After the Reunion by Rona Jaffe Read Free Book Online Page A

wondered about from time to time. She was sure Nicholas didn’t know anything of Alexander’s secret life. Kids were so sophisticated these days, but Alexander was extremely careful; so careful in fact that she didn’t even know if he was still doing anything.
    She let herself into their apartment and hung up her coat. She saw with joy that Alexander’s coat was already hanging there. “Hello!” she called out.
    “Hello!” Alexander called back, from the den. “Where are you?”
    “Where are you ?”
    He came out into the foyer to greet her, smiling happily. They hugged each other hello and he picked up her tote bag of papers from the office to carry into the den for her. “This gets heavier every night,” he said. “I bet you didn’t get a cab either.”
    “It’s aerobic,” Chris said. She could hear the sound of Nicholas’s new favorite dreadful record album seeping out from behind his closed bedroom door. “Do you believe he’s doing homework with that on?”
    “I don’t think he can do homework without it,” Alexander said. He put her bag next to his attaché case on the floor and poured her a glass of wine. They sat together peacefully on the sofa, talking about their day, sipping the wine, eating some crudités , finally deciding to turn on the TV and watch the news even though it was always bad. Chris was grateful for her luck in having good help so she didn’t have to sacrifice this time with Alexander to rush around the kitchen cooking dinner. On weekends she still enjoyed making special meals, but then it was a kind of recreational activity. They both liked simple food and were careful about what they ate; Alexander because the fitness craze had finally gotten even to him, and she because she wanted to stay thin. Alexander played squash now, twice a week, at the New York Athletic Club, and was threatening to take up tennis in the summer.
    After the news, Mrs. Gormley, their housekeeper, called them in to dinner, and Nicholas appeared. This would be the first summer that Nicholas would be away from them, and Chris knew she would miss him. He’d decided to go with a friend from school to something called The Wilderness Adventure, which as far as Chris could figure out was an adventure in risking your life, with white water rafting and mountain climbing, but he was all excited about it.
    “I was thinking,” Chris said, “that even though we have the country house, maybe we should take two weeks off this summer and go to Europe. Someplace not hot, and not full of tourists.”
    “How about Australia?” Alexander said. “It’s winter in Australia.”
    “Is it cold? I don’t want it to be cold.”
    “Japan,” Alexander said. “How would you like to go to Japan?”
    “Oh, don’t go without me!” Nicholas said.
    “But you’re going to be having a wonderful time,” Chris said encouragingly.
    “Japan would be good for me,” Nicholas said. “It would be an educational experience.”
    “True,” Alexander said, amused. “Where don’t you want to go, so we can go there?”
    “I want to go everywhere,” Nicholas said glumly. “Except the country.”
    Chris and Alexander laughed. “We like the country,” he said. “We work hard all week, and the weekend house is just right for us. You have the entire summer off from school, so of course you should do something more constructive than hang around up there.”
    “I know,” Nicholas said.
    “Would you rather not go on a trip?” Chris asked Alexander.
    “I want to do whatever you do, you know that. I’m going to take two weeks off anyway. Why don’t we go to a place where this world traveler has already been, so he won’t feel left out? How about the French wine country? It’s hot, but it’s beautiful, and Nicholas hates to drink.”
    They all laughed. “You have the wisdom of Solomon,” Chris said.
    Plans … they were still making plans. They lived their lives in a haze of pleasure.
    After dinner Nicholas went back to