Interrupted (The Progress Series) Read Online Free PDF Page B

newspaper.”
    “A writer, too?”
    “Just my thoughts on marketing strategies for small businesses, artists and freelancers. It’s volunteer right now, but it looks good on a résumé.”
    “A résumé? I haven’t had one of those since school. I’ve been gathering as many temporary part-time jobs as I can handle. I’m a real go-getter,” she said, laughing at the contradiction of their work ethics.
    “Speaking of school, I meant to ask you, why the change? I mean, you were always the pretty, quiet girl in the corner. You took me by quite the surprise when I saw you at The Crimson the first time; you were charging through that front door like, I don’t know, you had just heard that Seals and Crofts were no longer a band.”
    How does he know I like Seals and Crofts? Could he have remembered that from college? And pretty? I was the PRETTY girl in the corner?
    “Wow. I guess we talked more in college than I can remember. How did you know I liked Seals and Crofts?” she asked, slightly amused.
    He chewed the inside of his mouth, smirking, concealing something.
    “I just remember you saying something about the song Summer Breeze once, that’s all. I remember going home and looking them up because I had never heard of them. No one likes Seals and Crofts, Charlie. No one in our generation, anyway.”
    He remembers that?
    Charlie could tell he was hiding something, but she remembered that there were “rules” to first dates, so she decided not to press him about it. Staying light and unintrusive was the best thing.
    “Oh, that’s right. You dated…oh, what was her name…Amber! You were together for quite a while, if I remember correctly. What ever happened to her?”
    “I’m not sure,” he replied with little interest. “She ended up being a ‘Becky.’”
    “I’m sorry, a what ?”
    “Oh, a Becky. That’s what I call the girls who are just like the others. You know, like the red-shirt regulars on Star Trek .” After seeing the confusion on Charlie’s face, he continued, “Oh, not a Trekky? Okay, how do I explain it…hmmm… Here’s me, standing next to a cardboard cut-out. Insert Becky here. So, Amber was just another Becky. The same old shit, nothing to write home about.” He shrugged.
    “Why do you call them Beckies?” She couldn’t help but be thoroughly entertained by the thought process.
    “My roommate, Gabe, came up with it. He dated a girl once named Becky who was so bland, so lacking in personality…you know, one of the girls who actually say the letters O.M.G., rather than just saying ‘Oh my god.’” He rolled his eyes. “It just started catching on. Pretty soon we all started pointing out Beckies every time we went to shoot some pool, or out at the bar.” He paused briefly. “You don’t know what a red-shirt regular is? You’ve never watched Star Trek ?”
    Charlie shook her head and took a sip from her beer, smiling.
    “What kind of movies do you like?” he asked.
    “All kinds. I mean, I have my favorites, but I enjoy different kinds of movies. If the acting and plot are good…”
    “What’s your favorite?”
    “Oh, my favorite, of all time? That’s so hard,” she said, enjoying the lighthearted conversation. “I’d have to say The Matrix …or, Just Friends . Oh, and Heathers . What’s your favorite?”
    “ Suspect Zero …I think. So far it’s been the most intriguing movie I’ve seen…”
    As Samuel continued speaking, Charlie found herself looking closely at his features: the way his dark hair fell to the sides of his temples; his rough hands, stained with paint and ink from whatever project he as working on earlier in the day; his forearms and the dark hair that adorned them. Her eyes traveled back up to his face and followed his unshaven square jawline up to his high cheek bones. She hadn’t remembered thinking that the boy she met in college could somehow turn out to be so appealing. She noticed two small red marks on the bridge of his nose,