SWEET SATURDAY SAMPLE: COMPARING NOTES -- JULY 14

Welcome to another Sweet Saturday Sample.

In last week’s episode from Interior Designs, Maeve unveiled her plan to Martha.  Now the two have launched it and are sharing their initial thoughts.  As they do commiserate, they touch briefly on the plight of Zach Lowenstein, who has been charged with murder.

Over a late supper, Maeve and I checked our e-mails for possible responses.  We had each created e-mail accounts with our new usernames, hoping to hide our true identities.  Maeve had ten responses, and I had eight.  I wondered about that, but kept my mouth shut.

 

She laughed as she read her messages.  “Oh, my God!  I can’t believe some of these guys.  Assumin’ they’re also makin’ stuff up, they don’t sound very appealin’.  What about yours?”

 

Mine didn’t seem any better, but one of them actually did click for me.  “Listen to this one, Maeve.”  And I read it aloud: “ ‘I’m a creative person, too, with loads of energy and unexplored avenues that I’d like to share with someone like you.  Click here for my profile.’  And he’s put in his link, of course.”  I followed the link to peruse his profile and study his photo.  “Do you think these guys post their real photos?”

 

“Well, if they didn’t, we’d find out soon enough,” Maeve smiled.  “Probably they’ve chosen their most flatterin’ picture, to draw in potential dates.”

 

“Yeah, mine was taken a few years ago,” I reminded her.  “But I think it still looks like me, except for my more recent hairstyle changes.”

 

Maeve’s photo was a recent one that we’d taken while in Napa.

 

“So…do you think you’ll contact this guy?  Meet him somewhere?”

 

I shook my head.  “I don’t know.  Maybe I’ll think about it for a couple of days.  Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.”

 

Even as I thought about this journey upon which we’d embarked, my thoughts turned toward Zach and his predicament.

 

My silence brought Maeve’s focus on me again, as she whispered:  “Where did you go just then?”

 

“Thinking about Zach and the murder charges.  Somehow, I just know that there’s more to the story.  People can hide their violent streaks for awhile, but don’t you think I would have glimpsed something?  I’m beginning to agree with him that someone set him up.”

 

“But who?”

 

Maeve’s question led me along pathways of thought that I didn’t want to travel.  It had to be someone close to him, I decided.

 

Who and why would someone do such a thing?  A chill passed through me just thinking about it.

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