Dance Into Destiny by Sherri L. Lewis Read Free Book Online Page B

down and gave one of her strained smiles that made Shara wonder what she was really thinking.
    â€œJust coming from work?” Keeva asked.
    â€œYeah, I just got here.” Shara looked down at her clothes and back at Keeva. She followed Keeva into the restaurant.
    Shara looked around at the modern, upscale decorum. The place was filled with twenty and thirty-somethings dressed in business suits, sipping fancy looking drinks, talking on cell phones, schmoozing and looking polished and cosmopolitan. She pulled up her baggy jeans and pulled her jean jacket tighter around her to cover up her wrinkled sweat shirt.
    The hostess gave Shara a similar strained smile when she greeted them, but led them to their booth and put their menus down in front of them. “Your server will be here in a few.”
    Shara scanned the menu. She didn’t see anything she would want to eat. She giggled at the thought of embarrassing Keeva by asking if the chef could make her a hamburger and fries.
    The waitress walked up. “Good evening, ladies. Welcome to Spice. Can I take your drink order?”
    â€œI’ll have a glass of white wine,” Keeva said.
    â€œI’ll have some cranberry juice,” Shara said.
    The waitress scribbled down the orders. “Let me tell you about the specials tonight. We have a . . .” She described the food as if she was describing art.
    They both ordered the special. Shara hoped it wouldn’t take long. “Could we get some bread or something? I’m starving.”
    The waitress nodded. “Of course.”
    Keeva sipped her water. “So, where do you work?”
    â€œI run an after-school program for inner city kids at my church,” Shara said.
    Keeva looked impressed. “I don’t see how you do it. Work and go to school? I’d never make it. I can’t believe I decided to get a graduate degree. Undergrad almost killed me.”
    â€œWhat made you decide to go to grad school?”
    â€œThere was never really a question of whether I would. It was just a matter of what I’d be going for.”
    Shara looked at her curiously.
    â€œMy parents,” Keeva explained. “It was just one of those expectations all my life.”
    Shara laughed to herself. Her parents had never pushed her to go to college because they were convinced that at any moment, the rapture was going to come. “So why counseling?”
    Keeva paused for a minute, as if she wanted to know the answer to that question herself. “I always wanted to help people, I guess. Especially young people.”
    Shara had to hide her surprise. She had taken Keeva to be one of those self-absorbed people who didn’t think about helping others.
    â€œAt first, I wanted to be a pediatrician, but then I volunteered at South Fulton Hospital after my freshman year in college and was totally grossed out by all the sights, sounds, and smells.” Keeva shuddered. “By the end of my first day, the nurse I was working with pulled me aside and told me she didn’t think medicine was for me. I was glad because I felt like she gave me permission not to be a doctor.”
    Shara wondered why she needed permission not to do something she didn’t want to, but decided not to ask.
    â€œSo I switched my major to English. I love writing, but my parents were concerned about me being able to get a good job with an English degree, so I switched to psychology.”
    â€œWhy psych?”
    The waitress stopped by to drop off a basket of steaming bread. Shara ignored her burning fingertips and smoothed butter over a large slice.
    Keeva once again looked like she was trying to come up with an answer. She finally smiled, as if remembering something pleasant. “Well, when I was thirteen, my mom got real exasperated with me and took me to a shrink.”
    Shara’s eyes widened. “Why?”
    â€œPlease.” Keeva waved her hand flippantly. “I can’t think of any of the