Read Online Surprise Me by Deena Goldstone - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Deena Goldstone
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grandparents, Rose and Bernie, and a couple of aunts and uncles and their children, all of whom Isabelle knows. So many Litvaks have come out from Long Island for this. Isabelle waves to them over the heads of the people.
“I’ve got to go.” Isabelle gives Deepti one last hug, her eyes on the fast-approaching Nate as she takes off in the opposite direction. “I will come!” are the last words Deepti hears.
“Isabelle, wait!” Nate calls out.
“See you at dinner,” she shouts to him as she slips through the crowd and is lost from view. The last thing she wants to do now is acknowledge her connection to the whole Litvak clan.
—
THE WALK FROM THE AMPHITHEATER to Daniel’s house is quick and smooth. As soon as Isabelle is down the hill, the campus empties out, the way it does on any Saturday. And walking through the shaded groves of ancient oaks and eucalyptus feels good after all the hours of sitting in the sun. It’s only when the buzz of voices recedes and the quiet beauty of the Chandler campus reinstates itself that Isabelle can allow herself to realize that this is the last day she will walk these paths, see these buildings, live here…see Daniel.
She stops in front of Lathrop Hall and fixes it in her mind’s eye. Remember the twenty-seven steps you took every Tuesday. Remember the red tile roof and the elegant arch over the front door. Here is where your life changed, on the second floor, in that derelict office Daniel keeps for himself.
Something extraordinary happened, she knows it. Somehow Daniel guided her toward a vision of herself that is singular, unique, divorced from everyone else’s expectations—a writer. She has to let him know how grateful she is.
—
DANIEL HAS BEEN WAITING ALL WEEK. He really didn’t expect her on Wednesday, or even Thursday. He knew it would take longer than a day or two to rewrite the pages. But Friday he was at the living room window every few hours, and when she didn’t show up, he knew it had to be Saturday, even though Saturday was graduation. Sunday she was leaving with her parents, back to Long Island for a summer job in her father’s law firm, she’d told him. And then? She doesn’t know.
All morning he waited for her. Maybe she’d come with her pages before the ceremony. But she didn’t. So he knew that somehow she’d come after. And it is late afternoon and he is pacing in his living room and then he sees her, flying down his front path. She’s still wearing her long black robe, and it’s flapping open to reveal bare legs and sandals. She isn’t just coming to him, she is rushing toward him.
He opens the door and she sails through. “Daniel…Oh, Daniel…How can I go back to Long Island with them ? They’re already driving me crazy! My mother’s sure she has heatstroke and my father is yelling at her and the twins are mortified and Aaron, poor sweet Aaron, is beside himself and I left! Can you believe that? I ran off and left them all there to sort it out!”
“Good.” Daniel says this unequivocally, and it immediately calms her down.
She tosses her body into a living room chair and a small smile starts. “It is good, isn’t it?”
He nods. He knows something about dealing with selfish parents.
“If it had been any other day, I would have pleaded with them to stop arguing, begged my mother not to misunderstand, pushed my father to apologize…”
“Sounds exhausting,” Daniel says, his tone mild, neutral. He doesn’t want to encourage a conversation about her parents.
“Don’t you think they could have held it together for one day?”
“Apparently they didn’t want to.”
Apparently not. A sobering thought. She reaches into the pocket of her gown and takes out the much-folded eight rewritten pages and hands them to him.
“Come into the kitchen,” he says. “I have lemonade.”
“You do? You bought lemonade for me?”
“Yes. Well, Stefan did. I don’t go to the market.”
“Oh, right,” she says, and now
“I’ve got to go.” Isabelle gives Deepti one last hug, her eyes on the fast-approaching Nate as she takes off in the opposite direction. “I will come!” are the last words Deepti hears.
“Isabelle, wait!” Nate calls out.
“See you at dinner,” she shouts to him as she slips through the crowd and is lost from view. The last thing she wants to do now is acknowledge her connection to the whole Litvak clan.
—
THE WALK FROM THE AMPHITHEATER to Daniel’s house is quick and smooth. As soon as Isabelle is down the hill, the campus empties out, the way it does on any Saturday. And walking through the shaded groves of ancient oaks and eucalyptus feels good after all the hours of sitting in the sun. It’s only when the buzz of voices recedes and the quiet beauty of the Chandler campus reinstates itself that Isabelle can allow herself to realize that this is the last day she will walk these paths, see these buildings, live here…see Daniel.
She stops in front of Lathrop Hall and fixes it in her mind’s eye. Remember the twenty-seven steps you took every Tuesday. Remember the red tile roof and the elegant arch over the front door. Here is where your life changed, on the second floor, in that derelict office Daniel keeps for himself.
Something extraordinary happened, she knows it. Somehow Daniel guided her toward a vision of herself that is singular, unique, divorced from everyone else’s expectations—a writer. She has to let him know how grateful she is.
—
DANIEL HAS BEEN WAITING ALL WEEK. He really didn’t expect her on Wednesday, or even Thursday. He knew it would take longer than a day or two to rewrite the pages. But Friday he was at the living room window every few hours, and when she didn’t show up, he knew it had to be Saturday, even though Saturday was graduation. Sunday she was leaving with her parents, back to Long Island for a summer job in her father’s law firm, she’d told him. And then? She doesn’t know.
All morning he waited for her. Maybe she’d come with her pages before the ceremony. But she didn’t. So he knew that somehow she’d come after. And it is late afternoon and he is pacing in his living room and then he sees her, flying down his front path. She’s still wearing her long black robe, and it’s flapping open to reveal bare legs and sandals. She isn’t just coming to him, she is rushing toward him.
He opens the door and she sails through. “Daniel…Oh, Daniel…How can I go back to Long Island with them ? They’re already driving me crazy! My mother’s sure she has heatstroke and my father is yelling at her and the twins are mortified and Aaron, poor sweet Aaron, is beside himself and I left! Can you believe that? I ran off and left them all there to sort it out!”
“Good.” Daniel says this unequivocally, and it immediately calms her down.
She tosses her body into a living room chair and a small smile starts. “It is good, isn’t it?”
He nods. He knows something about dealing with selfish parents.
“If it had been any other day, I would have pleaded with them to stop arguing, begged my mother not to misunderstand, pushed my father to apologize…”
“Sounds exhausting,” Daniel says, his tone mild, neutral. He doesn’t want to encourage a conversation about her parents.
“Don’t you think they could have held it together for one day?”
“Apparently they didn’t want to.”
Apparently not. A sobering thought. She reaches into the pocket of her gown and takes out the much-folded eight rewritten pages and hands them to him.
“Come into the kitchen,” he says. “I have lemonade.”
“You do? You bought lemonade for me?”
“Yes. Well, Stefan did. I don’t go to the market.”
“Oh, right,” she says, and now
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