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“Good,” Julee said, clearly terrified She passed the phone to Norine, who peered at the tiny ie

“Very good,” Norine said, showing Annalisa the photograph

“Ridiculous,” Annalisa said

“I think it’s fabulous,” Norine said She handed Julee the phone and crossed her ar for another lecture “Look, Annalisa,” she said “You’re rich You can do anything you want There’s no bogey to punish you”

“I thought God punished us,” Annalisa said under her breath

“God?” Norine said ?

??I’ve never heard of such a thing Spirituality is only for show Astrology, yes Tarot cards, yes Ouija boards, Kundala, Scientology, and even born-agains, yes But a real God? No That would be inconvenient”

In her office, Mindy wrote: “Why do we torture our husbands? Is it necessary or the inevitable result of our inherent frustration with the opposite sex?” She sat back in her chair and regarded the sentence with satisfaction Her blog was a success—over the past twoher on her courage in addressing topics that were off-limits, such as whether a woiven her children “It’s all about the existential question,” Mindy wrote “As women, we’re not allowed to ask existential questions We’re supposed to be grateful for e have, and if we’re not, we’re losers Can’t we take a break from imposed happiness and admit that despite e have, it’s okay to feel e and lifebad about it, why can’t we admit it’s normal?”

This same unsentimental eye was applied to e was like democracy—imperfect but still the best system women had It was certainly better than prostitution

Mindy reread her opening sentence for the week’s blog entry and considered what she wanted to say next Writing a blog was a bit like going to a shrink, she thought—it forced you to exas But it was also better than a shrink, because you got to do your navel-gazing in front of an audience of several thousand as opposed to one And in her experience, that one—the shrink—was usually half asleep and expected money “This week, I realized I spend at least thirtymy husband,” she wrote “And to what end? There are no consequences” She looked up and saw that her assistant was standing in front of her desk

“Do you have an appointment with a Paul Rice?” the assistant asked, as if Paul Rice were a thing as opposed to a person Catching the surprise on Mindy’s face, she said, “I didn’t think so I’ll have security send him away”

“No,” Mindy said a little too eagerly “He’s fro Send him up”

She put her feet back in her shoes and stood, s her blouse, over which she earing a woolly vest The vest was not sexy, and she debated taking it off but wondered if it would be obvious that she hadridiculous: Paul Rice wouldn’t know she’d been wearing the vest all day She took it off She sat down behind her desk and fluffed her hair She ruloss, and rubbed a dab on her mouth

Paul Rice appeared in her doorway He was dressed in a beautifully tailored suit with a crisp white shirt He looked, Mindy noted, expensive More like a sophisticated European as opposed to an ink-stained mathematician But mathematicians wouldn’t be ink-stained anymore They did their work on computers, like everyone else

Mindy stood up and leaned over the desk to shake his hand “Hello, Paul,” she said “This is a surprise Have a seat” She gestured to the small armchair in front of her desk