump into Andrea on the sidewalk just by chance.
\nThis slow foolish walk past Andrea\u2019s office building brought no sign of Andrea of course, so the next afternoon Tom lingered in front of Andrea\u2019s building just as the offices emptied.
\nAfter fifteen minutes of this charade, Tom felt so self-conscious he stormed away muttering he would stop waiting to meet Andrea and call her. Tom swore to himself he would call Andrea as he had promised his mother he would but he did not.
\nInstead, the next day Tom ate lunch at a coffee shop across from Andrea\u2019s building and sat in the booth at the window staring out.
\nEven though Tom sat in that coffee shop\u2019s booth and infuriated the manager by lingering while customers waited, and even though Tom again stood outside Andrea\u2019s building from five until past six that afternoon, Tom never saw Andrea.<\/p>\n
End of writing number 68<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 69<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe she quit that job,\u201d said Dennis sensibly.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just a shitty temp job, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, yeah, no, it wasn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you mean no?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was becoming something more maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat more? Andrea was just a held-over temp wasn\u2019t she?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell yeah, but if someone wants, they can work their way up, uh, and crap like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, right, Andrea could work her way up-uh, right up-uh to the top uh the tree to pick the ripest banana. You gonna call her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you told your mother you would.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat if I did? I\u2019m not calling Andrea on the telephone at her office.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow come?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI just can\u2019t do it. I can\u2019t pick up the phone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want me to call her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can call her if you want, no problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks, Dennis, but no.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Because I don\u2019t want to call her. I was just saying I would.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI figured.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know what\u2019s going on with yourself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou only met this woman once.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, uh, one time and you\u2019re paralyzed? It\u2019s uh\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s fucked up, Tommy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis kind of stuff, Tom,\u201d Dennis said shaking his head disapprovingly, \u201cyou know what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s like a damn illness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more like a mental illness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it is. But I\u2019m all right.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. I\u2019m gonna figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you?<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. I\u2019m gonna figure it out. Definitely I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen? I\u2019m just asking.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSoon. Very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, \u2018cause, you know, the sooner the better. There\u2019s things we got to do. Some bazookas coming, pow pow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tom looked dazed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean clients?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah,\u201d said Dennis.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean work?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, you know, we stand to make a few bucks, it\u2019s no big deal, just business. I can handle them if you want.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I\u2019m fine. I can work.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou sure?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. Same as always.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 69<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 70<\/p>\n
Later that afternoon, when Tom finally called Andrea\u2019s office and asked for her, Dan Albero took his call and told Tom that Andrea had not been to work for four days.<\/p>\n
Andrea had called twice each day the first two days to say she was in bed sick but she had not called in yesterday nor today. Dan asked Tom if Andrea had mentioned anything to him about problems she had and Tom said no.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing about your mother\u2019s buildings? No problem about them came up between you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, none at all,\u201d Tom hedged.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are interested in those buildings, you know that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Andrea\u2019s not that experienced, so maybe something was said that upset her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand, but we had no problem whatsoever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI see,\u201d said Dan dissatisfied.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a pleasant chat,\u201d Tom lied. \u201cI don\u2019t even remember the details,\u201d Tom lied again. \u201cI assumed we\u2019d talk more the next day but Andrea never called me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Andrea say she\u2019d call you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe implied she would,\u201d Tom lied.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout your mother\u2019s buildings?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, of course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI called her twice but her machine picked up,\u201d said Dan concerned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWould you mind if I called her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Dan hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean at her home?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, that\u2019s her personal number,\u201d he said doubtfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow about if I leave Andrea a message you called?