The Date by J. J. Murray

Author:J. J. Murray [Murray, J. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kinfolk Books
Published: 2017-02-13T18:30:00+00:00

15

After sleeping as much as he could for most of the day Tuesday, which William calculated as the most expensive nap he had ever taken at $625 an hour, he put on some jeans, a forest green and black flannel shirt, a black windbreaker, and his black boots and went down to the lobby to wait for Carl.

Amelia waved him over. “I brought my book, Mr. Wise.” She slid it across the counter.

William looked around him. “Are we alone, Amelia?”

“Yes,” Amelia said. “I told them you had already left for the day. For Red Hook. That’s in Brooklyn.”

“Good.” William opened the book and flipped through the pages, noticing that Amelia had highlighted and even written notes in the margins. “You have put my book to use.”

“It really changed my life, Mr. Wise,” Amelia said.

“Please call me William. I’ll need a pen.”

Amelia handed him a pen. “I was going through a real mess in my life at the time, and your book helped me survive it.”

William opened the book to the title page. “I hope the mess is over and done with.”

Amelia nodded. “Completely. He’s in jail for a long time.”

“That sounds like quite a mess,” William said.

“I’m saving up to buy some land in New Hampshire,” Amelia said. “I’m going to build a place for me and my children. We have got to get out of the city.”

I understand her desperation completely. “And you augment your income by tipping off the press to people like me.”

“Yes. When I saw you, I … I should have respected your privacy, Mr. Wise. I hope you forgive me.”

William nodded. “I do, Amelia.” And to prove it … “Perhaps I might be available for a quick interview around, oh, nine, nine-thirty this evening.”

Amelia touched his hand. “You’d do that for me?”

“I hear New Hampshire is glorious in the fall,” William said. “And it’s even more glorious in the winter.”

Amelia squeezed his hand. “Thank you, William.”

“How old are your children?”

“Danny’s nine and Chloe’s seven,” Amelia said.

“The woods are a great place for children to grow up. Nature is the best teacher.” William nodded at the phone. “Go ahead. Make your call. And tell whomever it is that this will be the only interview I give. Probably ever. Oh and there must be a photographer.” To capture Brittany’s surprise! I am actually going to give an interview.

While Amelia called someone named “Bear,” William signed her book: “To my favorite front desk ‘doll.’ Please live, as Thoreau once wrote, the life you have imagined. Congratulations on your new home in New Hampshire. William O. Wise.”

“They’ll be here at nine,” Amelia said.

“And I will be here around nine.” William handed her the book. “I’m curious, and you don’t have to tell me. How much do you make with your … tips?”

“It depends on who it is,” Amelia said.

“How much might you make from … me?”

“If it’s truly the only interview you ever do …” Amelia widened her eyes.

“It will be.”

Amelia smiled. “I could be in New Hampshire in the spring.

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