Sarah's Education Read Online Free PDF Page A

safe.’
    ‘You do anything you want with that money.’ Mr Meadows twisted in his seat to look at Sarah and her mother. ‘Treat yourself, baby. OK?’
    ‘OK, Dad,’ said Sarah.
    ‘I ate there once,’ said her dad, pointing out a steak joint.
    The airport was too bright and too hectic. Sarah recalled the joy she’d felt when she’d watched a plane take off from the penthouse suite of the Royal. It had seemed so peaceful without sound. She preferred a long-distance view of busy places, maybe even of life itself. She’d have to think about that later, when she was finally alone. It might mean something.
    Hugs, kisses, waves. After the interminable car ride, the send-off went fast. Sarah’s eyes filled with tears as she watched her parents clear security. As usual, her dad had to go through twice, setting off the alarm the first time because, as usual, he’d forgotten to empty the coins from his pocket. Mrs Meadows waited for him on the other side. She shook her head at her forgetful husband, but there was a smile on her lips. She took his arm. Then they were gone.
    ‘They’re getting older,’ Sarah murmured to David. She felt the need to explain the tears in her eyes.
    ‘They’re pretty cool, for parents.’
    Sarah let him hold her hand. She felt a rush of affection. Maybe David really was a ‘keeper’.
    On the way back, David rested his hand on Sarah’s bare knee. She let him leave it there until it began to wander up her thigh.
    ‘Don’t!’ she said.
    ‘I thought …?’
    ‘
Did
you?’
    He looked so downhearted she almost relented, but she steeled herself against pity. Sex wasn’t supposed to be about pity. It was supposed to be about being carried away by a masterful man, like Jack.
    David parked a little way from her door, under a towering Crimson King maple that blocked most of the light from the street lamps. That was where he’d stopped in the early days of dating, before he’d earned the privilege of being invited in. Good. It showed that David understood that their relationship had backtracked several months.
    He half turned and reached back into the rear of his Astra. ‘I got you a present.’
    ‘My birthday was yesterday, remember?’
    ‘I wanted us to be alone when I gave it to you.’ He handed her a big box wrapped in golden paper.
    Alone? Why? Had he bought her something sexy to wear, that he didn’t want her folks to see? If so, how should she react?
    David asked, ‘Aren’t you going to open it?’
    ‘Sure.’ Sarah’s fingers trembled as she ripped the paper away. When she lifted the lid, she discovered a pale-green sweater that her touch told her had to be pure cashmere.
    She loved cashmere. And the cost! Poor David, what with the expensive meal and this lovely gift, he must have spent close to a thousand dollars on her birthday. For him, that was a fortune. How could she stay angry with him?
    How could she not? She’d pretty much decided to dump him as soon as, or maybe even before, Jack tracked her down. Being mad at David would make that easy. Reconciling with him and then dumping him would be both hard to do and cruel. Maybe she could make it up to him by fucking him first? That seemed fair. It was what he wanted the most from her, wasn’t it? She wouldn’t have to tell Jack. But Jack thought she was a whore, so he wouldn’t care. But Jack would soon find out that her act had been genuine, so he might care. But …
    It was all so damned complicated.
    For now, she half decided, she’d make out with David but not go all the way till she’d thought things through.
    Not looking at her, David asked, ‘Do you like it?’
    ‘Love it.’
    ‘Going to try it on?’
    ‘Here, in the car?’
    ‘We could go in, like always.’
    ‘I don’t think so.’ Stripping her top off, alone with David in the privacy of her room, where there was a bed, could only lead to one thing. Sarah compromised. She took hold of the hem of her top and lifted it up above her head. David’s gulp