Crosstalk Read Online Free PDF

anyone.
    “I’m serious,” Kathleen was saying. “I thought he was kind of cute, or he would be if he’d comb his hair.”
    Briddey led Kathleen briskly toward the elevator. “I thought you were dating Chad.”
    “I am, but I don’t know…” She sighed. “That’s why I called you this morning. We had a fight last night.”
    Surprise, surprise
. Of all the losers Kathleen had gone out with, Chad had to be the worst. But the priority now wasn’t to do an intervention, it was to get Kathleen out of here, so Briddey kept walking.
    “I caught him sexting some girl,” Kathleen said. “On
my
phone. And when I called him on it, he got mad and roared off and left me, and I didn’t realize till he was gone that my phone was still in his car.”
    They reached the elevator. Briddey pushed UP .
    “So there I am in the middle of the night, trying to find a phone so I can call somebody to give me a ride.” The elevator arrived and they got in. “Did you know there aren’t any payphones
anywhere
anymore?”
    Briddey pushed the button for FIRST , and the elevator started up. “So what did you do?”
    “I finally found one outside a 7-Eleven,” Kathleen said, “but then I didn’t have any change, so I had to walk home, and the whole way I kept thinking,
I need to break up with him.
”
    “Yes,” Briddey said. “You do.”
    “I know. But the thing is, he really loves me.”
    C.B. was right. People were masters of self-deception. The elevator pinged, the door opened, and, blessedly, there was no one there. “Have you talked to Mary Clare about this?” Briddey asked, leading Kathleen firmly toward the parking garage.
    “I tried, but she was too worried about Maeve to really listen.”
    “What’s wrong with Maeve?”
    “Nothing, but Mary Clare thinks she’s been spending too much time online. She’s afraid she’s addicted or something.”
    They reached the door. “Listen,” Briddey said, “I’d love to stay and talk, but I’ve got a meeting in half an hour, and I’ve got to review this proposal of C.B.’s first. So tell everybody I’m fine and I’ll call them—and you—after work.” She opened the door for Kathleen. “Bye.”
    “Wait,” Kathleen said. “I need to ask you something. Why didn’t you tell us you’d decided to have an EED?”
    What?
“I…it only happened last night,” Briddey stammered, “and then this morning I had to meet with C.B.”
    “And you haven’t had time
all
morning to send a simple text,” Kathleen said sarcastically, “or an email. Or return our calls.”
    “I couldn’t. I told you, there’s no reception down there. I haven’t had a chance to tell anyone.”
    “Except apparently the Hunchback guy—what’s his name again?”
    Benedict Arnold,
Briddey thought bitterly. “His name’s C.B.,” she said. “C.B. Schwartz. I suppose he’s who told you about the EED. Or was it Charla?”
    “Neither. Maeve told me.”
    “Maeve?”
Briddey said. “How did she find out?”
    “From Facebook or Twitter or something.”
    She
does
spend too much time online,
Briddey thought. “Maeve didn’t tell Aunt Oona, did she?”
    “I don’t know. I suppose. She posted it on her Facebook page.”
    “But Aunt Oona’s not on Facebook.”
    “Yes, she is. Maeve set up an account for her.”
    Oh, no,
Briddey thought despairingly.
Then they all know.
“What did Aunt Oona say?”
    “About what you’d expect. ‘By the holy blood of Saint Patrick and all the saints of Ireland, what’s that lass gone and done now?’ ”
    “I haven’t gone and done anything,” Briddey said. “Trent asked me last night to have an EED done.”
    “And you said yes? After only going out with him for six
weeks
?”
    “You got engaged to Alex Mancuso after two dates, as I recall.”
    “Yes, and that was a mistake.”
    A mistake was putting it mildly. He’d had a wife. And three felony convictions.
    Kathleen said, “I just don’t want you to make the same mistake I did. You