Read Online A Million for Eleanor: A Contemporary Story on Love and Money by Danil Rudoy - Free Book Online Page A

our professor? You should, he’s your favorite type: a football star back in the day.”
    “Why do you think so? He was fat.”
    “What do you think athletes’ muscles become with age? It’s just the practices that end: the habit to eat twice what your body needs doesn’t. I didn’t like him either. He didn’t give a damn about us and never even tried to hide it. Yet I am glad he asked that question.”
    “He asked us a lot of questions. If you came to class more often you would have noticed it.”
    “It was an eight a.m. class. I saw no reason to get up so early to spend two hours among a bunch of students who were ready to sell anything and anyone to become richer and a professor whose ties physically nauseated me.”
    “Didn’t you want to see me?”
    “I did. That’s why I didn’t drop that class: it was the only one we ever shared.”
    “You know, that’s something I always hated about you,” Eleanor said suddenly. “You start a thought, and don’t carry it through.” She turned her head and was now looking at him. “It is so annoying. Do you know how many times you did it tonight?”
    “Once? Many people told me about it, but I still don’t understand. If a question leads to a series of segues that are as interesting as the answer itself, why not enjoy the ride instead of cutting its loose ends?”
    “Because that’s how people talk.”
    “Let them talk as they please. What I don’t understand is why you are getting annoyed. You don’t even care for the answer.”
    “I’m dying of curiosity.”
    “Just like in that joke: please, continue, I always yawn when I’m thrilled.”
    “What question did he ask?” Eleanor cried. “Richard, I swear to God: I shall explode if you don’t answer!”
    He turned to her and pushed the gas pedal. The engine whose soft murmur was scarcely heard before roared, and she felt her body pressed into the seat.
    “Careful,” she whispered, watching the asphalt run toward her faster and faster. “We’ll crash.”
    For a couple of seconds he admired her radiant ivory profile standing out against the grey leather of the interior. She was as beautiful as a woman could be, and he had to acknowledge it once again.
    “You are more dangerous than seizures,” he said, turning back to the road and slowing down. “It takes one look at you to lose one’s mind. We’d make a terrific sight if we crashed, though: two dead bodies and a new million which would remain intact because the valises are fireproof.”
    “It seems you would rather die than finish what you were saying.”
    “How much does a million dollars weigh? See how insipid it becomes when the suspense is over?”
    “At least we returned to the beginning,” Eleanor said, trying to hide her disappointment.
    “But what was the price?” He laughed. “Now you’re hating me even more, and the question is still unanswered. What surprises me is that you’re not trying to count. It’s not that hard.”
    “Maybe I don’t care?”
    “You will when you have to carry it.”
    “Why don’t you hire a porter for me?”
    “Why don’t you hire one yourself? You can easily afford such trifles now. Though I can tell you from personal experience: there are very few people who can be entrusted with this kind of burden.”
    “I was, wasn’t I?”
    “Not entrusted: you were given it in exchange for a little favor.”
    “A small one, indeed.”
    “Did I ask for something extraordinary? What can be more natural for a woman than getting married?”
    “Doing it premeditatedly.”
    “Speaking of which. How were you going to explain everything to your boyfriend? Or have you already forgotten about him?”
    She turned her head to the right, pretending to stare through the side window.
    “The front view is better,” he said mockingly. She remained silent and motionless as if she hadn’t heard. He didn’t see her face but knew the role she was playing: that if a hurt lady caught up in a stream of