“Caroline.” Father stood in the doorway of his study holding The Baltimore Sun, as I arrived home. “I was right all along, not letting you stay at university. It is no place […]
“Caroline, please don’t exaggerate. There must be plenty of others who could perform this service for you.” “I don’t understand.” My throat shut, so I had to swallow to open it. “I […]
“That was quite something.” He grinned. I searched his face, looking for—a morsel of kindness? “Want my job?” I stared at the brown leather shoes Mother had got at a Church sale. […]
“Ifyoutakemetoyourfavoritecafe,” I remarked to the desk, “I’llorderthemostexpensivethingthere.” His silence was deadening. Unable to hold back any more, I lifted my face to his as a flood of giggles washed over me. He […]
I was a young lady, and wanted to be treated as such, so I wore my church clothes, a black skirt that came to mid-calf and made me look older, the white […]
“I’ve never met a woman like you before.” I held my breath as I cast my eyes down, willing my heart to stop dancing its jagged rhythm. For the first twenty years […]
He leaned across that huge desk as if to reach for my hand, but his arm lay on his side of the desk, his fingers hovering in the air, disconnected. He spoke […]
My parents had reluctantly granted my request to go to University, provided that I continue to live with them. When I’d finally gathered the courage in my first year to ask Father […]
Spring Semester, 1960 By itself it was unremarkable, a boxy desk made of cheap materials with a fake wood veneer, a standard issue object that populated countless offices in college campuses. What […]
