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For once, silence wasn’tme time to reflect and think I smelledmyself ponder Paul’s optimism
When I arrived home, Apollo rushed to me and sniffed me all over as soon as I entered the foyer I squatted down and he lickedOccasionally, he looked back to the door as if expecting Abby to enter
“I know I know you miss her”
He whined again and pawed at me
“Soon ht
She didn’t call on Monday I spent the day infor it to ring, and I gave Sara explicit instructions to let me know the second Abby called
It was okay, I told myself She needed time She had to think
Kyle called and invitedweekend I agreed to go and ran over and over in o
Yes No Maybe
I slept restlessly that night
Tuesday wasn’t any better I went ho every day that passed meant either she wouldn’t call or else she’d tell me she didn’t want me around when she did call
My phone rang right after I’d eaten a quick dinner and was getting ready to take Apollo out for the night
Abby King, the caller ID said
My heart thuer
“Hello,” I said
“Nathaniel,” she said, voice crisp and no-nonsense “It’s me”
I knoanted to yell I know, trust me
“Abby,” I said instead Tuesday night was good, right? It was a good sign Tuesday would be much better than Thursday or even Wednesday
“There’s a sushi bar down the street from the library,” she said “Will you meet me there for lunch tomorrow?”
“Of course,” I said She wanted to ood “What time?”
“Noon”
“I’ forward to it”
That settled it—Tuesday was my most favorite day of the week
I arrived at the restaurant at five to twelve and looked around for an empty table Then I found the most wonderful surprise—Abby was already there, had a table, and aiting for me
Waiting for me
I straightened my tie and walked directly to her Her eyes followed me the entire time, and my heart leaped when she smiled at me
Fucking lucky-ass bastard
“Abby,” I said, sitting across from her
The corner of her mouth lifted “Nathaniel”
I sood
The waiter walked up to our table and took our orders Abby knew exactly what she wanted and ordered her rolls with an air of authority
I took a deep breath after handing the waiterto be a beautiful spring”
“I can’t wait for the cherry trees to start bloo They’re my favorite”
See? I told myself You can do small talk
“I have a few at the house Apollo loves to roll around in the blossoms once they fall”
She laughed “I can see hi that”
“It’s a sight to behold,” I said, but I wasn’t talking about Apollo I was talking about her Her sitting across fro beautiful
“Apollo’s one of a kind”
“That he is”
“Hoork?”
“Just lobal econo?”
She sat up straighter “I’s, Frost You know, all those boring things no one ever reads?”
She was teasing me
I loved it
“Then you do the people of New York a great service by ensuring the poetry greats are kept alive”
“I don’t know about that, but it’s really fun”
“Do you read the never been to a poetry reading
“Sometimes,” she said “But I’ve decided to split this one up We’ll give each poet their own reading, taking place over the next feeeks Dickinson’s up first—next Wednesday Ithis time”
“Felicia,” I said “Jackson talks of nothing else How is she?”
“Fine I decided to let her live, even though she e at the party”
“Very cordial of you”
“After all”—her eyes sparkled with amusement—“she wasn’t the one who called my name in front of hundreds of people”
She was still teasing me
“In that case,” I said, “I co me to escape with my life”
“It was nothing I’lad you did it Now, that is”
The teasing tone had all but left her voice, and I kneas time to talk about more serious matters
“Before we talk about anything else,” I said, “I need to tell you so”
“Okay,” she said warily
“I need you to understand that I am in therapy to work onNot my sexual needs”
My doctor, along with Paul, and to a certain extent, Todd, had helped me see my lifestyle was completely acceptable Why I needed that assurance, I didn’t know, but I felt better having it