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, sure,\u201d said Tom reluctantly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOr instead, look, why don\u2019t we just give Andrea another twenty-four hours, what do you say about that? Your mother\u2019s buildings aren\u2019t going anywhere. Why don\u2019t we wait one more day, how would that be?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fine,\u201d said Tom, \u201cbut listen, do me this favor. Let me give you my florist\u2019s number. She\u2019ll send Andrea a bouquet for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou want to send Andrea flowers?\u201d asked Dan suspiciously. \u201cI\u2019d like to send her a get-well-soon bouquet, yes. A dozen white carnations.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t we see if Andrea calls me back,\u201d said Dan putting Tom off.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Andrea doesn\u2019t call in this afternoon, perhaps then I should give your florist a call.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 70<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 71<\/p>\n
When Andrea again failed to call the office, Dan called Tom the next morning to tell him Andrea was still not to be found.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, I\u2019ll call your florist,\u201d said Dan, \u201cbut what\u2019s going on between you and Andrea? Straight up, what\u2019s been going on?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can I tell you? I\u2019d like to cheer her up,\u201d said Tom evasively.<\/p>\n
\u201cCheer her up?\u201d echoed Dan. \u201cYou\u2019re telling me that\u2019s all you\u2019re doing? To cheer Andrea up, that\u2019s what you want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, I would.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, fine, if that\u2019s what it is. If that\u2019s what these carnations are really for.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what they\u2019re really for,\u201d said Tom flatly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right, I got it,\u201d said Dan snappish. \u201cBut let me remind you the first time you came here, you gave Andrea carnations and you told me you\u2019d never met her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never had.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally huh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you expect me to believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy wouldn\u2019t you? It\u2019s true.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe. And maybe there\u2019s some romance gone wrong and that\u2019s why I can\u2019t find Andrea. You\u2019ve been lying to me and you\u2019re not lying to me very well but I got it, I finally got it.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 71<\/p>\n
*<\/p>\n
WRITING NUMBER 72<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Dan guy called you a liar?\u201d asked Dennis amused.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah he did, a couple of times.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he? That\u2019s something, man, that\u2019s really good.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess Dan Albero\u2019s not so dumb, is he, I mean as dumb as you thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never said he was dumb, Dennis. I said because of the way he treated me, he was an asshole.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, and there\u2019s this large difference in your mind between someone being dumb and someone being an asshole?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe not.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOK, but it seems to me Albero\u2019s not such a dumb asshole since he caught on you were trying to get Andrea\u2019s phone number out of him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe and maybe not, Dennis. I don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah well you keep saying you don\u2019t know and maybe not, but Albero knew you were lying to him and he kept you away from Andrea\u2019s phone number, which you wanted, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe did keep you away from her phone number, didn\u2019t he?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, he did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo that\u2019s not dumb and that\u2019s not asshole. That\u2019s paying attention.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it is and maybe it\u2019s not, Dennis. But maybe the florist now has Andrea\u2019s home address, kuh-fucking-peesh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell maybe she does, huh,\u201d said Dennis thoughtfully.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo maybe the florist has Andrea\u2019s address, Dennis, maybe not her phone number, right, but her address. Maybe her phone number too. Not that I want it anymore, you know? What the fuck! What is the big god damn deal with this guy\u2019s sacred privacy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, I get you now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis guy Albero, man, Dennis, think about him! He may not be dumb but he\u2019s an asshole and he\u2019s got no business interfering with me, not about sending flowers to Andrea if I want to.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat am I supposed to do, stand in front of her office building like Andrea\u2019s lost dog? I\u2019m standing on the sidewalk waiting for Andrea three days and she\u2019s not even coming to work? Try that as what looking ridiculous feels like.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what\u2019s it to Albero anyway? What is he, her father? And even if he was.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe tells me Andrea\u2019s home phone is her personal number, like I don\u2019t know that? What\u2019s he think, she shares a pay phone on the corner with a car service? No, Andrea has her own phone in her own apartment, her own personal phone, yeah. Amazing huh?<\/p>\n
\u201cTrouble is if I call Andrea\u2019s private and extremely personal phone number that she has in her own private apartment, the entire earth will burst into flames. And Andrea, who never harmed anyone and nurses sick birds back to life nights and weekends with an eyedropper, she\u2019ll be killed because I called her at her home to ask how she was and tell her I\u2019d like to see her sometime. Plus, I never liked this guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
End of writing number 72 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Possibility of Being Who You Are<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-233","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ducts.sundresspublications.com\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}