Trecho:
The more she thought about it, the more Madeleine understood that extreme solitude didn’t only describe the way she was feeling about Leonard. It explained how she’d always felt when she was in love. It explained what love was like and, just maybe, what was wrong with it.
Here the telephone rang.
Madeleine dog-eared the page she was reading. She waited as long as she could (three rings) before answering.
Leonard said hello.
“Oh, hi,” Madeleine said. “I thought you might be my father. He’s freaking out about graduation already.”
“I was just having a little freakout myself.”
“About what?”
“About calling you.”
This was good. Madeleine ran a finger along her lower lip. She said, “Have you calmed down or do you want to call back later?”
“I’m resting comfortably now, thank you.”
Madeleine waited for more. None came. “Are you calling for a reason?” she asked.
“Yes. That Fellini film? I was hoping you might, if you’re not too, I know it’s bad manners calling so late, but I was at the lab.”
“I don’t think that was a complete sentence,” she said.
“What did I leave out?” Leonard asked.
“How about ‘Would you like to come with me?’ ”
“I’d love to,” Leonard said.
Madeleine frowned into the receiver. She had a feeling Leonard had set up this exchange, like a chess player thinking eight moves ahead. She was going to say goodbye when Leonard said, “Sorry. Not funny.” He cleared his throat. “Listen, would you like to go to the movies with me?”
She didn’t answer right away. He deserved a little punishment. And so she put the screws to him––for another three seconds.
“I’d love to.”
And there it was already, that word. She wondered if Leonard had noticed. She wondered what it meant that she had noticed. It was just a word, after all. A way of speaking.
So Madeleine believed, anyway, until she went home with Leonard the next night and stayed for three days.



































