Chapter 5

“I got it!”

Rebecca is happy to tell Gary this. They’re in a bar in the Boston harbor area. Christmas is just around the corner and it’s freezing cold. Gary grabs her hand. The young girl has just arrived and she is still wearing her coat and gloves. In the background, a jazz orchestra improvises for an enthusiastic audience.

“Really?”Gary asks impatiently.He is fifteen years older than her. “ Yes! She screams excitedly, jumping on her journalism lecturer to kiss him. But ... she adds with a flirtatious gesture, it’s going to cost you dinner tonight and later ... I told my folks that I was spending the night at Lucy’s! She is euphoric. She is a very outgoing girl, unable to contain her emotions. She’s lovely. Gary looks at her, unhappy. He is really in love with Rebecca but he has a family, a wife ... two children... “Uh, of course, honey,” he said with an effort, “we are going to celebrate tonight ... But tell me first everything about this meeting. The young girl orders a coffee with grappa; it’s the trendy drink in the city’s intelligentsia. With her foot, she beats time to the rhythm of the quartet. “It’s a shame they’re black,” she begins. Gary looks at her out of the corner of his eye but doesn’t say anything. The only thing he doesn’t like about his lover is her racism. “It’s amazing...” She continues happily, changing the subject. “They called me at noon. They are expecting me in Nairobi tomorrow! - Tomorrow? Gary asks, surprised. - Tomorrow! Rebecca repeats, enthusiastic. And the next day we will be famous. I see the headlines from here ... Gary Jacobs and Rebecca Johnson get the interview of the year.Then ... Then we’ll get married! Gary looks at her bitterly. Why wouldn’t it be like this? He is no longer in control and he has never found the right time to talk to her. He deliberately kept things from her. He was afraid she might not care about him anymore.