LITMIR.BIZ

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like Sylvie, Jayne, Lila or Rose Carson, her landlady. Or even to her dog, Lucy, who always had a way of bringing a smile to Meredith’s gloomiest hours.

      The thought of Lucy made Meredith glance at the clock. It was past five, and Lucy was waiting for her walk. Meredith got her work in order, collected her belongings and left her office. She, too, looked forward to the nightly stroll. It gave her a chance to unwind and renew. As she left the office building, she said goodnight to a few friends. Outside, a cool breeze greeted her. The morning’s wet weather had cleared and except for some lingering traces of snow on the ground from last month’s freak snowstorm, the November evening was dry and the darkening sky, cloudless.

      After a short bus ride to her neighborhood, Meredith got off at the Ingalls Park stop and walked across the park to Amber Court. Her apartment building, 20 Amber Court, was a large limestone building, built at the turn of the century. It had once been a private mansion, but was converted into four levels of apartments at some point in the seventies. Meredith loved old houses and had even studied a bit about Victorian architecture. She’d fallen in love with the old building at first sight, and the owner, Rose Carson, who lived on the first floor, had been so warm and welcoming that Meredith had felt right at home from the very first day she’d moved in.

      She let herself into the front door and then picked up her mail in the large marble foyer—a magazine, some bills, some junk mail and a letter from her mother.

      The sight of her mother’s handwriting filled Meredith with mixed emotions. The return address was Malibu Beach in California, where her mother had moved after her parents’ divorce, many years ago. Meredith guessed that her mother was writing to invite Meredith to visit for Thanksgiving. The envelope was so thick it might even contain another plane ticket, she speculated. But Meredith didn’t want to fly out to the West Coast for the holiday. She would have to make some excuse, of course. She didn’t want to think about that problem now, and shoved the letter, along with the rest of the envelopes, into the magazine.

      Her apartment was on the third floor. As it was situated at the front of the building, many of the windows afforded a breathtaking view of Ingalls Park. Though the building had a small elevator that had been installed during the renovation, Meredith usually preferred to take the stairs.

      Once at her front door, she heard Lucy on the other side, sniffing and whining as Meredith unlocked the door. Meredith had adopted the golden-colored Labrador retriever from a shelter several years ago, and Lucy knew better by now than to jump up. But still, every time Meredith came home, Lucy acted like a puppy and could barely contain her excitement. She ran toward Meredith, carrying a chewed-up tennis ball in her mouth, her tail beating a mile a minute against Meredith’s legs. Finally she dropped the ball at Meredith’s feet, then licked any part of her owner she could get close to.

      “Oh, hello, Lucy. Hello sweetheart,” Meredith bent to greet her four-legged pal, patting her soft head and rubbing her chest.

      “Thank you for the ball, Lucy,” she crooned, as if the gooey tennis ball was a true treasure. “Gee, everyone’s giving me presents today.”

      Lucy sat as still as she could manage in her excited state, content to have the thick, soft fur on her chest rubbed. She leaned forward and covered Meredith’s cheek with a sloppy lick.

      Meredith laughed and ruffled Lucy’s silky ears. “You’re such a sweetheart. I don’t know what I’d do without you,” she said and knew it was true.

      Meredith stood up and smoothed out her clothes. “Go get your leash,” she told Lucy. “Let’s go out.”

      The dog jumped up and darted away, reappearing seconds letter with her thick blue leash in her mouth. Meredith patted her head and clipped on the leash, then allowed Lucy to drag her out of the door and down the stairs as they headed for the park.

      The weather was so wonderful that Meredith gave the dog an extra-long walk. She returned home feeling tired but invigorated, as if the cool breeze tossing the treetops in Ingalls Park had somehow blown loose the cobwebs in her mind.

      She had just enough time to feed Lucy, then shower and change into comfortable clothes before Sylvie, Lila and Jayne arrived. Her friends bustled in, one carrying a paper bag of Chinese food that emitted warm, appetizing aromas, and the other an armload of evening clothes.

      “Here we are,” Lila said.

      “Right on time,” Sylvie added.

      Meredith gritted her teeth and grinned. “May the condemned woman at least eat one last meal in peace?”

      “Sorry, you’ll have to eat while we work on the hair and makeup,” Jayne said, glancing at her watch. “I need to get home by nine for Erik.”

      “These newlyweds,” Sylvie rolled her eyes. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare ask why.”

      “Don’t be silly. He needs some help with his computer,” Jayne replied curtly.

      “Right,” Sylvie said.

      Meredith saw Jayne blush scarlet but she made no teasing comment to second Sylvie’s. If she were married to Erik, she’d want to get home early, too. Jayne had gone through so much in her life and it was great to know she’d finally found real happiness. Orphaned at age eighteen, she’d given up her own chance to go to college and bravely raised her siblings, who were four years younger. Her younger sister and brother, who were twins, were now away at college. Jayne missed them terribly, but also appreciated the time alone with her new husband.

      Lila tried to hide her smile as she turned to open a small overnight case filled with beauty supplies.

      “So, are you ready?” Lila asked. She turned to Meredith, brandishing her weapon of choice, a huge, fluffy makeup brush.

      “Right,” Sylvie said. “So, are you ready?” Sylvie asked turning to Meredith.

      “As ready as I’ll ever be. Let the games begin….” Meredith said.

      Meredith had balked at first at all their fussing, then sat back and allowed herself to enjoy it. Having her friends make her over, from head to toe as shown in the fashion magazines, reminded her of her college days—the best memories of her college days.

      She had been a social disaster in high school. A straight-A student and a total bookworm with a few close friends who were equally “geeky.”

      Her father—a high-powered corporate attorney—was hardly home. When he was, he rarely had time for her. His affection and approval seemed to come in limited doses.

      Her mother, a former actress who prided herself on a glamorous image, had tried time and again to make improvements on Meredith’s appearance. “You have assets, dear,” her mother would assure her. “We just need to bring them out more.” Meredith secretly did not see her assets and thought her mother was just trying to be nice. She believed that no amount of new clothes or haircuts would ever make her small-boned and blond like her mother. But trying hard to please her mother—to win the love and approval she’d never truly felt as a child—Meredith wore the fashions or hairstyles her mother advised, feeling silly and uncomfortable most of the time. She squinted and blinked as she forced herself to wear contact lenses. In time she’d finally given up and reverted to her baggy, dull clothes, her dowdy hair-dos and thick lenses. Her mother would rail and moan about the wasted effort, the wasted money—and even call her only child a lost cause. Meredith would burrow even deeper into her shell, hiding her tears behind a favorite novel.

      But in college, far from home, Meredith found friends who shared her interests and views, who made her feel valued and appreciated just as she was. She began to develop her own style—a style of dressing and acting that was far different from her conventional, status-conscious parents. Meredith had always known she was different—but for the first time in her life, she began to see that difference as her true asset. An asset she tried to make shine through.

      There were some wonderful years in college, and Meredith gained self-confidence and feelings of self-worth. Even her parents noticed the difference when she came home for holiday visits. “A late

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