Week 6 - Dialogue (LH)

Amrita looked up instinctually when the bookstore’s door swung open only half expecting a silhouette to occupy the doorframe. As the figure stepped out of the rain into the warm glow of the small shop, Amrita saw that she was mirroring her own expression of surprise and fear.

“I didn’t know you still came here,”

“I don’t,” Amrita replied quickly, “I was in the neighborhood with a client, and I thought I’d pop in to see… I remembered the café in the back having tea, and because of the rain…. Nothing really changed here, has it?”

“No, nothing really changes here, I suppose.”

“It’s been a really long time, Nina.”

“Yes, it has,” Nina said as she unsnapped her yellow raincoat, “How have you been?”

“Oh! Um, well, pretty great. Anchor really took off in the past couple years. I have loads of listings in some pretty swanky parts of the region. My clients compliment the branding all the time, by the way, so thanks for that, I guess. Anchor Real Estate was your idea, I think.”

“It was a team effort,” Nina smiled, “I think you were the one who wouldn’t settle for anything that didn’t reflect New England’s seafaring heritage. Speaking of – haven’t you already read that?”

Amrita looked down at the book she still held in her hands, “What do you mean, ‘speaking of?’ He wrote this in Cuba.”

“No, I meant because it’s the Old Man and the Sea, and we were talking about seafaring… well, anyway, I thought you already read that.”

“Yeah, I have. A couple times. It’s actually one of my favorites. But it stayed in the house when I left, so I thought I might replace the copy that I lost. The house is probably worth a lot more than we bought it for, by the way. The place I showed this client earlier was smaller and going for $325,000.”

“Yeah, the whole neighborhood has increased a lot. You know, I could just return the book to you. I didn’t realize I had it. I’m probably not going to read it.”

“I know you’re not. No, keep it, you have the kids, they might need it in high school or something. How are your kids? And Lucy?”

“Good, good. Everyone is good. The kids have been really bust this year. Millie is still doing travel soccer and Stella started dance competitions, so I’ve been driving them around a lot since Lucy’s job has her out to San Francisco almost every other week. It’s been sort of fun to see all the small towns in the region, though. Have you ever been up to Scranton?”

“Yeah, Marin moved there a couple years ago for a teaching job. It’s a pretty dismal place.”

“I forgot about Marin. I’m glad they finally landed something in academia. Well, anyway, it’s dismal, sure, but there is this one place that made me think of you. It’s this restaurant I took the girls too called Cooper’s. It’s nautical themed – it’s even shaped like a boat. You popped into my head as soon as I walked in. It’s nice when that happens. When you pop into my head.”

“Nina, you live in the house we bought together. I would think that I pop into your head a lot. Like when you are cursing the black grout I had done in the bathroom!”

“Oh, Lucy actually had that redone a couple of years ago. Honestly, I was sad to see it go. I had sort of grown to like it after a while. Anyway, who are you seeing right now? I know there’s always someone pursuing the dazzling Amrita.”

“I’ve taken a break from dating for the moment. You know, Anchor’s been taking up a lot of time, and I’ve sort of, I don’t know, aged out of the scene. I also stopped drinking about a year ago. Turns out there are a lot fewer places to meet dykes when you are sober. The cute ones aren’t exactly heading to the ice cream parlor.”

“Oh, Amrita, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize.”

“There’s nothing to apologize for. And nothing to be sad about. It was just time. You know better than anyone, maybe. It was just time. Speaking of, as you say – it might be time for me to get back to work,” Amrita said as she turned to pay for the book she still held in her hand.

Nina placed a hand on Amrita’s upper arm, “Let me get it for you. Since your first copy is still with me.”

Amrita smiled the smile she always did when she closed the back cover on a book she just finished, “Thank you, but I got it. I want this one to be fully mine.”