CHAPTER 5
Jen woke up on the morning of her date with Quint feeling guilty for forgetting to call Zoë for her birthday. She had had another dream about Zoë in which they were both at the beach with the two boys from the hotel. In the dream the boys didn’t have discernible faces, and Jen was her current age, while Zoë was still 15. They were each having sex with one of the boys. Zoë looked over at Jen and said, “Pay attention to the snow angels.” The dream was vivid and seemed almost real, but it made no sense. Snow angels? Jen took it as a sign that she better call Zoë before her date. Before she could finish dialing, though, her call-waiting beeped through.
“Hello?”
“Is this Mrs. Robinson?”
“Funny, Quint.”
“Are you ready for our big date? How does Manny’s at 7:30 sound?”
“Great, but I think we should meet there.”
“What are you afraid of? That I’m a stalker or something?”
“No…I…just…Okay, pick me up.”
“You’re the boss. See you then.”
Jen couldn’t get the dream out of her mind. Tonight, she told herself, she’d be open to anything. The societal rules about courtship and dating would not dictate how she acted. Her newly employed dating philosophy empowered her.
Jen never did get around to calling Zoë. Of course, the longer she went without calling, the more difficult it was to call — she was already in serious breach of birthday greetings etiquette.
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