The Boy Next Door Read Free Page B

disheartening slice?
    And what about salad? Do you have any idea how many pounds of lettuce I have ingested in an effort to maintain my size 6 figure, so that I might entice a man? Even though it goes against every fiber of my feminist being to cater to the misogynistic mores that exists in Western culture that insist that attractiveness is equal to one’s waist size?
    If you are trying to say that being a single woman in New York City is not a disability, then I respectfully submit that you visit a Manhattan deli on a Saturday night. Who do you see crowded around the salad bar?
    That’s right. The single girls.
    Face reality, Amy. It’s a jungle out there. It’s kill or be killed. I am merely suggesting that you, as a mental health expert, accept that truth, and move on.
    Melissa Fuller
    Page Ten Columnist
    New York Journal

To: Mel Fuller
    From: George Sanchez
    Subject: Cut it out
    Stop teasing Amy Jenkins down in Human Resources. You know she doesn’t have a sense of humor.
    If you have so much free time, come to me. I’ll give you plenty to do. The obit guy just quit.
    George

To: Mel Fuller
    From: Aaron Spender
    Subject: Forgive me
    I don’t know where to begin. First of all, I can’t stand this. You ask what “this” is.
    I’ll tell you: “This” is sitting here all day, seeing you there in your cubicle, knowing that you said you never want to speak to me again.
    “This” is watching you walk toward me, thinking you might have changed your mind, only to have you pass by without so much as even glancing in my direction.
    “This” is knowing that you’ll walk out of here at the end of the day, that I will have no idea where you will be, what you will do, and that an abyss of time will elapse before you walk back in here the next day.
    “This” is—or should I say, “these are”?—the countless hours during which my mind leaves me, and pursues you out the door, followingyou in a journey that leads nowhere, right back where I started, sitting here thinking about “this.”
    Aaron Spender
    Senior Correspondent
    New York Journal

To: Aaron Spender
    From: Mel Fuller
    Subject: “This”
    That was really moving, Aaron. Have you ever considered writing fiction for a living?
    Seriously. I think you’ve got real talent.
    Mel

To: Nadine Wilcock     From: Tony Salerno
    Subject: We got e-mail
    Nad!!! Look!!! We got e-mail!!!
    Isn’t it righteous? You can write to me at [email protected]. Get it? I’m foodie because I’m the chef!!!
    Anyway, just thought I’d say hi. Now we can e-mail each other all day long!
    What are you wearing? How come you never wear to work that bustier I got you?
    Do you want to know tonight’s specials?
Asparagus tips wrapped in salmon
Soft-shell crab
Lobster bisque
Pasta puttanesca
Red snapper in an orrechiette sauce
Filet mignon
Crème brûlée
    I’ll save you some bisque.
    Hey, by the way, my uncle Giovanni’s throwing us an engagement party next weekend. Nothing fancy, just out by the pool at his house in Long Island. So keep Saturday free!
    Love you,
    Tony

To: Mel Fuller
    From: Nadine Wilcock
    Subject: Another one
    Look, Tony’s uncle Gio is throwing us an engagement party (yes, another one) and I’m telling you right now, YOU HAVE GOT TO COME. Seriously, Mel, I don’t think I can handle another round of Salernos without you. You know what they’re like.
    And this one has a pool. You know they’re going to throw me in. You just know it.
    Say you’ll come and keep me from being humiliated. PLEASE.
    Nad :-O
    P.S.: And don’t you be giving me that damned DOG excuse again.

To: Nadine Wilcock
    From: Mel Fuller