Oppression Read Online Free PDF Page B

shower, shaving and shampooing twice, and as I blow-dried my flat hair, I realized I had never really had a reason to care about my appearance. I stared through the mirror into my chestnut eyes, trying to decide if I was pretty. Maybe I was. I could be if I tried.
    I shouldn’t care, but I was excited, a little too excited. I shut off the drier before I’d finished and tried to think objectively, to ignore all the reasons that fueled my curiosity. Was it really worth it? What if this was a trick? And even if it wasn’t, what then? I couldn’t allow myself to fall in love with someone. I had always known that. True love was not in my destiny.
    As I began to second guess my decision and think my way out of it, I heard a knock at the door. It was way too early for William to be here, and I wasn’t expecting anyone else. I sat on my bed and stayed quiet, hoping the person would think I wasn’t home. They knocked again, but I didn’t want to answer. This whole thing had made me so on-edge. I felt too vulnerable.
    “Elyse?” The sound of William’s voice got me on my feet. I grabbed my robe and went to answer the door.
    “Hi. Sorry. I didn’t know it was you,” I said, grateful that I had gotten those first words out before I had a good look at him. He was even more gorgeous than my memory had given him credit for, and I felt speechless in that moment. His skin, the color of caramel, his jaw, strong and defined, every piece of him invited my attention.
    “Hey. I know I’m a little early, but I’ve just been waiting at home all day to take you out.”
    “Okay,” I answered, still unsure. “Yeah, just let me throw something on.” I turned to head up the stairs, and realized I couldn’t just leave him out there. I turned back. “Come on up.”
    I hadn’t really considered what I was going to wear. I thought I had up to two hours to figure that out. After deciding that the worn out jeans and faded t-shirts in my closet wouldn’t do, I began digging through old clothes I hadn’t unpacked yet.
    “Sorry there’s no furniture,” I yelled from my room.
    I settled on a summery floral dress that Betsy had gotten me for my eightieth birthday. My hair still hung damp and limp, and the only shoes that matched were the black flip-flop sandals I’d been wearing every day.
    When I got up the courage to reenter the living room, I found William making himself comfortable on my makeshift blanket couch.
    “You look great,” he said with raised eyebrows.
    “Thanks,” I mumbled back. I felt a little self-conscious in a dress, but I had to admit I liked the attention. I liked it too much. “So how is this going to work?” I grabbed my shoulder bag, reminding myself that I was doing this for a reason. “Are you going to tell me what you know?”
    “Straight to the point, huh?” He laughed to himself. “I’ll tell you tomorrow, once the date is over.”
    “Why not tonight?”
    He shook his head. “It’ll ruin it.”
    “All right.” I accepted too easily. At least it would mean another reason to see him again. “Where are we going?”
    “I was thinking we could see Annie Hall . There’s a theater downtown that plays older films.”
    “I love that movie,” I beamed, forgetting all the doubts and worries I had seconds before. “I saw it the day it came out.” I stopped, catching my careless words as they fell out of my clumsy mouth.
    “In 1977?” he asked, bright eyed and casually.
    “I mean, on DVD,” I corrected. I laughed my nervous laugh. Ten minutes into this and I was already acting like a complete idiot and letting things slip.
    “Well, I thought you might like it.”
    “You did?” I sounded too pleased. He’d been thinking about me, thinking about what I might like. Obviously any attempt to be indifferent toward him was hopeless.
    “Yeah, you seem like the hopeless romantic type. Am I right?”
    He sure had the hopeless part right, and as for romance, yes I suppose that was hopeless