Things Withered Read Online Free PDF Page A

their thirties, just the perfect age for moving up on the real estate ladder. I was expecting that they would recommend me to their friends when the time came. I planned to leave several business cards with them when we completed the paperwork.
    We walked into the memorial hall and up to the front of the pews. We slid in to sit next to the Turgots, who lived in the apartment directly below ours. We said our hellos and caught up a little bit on whispered gossip about the cruise ship disaster and the Bramleys in general, when I glanced back and happened to catch a row of beauties in a back pew.
    It was Tracy, Stephanie and Lily, the full trio of new girls from the building. The three of them sat with a fourth girl, whom I didn’t recognize. They spotted me the same time I spotted them and as I raised my hand in a discreet, but rather pleased wave, the three of them smiled back at me, in unison. It threw me a little.
    White. Toothy.
    Identical. My hand dropped and I turned back to the front. The memorial was starting.
    Requiem eternam dona eis, Domine.
    It was a lovely service, with lots of tears, which is all one can hope for at the end of one’s life. Afterwards Kevin and I were going to dinner with some friends. I waited outside the hall while he got the car.
    He was only gone a moment when the girls stopped to say hello. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then Lily introduced the fourth girl.
    “Anita, I’d like you to meet Gwendolyn.” I smiled and shook her hand, soft as flower petals, but strong.
    “How do you do?” I said, watching for Kevin out of the corner of my eye. She was very nice.
    “We’re old friends—” Lily started.
    I interrupted with what I hoped was a light tone, “From college?” The girls all laughed.
    “I think you’ve found us out!” she said. And then nearly in the same breath, “I’m sure this is very bad time to bring this up—” her tone apologetic and at the same time, firm.
    “What’s that?” I said. The other girls stood very close, Mona-Lisa-smiling with their lips together.
    “I know it’s soon, but of course the Bramleys’ apartment will be coming up for purchase soon, and we wanted you to know we think Gwendolyn would be a
perfect
addition to the building. She wants very much to see it. Don’t you, Winnie?”
    “Very much. It’s a lovely building.”
    I had nothing to say. I was quite shocked. My mouth opened but nothing came out. I tried to say
pretty name
but it . . . wouldn’t come out.
    “We know it’s soon,” Stephanie said.
    “We just want to get in line, really,” Lily said. Gwendolyn—Winnie—held her smile, confident and poised.
    “You’re lovely to consider her,” Tracy said. She touched my hand and bent a little in my direction, mindful of her heels. “We’ll be in touch soon.” She turned and looked at the crowd, still congregating around the doors of the hall. “Wasn’t that just the nicest service?”
    It had been.
    Kevin pulled up and I excused myself. They all waved.
    I had forgotten all about the Bramleys’ memorial a few days later, when one of the Roberts announced he was leaving the firm. There were two Roberts, they had been so shortly at the office, that I had never learned to tell them apart. They had become the Two Roberts in my mind and that was how they stayed. When I got the intra-office email stating his resignation, my first thought was to scroll down to the bottom and see his title.
    Junior Partner, Senior Broker.
    My second thought was that I would now be able to tell them apart.
    I didn’t reply to the email, but I did quickly jot one off to Oscar, saying how
nice
it had been to catch up recently, and wasn’t that just so sad about Robert.
    I felt pretty big in my shoes; it felt like a bold move and the right one.
    Leaving Robert’s last day was the following Friday and there was a little send-off, a glass of champagne in the pit, as though he’d suddenly realized those of us on the bottom rung would miss