The Anniversary by Amy Gutman Read Free Book Online

had.
    27
    They’d met at Princeton as freshman roommates and become in-28
    separable, the friendship taking root in shared southern origins.
    29
    Vivian, born and bred in Mississippi, had gone on to Yale Law 30
    School, while Melanie, a Nashville native, had opted for UVA.
    31
    It was funny how they looked alike, despite the difference in race.
    32
    Both slender, tall, with high cheekbones, large wide-set eyes. As 33
    if an artist had painted them as a study in black and white.
    34
    “So what’d Paul say?” Vivian asked once they’d settled in, 35 S
    Melanie back behind her desk, Vivian seated across.
    36 R
    3 2
    2nd PASS PAGES
    13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 33
    T H E A N N I V E R S A R Y
    “Paul.” Melanie looked at Vivian guiltily, Paul’s thin, sensitive 1
    face floating up through her mind. “I . . . I haven’t told him yet.”
    2
    “You haven’t told him?” Vivian stared at her. “You win a case 3
    on summary judgment for one of our biggest clients and you don’t 4
    bother to tell your fiancé?”
    5
    “It just happened this morning.” Even to her, it sounded lame.
    6
    Vivian gave her a shrewd look. “Honey, if you’ve had time to 7
    buy out most of Madison Avenue, you’ve had time to call the guy 8
    you’re planning to marry.”
    9
    “I will. Call him.”
    10
    “You wanna know what I think?”
    11
    “Do I have a choice?”
    12
    But Vivian had already started. “There’s no way you’re going to 13
    marry this guy. And the sooner you figure that out, the better for 14
    both of you. Paul’s a nice guy, Mel. Why’re you doing this to him?
    15
    If it’s because of Frank —”
    16
    “Frank? Are you crazy? I left him, remember?”
    17
    “I remember.” Vivian looked at her steadily. As if to say, I re-18
    member a lot of things. “So have you called him back?”
    19
    Melanie busied herself with the mail. A Legal Aid benefit in-20
    vitation. CLE schedules. Her corporate AmEx bill. She dumped 21
    the CLE stuff in the wastebasket — Harwich & Young had its 22
    own continuing-ed classes — and set aside the invitation and 23
    bill, starting a pile of things that would need her attention later.
    24
    “No. Of course not,” she said evenly. “Like I said, I don’t want 25
    to talk to him.”
    26
    “I think you should call him.”
    27
    Melanie stared at her. “Are you serious? You can’t stand Frank.”
    28
    “I’m not saying that you should get back together with him.
    29
    God, I’d never say that. He’s a narcissistic son of a bitch. But I 30
    don’t think you know that yet. Maybe if you saw him again, if you 31
    talked to him face-to-face, you’d get to the point where you could 32
    finally see him for what he is. Until that happens, you’re still go-33
    ing to be hung up on him. And you’ll keep stringing on these per-34
    fectly decent guys who you couldn’t care less about. Whose main S 35
    R 36
    3 3
    2nd PASS PAGES
    13713_01_i-vi_001-344_r4jn.qxd 4/21/03 8:03 AM Page 34
    A M Y G U T M A N
    1
    attraction is that they aren’t Frank Collier and that you’re not in 2
    love with them.”
    3
    “That’s ridiculous. Why would I want to marry someone I’m 4
    not in love with?”
    5
    “Like I said, you don’t want to marry Paul.”
    6
    Melanie rolled her eyes, raised her hands in defeat. She was 7
    still too high off today’s victory to let Vivian get to her.
    8
    “Thank you, Dr. Freud. And now, if you don’t mind, I’ve got to 9
    get through a couple of days’ worth of mail so I can get home. I’ve 10
    gotten about four hours of sleep in the past two days.”
    11
    With Vivian out of the office, Melanie got down to work. A 12
    Princeton alumni mailing. The City Bar Association newsletter.
    13
    Draft motions from local counsel in a products liability case. She 14
    was almost halfway through when she came to an unstamped 15
    white envelope, her name typed on the front. She ripped through 16
    the flap with a letter opener, pulled out a single white