so strongly,” Jesse . said.
He was still staring at the choppy gray wate below him.
Above them a splatter of herring gulls soared and stooped.
The sound of them was as constant as the movement of the ‘sea. Abby seemed cold, she thrust her hands deeper into her pockets, hunched her shoulders so that the high collar of her coat was a little higher.
“Jesse, I live here and I work here. I am with a good law firm, I have a chance to be a partner.”
Jesse nodded silently.
“What are you nodding about?” she
said.
“I’m agreeing that it is not
going to be good for your career if you stick by me.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Yes,” Jesse said. “You
did. You just didn’t use those words.”
It was an overcast day, and raw. There was a spatter of rain with snow mixed. The snow didn’t last on the blacktop of the parking lot, or the rocks. But it had a short life on the grassy parts of Indian Hill, and a small residue had collected around the base of the windshield of Jesse’s car.
Abby stood drawn in upon herself. She shook her head slowly.
“This isn’t happening
right,” Abby said.
“No,” Jesse said.
“I… have had a very nice time
with you, Jesse.”
“Yes,” Jesse said.
“It’s been nice.”
“People think you should resign.”
Jesse nodded.
“Want a ride back to your
office?” Jesse said.
“No,” Abby said.
“I’ll walk back. I need the time alone.”
She smiled without pleasure. “Clear my head.”
“Sure thing,” Jesse said.
He was still leaning on the rail.
“Jesse,” she said.
“Turn around.”
He did. She stepped to him and put her arms around him and pressed her face against his chest.
“I’m sorry, Jesse.”
He patted her gently on the back.
“It’s okay, Abby,” he
said.
Then he let her go and she walked away down the hill toward town, the spit of snow glistening momentarily i her hair. Then she was out of sight and he turned back an looked at the gray water and listened to the gray gulls an thought about the other ocean and the night he left it. H smiled after a while.
“Here’s looking at you,
Jenn,” he said out loud.
His voice was small and nearly soundless mixed with th wind and the ocean sound and the noise of the gulls.
see tino eisn, so the bg Mercedes was wedged into the northbound commuter traffic on the Southeast Expressway.
Hasty was nearly in tears.
“You dumb bastard,” he said to Jo
Jo.
“What the hell”are you yelling at
me for?“
