You Have Arrived at Your Destination [Forward Collection] by Amor Towles

Author:Amor Towles [Towles, Amor]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542004343
Published: 2019-09-16T16:00:00+00:00

“From the day that Daniel was born, everything came easy . . .”

Later that night (as Daniel One is presumably toiling away), Daniel Three is sitting in a fancy restaurant charming his waitress. A moment after she slips him her phone number, another attractive young woman arrives, gives Daniel a kiss, and sits. When Daniel reaches across the table to take her hand, on her finger we see the engagement ring that he has given her.

The scene shifts back to the office, where a paralegal emerges from the copy room while straightening her skirt, followed by a smiling Daniel, who is straightening his tie. When Daniel returns to his sizable office, he finds a superior waiting.

“Can I see you for a moment, Danno?”

Danno? thought Sam.

Danno is led into a conference room, where there are two other senior professionals, a man from HR, and a woman from Legal. He is invited to take a seat.

“It has been brought to our attention,” says the man from HR, “that this summer you may have been sleeping with one of the interns . . .”

“Two,” says the woman from Legal.

“Two of the interns.”

“As I remember,” Daniel replies with a wink, “we didn’t get much sleep.”

Cut to Daniel being led from his office by security with a cardboard box in his arms. As he passes between the cubicles, several of the analysts stand and applaud, including Daniel One.

The following montage is painfully easy for Sam to anticipate: Daniel having the engagement ring thrown in his face before his fiancée slams the door; Daniel applying for jobs he can’t get; Daniel ending his nights alone in a loft that seems glamorous but cold.

A year goes by, maybe two. Chastened, humbled, near defeat, Daniel is standing in a small office building reading the tenancy board until he finds the firm of McClintock & Co. Upstairs, he enters a waiting room with run-down furniture and an empty reception desk.

“Can I help you?” asks the sixty-year-old African American woman who emerges from an office.

“Yes,” says Daniel. “I’m interested in speaking with Mr. McClintock.”

“I’m Mr. McClintock,” the woman says sourly.

Daniel clears his throat.

“Excuse me, Ms. McClintock. I have almost a decade of experience in the field, and I was hoping you might have an opening . . .”

“The only opening we’ve got,” she says, pointing at the reception desk, “is the one right there.”

“I’ll take it,” says Daniel.

“All right, all right!” Sam called out. “I get it! Enough already!”

As Harry froze the projection and brought up the lights, HT turned to Sam in surprise.

“Don’t you want to see what happens next? It’s the best part!”

“Oh, I can just imagine,” said Sam. “At the foot of his wise new mentor, Daniel learns to be a better man.”

“Exactly,” said HT. “Terrific, right?”

“But why does he have to be such an asshole to become a good person?”

“It’s a classic second act, Sam. In the beginning—”

“Let me stop you right there, HT. What is it with all this classic second act business? We’re not talking about a Hollywood movie.

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