Dark Plums by Maria Espinosa Read Free Book Online Page B

your life. Take my advice.” Joyce squared herself in her chair like a soldier while she wrote out a memo for Adrianne to take to the Accounting Office.
    Adrianne looked down at a swatch of dusty black velvet in front of her on the desk. What had caused her to make such stupid mistakes? She’d tried so hard. She could not do anything right. Something inside seemed to be trying to destroy her.
    What would she do now for money? She couldn’t face looking for another job just yet. She certainly couldn’t use anyone here, not even Joyce, as a reference. What would Alfredo think of her?
    Dazed, she walked back to the office she shared with Rose and Irene.
    â€œI’ve been fired.”
    â€œWe know,” said Rose.
    Heavy silence.
    â€œJoyce told us this morning. She wasn’t sure you were going to show up at all.”
    â€œHer boyfriends will take care of her.”
    The phone rang again. Irene answered. “For you, Adrianne.”
    â€œHow are you, Adrianne?” asked Max.
    â€œAll right,” she said. His voice gave her comfort. He seemed to send roots into the earth.
    â€œAdrianne, I am sorry to call you at work, but so often now you don’t come home,” he said plaintively. “I wondered if you will do methe honor of attending a concert with me this Friday night.”
    â€œOh, I don’t know,” she said. What if Alfredo wanted to see her? Go with Max, pounded the voice inside as she considered that destiny depended on the slightest decision, a hair’s breadth.
    â€œIt is a concert of excellent musicians who will play Beethoven and Mozart. Do you know this music?”
    â€œYes,” said Adrianne. The prospect of listening to the music filled her with joy.
    â€œThen it is not only jazz you like?”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œI will get the tickets then,” he said. “You give me hope,
meine liebchen
.”
    â€œAnother boyfriend,” said Irene after she’d hung up. “A new one, huh? Joyce told us to make sure you clean out your desk before you go.”
    Trembling with anger as she felt their gaze on her, Adrianne took out her straw handbag from the bottom drawer of her desk. She straightened out the other drawers and defiantly shoved a few pencils and paper clips inside her bag. There was nothing else she wanted to take. She would leave her faded magenta cardboard flower. Let them throw it out.
    At the Accounting Office she received her check.
    Goodbye, Rose and Irene.
    Goodbye, Joyce, with your advice about not letting men get into my pants.
    Goodbye, office. Goodbye, everyone.
    She walked out of the elevator and onto Sixth Avenue. Although a light rain had begun to fall, she trudged along, not caring that she was getting damp and chilled. How could Alfredo love her if she couldn’t even hold down a job?

C hapter 8
    People were settling down in the concert hall and waiting for the music to begin. In the midst of them sat Adrianne and Max. Her face looked very white to him beneath the bright lights, and her cheeks were flushed. The way her low neckline revealed the curves of her breasts, sheathed in a black brassiere, tantalized him. She seemed sad, and her smile seemed forced.
    â€œIs something wrong?” Max asked.
    â€œI lost my job.”
    â€œPoor child.”
    He clasped her hand. “You are lovely,” he said. His voice grew emotional. “Let me know if you need help. I have money.”
    â€œThat’s very kind of you, Max.”
    The musicians were warming up, and at last the concert began.
    A Beethoven quartet was first, and Max unconsciously swayed in rhythm. The closeness of Adrianne’s body stirred him. She didn’t say anything about the music, but she was very still for a moment after the first piece finished.
    He put his hand on her thigh. She did not move away. Max’s heart felt too large for the space it took in his chest, and he had a sense of foreboding.
    Next was a Mozart