Girls in White Dresses - JENNIFER CLOSE [93]
“The fish died,” Lauren said, “which can’t be a good sign.”
“Well,” Isabella said, “fish die a lot. I think we had, like, four hundred different goldfish at my house growing up. A couple of them committed suicide by jumping out of the bowl.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lauren asked.
“I’m just saying, it could have been worse.”
“I don’t know,” Lauren said. “It just feels like a bad omen.”
They were out to breakfast, eating blueberry pancakes on their forty-ninth date, when Mark said, “I would like to hire you.”
“Hire me?” Lauren asked. “You know, I’m already doing it for free. If you started paying me now, it would change the nature of our relationship.”
Mark smiled just a little. “I would like to hire you as a Realtor. I want to buy a new place.”
“Oh,” Lauren said. “Okay.”
Lauren had shown Mark only three apartments before he found one he liked. He went to see it seven times. On the eighth visit, Lauren didn’t even bother talking about it. They just stood and stared at the bedrooms. Finally, Mark said, “I think I’m going to buy it. I like it here.”
“Me too. Let’s look at the closets one more time.”
Mark nodded and went over to the front hall closet. He bent forward so that half of his body was inside. “I think you should live here,” he said. His voice was muffled.
“It smells like liver?” Lauren asked. She didn’t even know what liver would smell like.
“No,” Mark said straightening up. “I think you should live. Here.”
“Oh,” Lauren said. “That might be a good idea.”
“There’s enough closet space.”
“Definitely.” And the two of them stood and looked at all of the space in the empty liver closet.
The day they moved into the apartment, Mark brought Lauren a turtle. “Here,” he said, like he had just found it in the hall. “A turtle to replace the fish.”
Lauren took the plastic container and looked at the little turtle. She had always wanted one.
“I’ll have to go to the pet store,” Lauren said. “I don’t even know what a turtle needs.”
“What are you going to name it?” Mark asked.
“I’m not sure,” Lauren said. She put the box on the table and they stared at it. “Maybe Rudy?” she said. She considered it. It was definitely a possibility. A possibility now, where it hadn’t been before.
Isabella,” her mom said. “There’s no need to be so down. Things seem bad, and they will until the worm turns. And then, you will look back on this time and laugh.”
“Until the what?” Isabella asked. “Until what turns?”
“The worm,” her mom said. “It’s an expression.” She sounded tired of Isabella. Isabella didn’t blame her. She was tired of herself.
“Okay, Mom. I should go. I need to update my résumé.” This was sort of a lie and sort of not. Isabella did need to update her résumé. But she wasn’t going to do it when she got off the phone. She just needed to stop talking to her mother. They said good-bye and hung up. Isabella sat in the apartment and stared at the dog. Should she go to the gym? It was two-thirty p.m. on a Tuesday. Did people go to the gym at that time? The dog stared back at Isabella. He seemed to know she was lying about her résumé.
“What?” Isabella asked him. He sighed and lay down on the floor.
“Sometimes,” Mary said, “when people get fired, they end up getting amazing new jobs. It forces people to get out there and find what they want to do.”
“But I already found what I want to do,” Isabella said. “And it just so happens that I picked a failing industry. I’m never going to get another job like I had. They won’t even exist anymore.”
“Yeah,” Mary said. “I guess that’s true.” She shifted on the couch, leaning back and then swaying from side to side.
“Are you all right?” Isabella asked.
“Yeah,” Mary said. “It’s just if I don’t have this freaking baby soon, I’m going to rip open my stomach.”
“Oh,” Isabella said. “Well, if that’s all.”
“Maybe you should take a shower,” Harrison suggested after he touched the top of her head. She had been in bed for