01.18.2010
“The next time he phones, he says: “I was having a dream about you and suddenly I woke up with a jerk and felt very uneasy.”
Say: “Yeah, I hate to wake up with jerks.”
He laughs, smooth, beautiful, and tenor, making you feel warm inside of your bones. And it hits you; maybe it all boils down to this: people will do anything, anything, for a really nice laugh.
Don’t lose your resolve. Fumble for your list. Sputter things out as convincingly as possible.
Say: “I suffer indignities at your hands. And agonies of duh feet. I don’t know why I joke. I hurt.”
“That is why.”
“What?”
“That is why.”
“But you don’t really care.” Wince. It sounds pitiful.
“But I do.”
- “How to Be an Other Woman”, 1985, Lorrie Moore
