Read Online The Big Dream by Rebecca Rosenblum - Free Book Online

like your logo idea?”
    â€œWell, of course.”
    â€œWhose party you going to tonight?”
    Yaël zipped a boot. “I don’t know. It’s my friend Sasha’s friend.”
    â€œThis is a girlfriend, your mother tells me. How do you know her?”
    The boots looked good with a short skirt. She usually wore them with long skirts. “She was a temp at work.”
    Her father swallowed his mouthful and looked at her.
    â€œA temp orary secretary. When someone was away last month.”
    â€œSo she is a new friend. What about Lahley and Jane?”
    â€œTomorrow. We’re going shopping.” Yaël put her fingers to her lips to blow her father a kiss. When she held out her hand, she thought she saw a chip on her thumbnail polish, but it was just the light. Her mother came into the room dragging Chien by his leash. He did look a little plump. “Good night,” said Yaël. “I’m going.”

    Yaël stopped at the LCBO. It was crowded, happy and loud, a miniature party made up of people from different parties, in ball caps and suits and dresses. Yaël stared the men in ties and jackets, the punker boys with gluey hair, the mousy girls in boring jeans. She stared at the rack of red wines and tried to imagine what Sasha’s smart university friends would want. She decided the one that cost $15.

    She parallel-parked the first try, but stayed in the car an extra moment to settle herself. If she were meeting a man at this party, her usual guy-from-work type from marketing or PR (she never dated corporate-branding guys; in-department dating was a mess), arriving would be the best part of the night. She tried to transpose all those past evenings into a new fantasy – Yaël coming in, getting hugged close to Sasha’s small chest, getting introduced to impressed smiles, that first glass of wine of the weekend. She pulled back the handbrake and looked into the rearview. Her eyes were still perfect, all dark outline and silvery shadow. She got out of the car, clutching the wine bottle’s throat through its paper sack.
    She had never been to this neighbourhood before. The houses were big, but the lawns were patchy and no one had a flowerbed. Her boots rustled through leaves in the gutter. There were two guys sitting on the steps at the address Sasha had eyelinered on a sushi menu for her. Yaël was happy when they stopped talking to look at her boots, her breasts, her hair. Not the best part, but close. There were some pleasures in men, always.
    â€œIs this the place where the party is?” She smiled at the boy on the left. His hair was feathery and too long around his face, but he had a nice big smile.
    â€œAbso lute ly.” He stood up and looked down at her open jacket, the clingy white angora sweater underneath, then at her face. “Welcome.”
    His friend stood up, too. “I’m Pete,” he said, but he didn’t extend a hand for her to shake. Neither of them did.
    â€œI’m Yaël, Sasha’s . . . Thanks for having me. I brought some wine.” She held out the bottle, but Pete didn’t take it.
    â€œOh, it’s not my party. I’m just a friend of Hassid’s. But I know there’s a corkscrew in the kitchen for the wine. Oh, and this is Jarrit.”
    She turned. “Your party?”
    â€œOh, no. Those guys are inside.”

    Pete sat back down and picked up his beer. Jarrit smiled at her some more.
    â€œHave you seen Sasha?”
    His smile collapsed like a tent. “Oh, you’re with Sasha? Oh. She was around before . . . I saw her.”
    Yaël was bored bored bored. She said, “Thanks,” smiled nicely at Jarrit and carried the wine up the stairs and through the open front door. The party didn’t seem to be in full swing yet. There were only a few people on the couches and they didn’t look up when she came in. They all wore jeans, sweaters, sock feet. Some loopy music