Dietland by Sarai Walker

Author:Sarai Walker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Preston

I heard the street door downstairs open and braced myself for the knock at my apartment door, and then for the stare. Preston would be expecting a thin person—people always expect a thin person—and so I knew when he laid eyes on me for the first time, he would react as everyone reacts, by trying to hide his surprise and disappointment, even revulsion. From the inside I felt small and insignificant, but that’s not what people saw when they looked at me.

It took a few moments for me to overcome my reluctance to open the door. Once I opened it, I saw standing before me Preston, a generic white guy with brown hair, around thirty years old. And there it was: the stare. “Hello. You’re . . . uh. Is Plum at home?”

“I’m Plum,” I said, hating the sound of my name.

“No you’re not.” Preston laughed.

The door was obscuring half my face, the bruise hidden. Preston reached for my arm. “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t . . . I mean, sometimes Gina plays these practical jokes on me and I—” He ran his finger around his shirt collar. “Let’s have dinner,” he said.

I went inside to get my handbag, letting the door close slowly behind me as Preston stood in the hallway. He made no move to open it or come inside. I collected my bag from the kitchen counter, but when I went back to the door, instead of opening it, I locked it—the double bolt and the chain.

“Plum?” Preston called from the other side.

“Go away.”

He didn’t argue with me. I heard him walk down the stairs and open the door to the street.

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