Read Come Undone for Free Online Page A

think they’re getting pretty chummy.”
    “Oh,”
she replied, coiling a roll of stamps around her finger. And then, “Do you guys
do it on this table?”
    I
nearly spit out my coffee as I burst into laughter. “No!” I exclaimed, giving
her a reproachful look. “But actually, I could use some sordid stories in my
life. Spill.”
    “I
went out with that guy Rick from the ballet a few times, but that’s about it
right now.”
    “Oh
my God! I forgot to tell you!”
    She
cocked an eyebrow at me. “What?”
    “I
ran into him last weekend when I was walking one of the dogs from the shelter.
For one, he told me you wouldn’t call him back.”
    “Nah.
He’s sorta whack.”
    “Um,
k, he seems nice. Anyway, he was interested in the dog I was walking, Eureka,
and I just found out that he adopted her.”
    “Oh,
that’s sweet. Now I feel bad about not calling him back.”
    “Well
you can’t now, what if you end up together? I’d never be able to forget how you
called him whack.”
    “All
right, for your sake, I’ll leave it be.”
    “Gee,
thanks.”
    “There
is something else, though,” she said hesitantly.
    “Spill,”
I demanded again, alarmed at the nervous look on her face.
    “I
got a message from Greg the other night.”
    “What?”
I said, dropping my pen onto the table. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
    “I
didn’t know how to feel about it. I still don’t.”
    “What
did it say?”
    “To
call him.”
    I
narrowed my eyes at her. “Did you?”
    She
shook her head vigorously, blonde wisps escaping from the bun on top of her
head. I had flashbacks to the apartment Lucy and I had shared at Notre Dame,
where the three of us would sit at that kitchen table talking about Greg.
    During
our first class of Introductory Biology, Greg and I were the only people who
seemed to notice how crazy the professor was. We’d looked at each other across
the room and made the same face. We became fast friends and turned out to be
dorm neighbors too. He, Lucy and I would discuss lectures over cold pizza in
the dining hall or stay up late drinking Kahlua hot chocolates under the fleece
Fighting Irish blanket my dad had sent me. He was smart and charming, and I was
proud to call him a friend.
    He
and Gretchen grew to know each other over the weekends that she would visit me
from Chicago. They didn’t make it official until junior year, but I had
instantly seen how compatible they were.
    When
smart and charming Greg mercilessly broke up with Gretchen two days before
graduation, he wounded all of us: me, Lucy, her boyfriend at the time and the
rest of our tight-knit college family. He’d told us that he’d accepted a job in
Japan, an offer we’d heard nothing about, and that he was moving to start a new
life. I knew he was afraid of how intense things had become with Gretchen, and
I tried to get her to see that too. She spent the weeks following graduation
wallowing at her parents’ house, accepting little comfort. When she emerged, it
was to sign the lease on our new apartment and she never mentioned his name
again. Until now.
    “Wow,”
I said softly. “Aren’t you curious about what he has to say?”
    She
widened her eyes at me and shook her head again. “It’s done,” she said with
finality. We both jumped a second later when her phone vibrated against the
wooden table. We exchanged a wary glance before she peeked at it without
touching, as though it might bite.
    “It’s
just John,” she said exhaling. “Hey,” she answered. “Yep that’s fine, just send
me – uh huh, okay – just send me the file, and I’ll look it over.”
She put her hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, “Maybe he ought to hire a capable
secretary instead of bugging me to edit his press releases. Nothing, just
talking to Liv.” She paused. “Sure, hang on.” She held the phone out to me.
    “Hi,
John.”
    “Hi,
beautiful. I miss you.” I could hear the smile in his voice.
    “I
miss you too,” I said. “How come