parents and they support you. At least that’s how it works at our house.”
“You could get another job, Sam,” she said gently. She hated knowing that he was unhappy. He seemed so trapped by what his parents expected of him. It wasn’t fair. He was such a good guy, and he didn’t want to disappoint them. He was giving up all his dreams, which was another thing her mother had said not to do. But Sam didn’t know what his dreams were, only what they weren’t. His dream for the moment was not working at his father’s accounting firm for the rest of his life.
“What about you? What are you going to do when you finish school?”
“I don’t know, still journalism, I hope. I wanted to see what magazines are like at Time. But I just couldn’t do it this summer.” In a way, nothing had changed, and everything had. Maybe she wouldn’t work after she graduated. Nothing interested her now, or seemed to matter. But if not, how would she fill her time?
“You’ll have to graduate, Coco, or the only job you’ll ever be able to get is flipping burgers at McDonald’s.”
She smiled. “You sound like my father. Actually, that might be fun. I’m going to graduate,” she said to placate him. Sam thought graduating was everything.
“You have to go back to school to do that.” He was worried about her taking a semester off. It didn’t seem like a good decision to him. But he couldn’t force her. No one could now. She could do whatever she wanted. Ed questioned her about it too when she told him she had taken the semester off.
“You might feel better if you were busy,” he said carefully.
“I’m afraid I’ll flunk all my classes if I go back now. I can’t concentrate on anything.” She had never had bad grades, and didn’t want to now.
“That’ll get better with time,” Ed said on one of his daily visits to her. “Would you like to go out to dinner one of these nights?” he asked her. She hadn’t been out since July, and it was mid-September. She didn’t want to see people. The only friend she’d seen so far was Sam. She hadn’t called any of her girlfriends or returned their calls, so they had stopped calling. She was worried about being a burden to Sam, but he insisted she wasn’t. He had dinner with her at the apartment every night.
“I’m not very good company,” she said to Ed, who nodded. He was always patient with her, and very kind. He was the only father figure she had now, to advise her and watch over her.
“I think you need a change of scene. Doctor’s orders.” He smiled at her. “I’ll take you to dinner tomorrow night.” She didn’t want to go, but he insisted, and the next day he had his secretary call to say he’d pick her up at seven. She told Sam he had the night off, because she was having dinner with Ed Easton. Sam was surprised, but he thought maybe they had to talk finances, so he didn’t question it or argue with her.
Ed picked her up right on time. She was wearing a plain black dress, another one of her mother’s, and it hung on her. She was startled when he took her to La Grenouille. She used to go there with her parents for special occasions. It looked so beautiful and so festive that she felt guilty being there, but the meal was delicious. And he was right. It cheered her up being out. They went early, and he had asked for a quiet back table, so everyone didn’t stop and say hello to her on their way into the restaurant. Her parents had loved La Grenouille too. And many of their friends were regulars.
They talked about lots of different things, and not about her parents or their estate for once. She was smiling when they left the restaurant, and looked more relaxed and young again, despite the dreary dress. The evening had done her good. She had noticed that all the headwaiters knew Ed. He obviously went there a lot. He had a very active social life, which was what landed him on Page Six frequently. He took her home in a cab.
She was smiling on the way home. “Thank you, that was lovely,” she said, and meant it. He noticed that she looked more like herself again. Her youth and extreme beauty shone through