Read Online You Are Here by Donald Breckenridge - Free Book Online Page A

and tiny streetlights constellated the replica of the city beneath them.
    She cleared her throat, “Are you still awake?” Alan opened his eyes, “of course,” and blinked twice, “it’s nice just to lie here with you.” Her palms were pressed on the mattress, “I thought maybe you were taking a nap.” He yawned before saying, “I’m not getting very much sleep at home,” and rubbed his eyes. “Because of Olivia?” He yawned again, “she has yet to sleep through the night.” “I was afraid that,” Stephanie turned toward him, “that I was boring you,” and traced her fingers along his chin. He smiled, “no not at all.” The blinds rocked in the breeze as the horizontal shadows swayed on the wall above the bed. “Yeah, but I shouldn’t go on and on about my dysfunctional childhood.” Alan shook his head, “it’s always helpful to compare notes.” She kissed his chin, “well you can come over and take a nap anytime you want.” “Are you close to your father?” She thought of her father, “he’s been helping me out a lot lately financially,” who was most likely planted in his cubicle, “I really wish he’d remarry or at least start dating again,” and working through an endless series of calculations, “What about you?” Alan yawned again before saying, “he’s dead.” “Oh,” Stephanie clutched his arm, “I am so sorry.” He was touched by her impulse, “it’s okay,” while thinking of the long days and nights he spent, “he lost a long fight with cancer,” bedside in a private room at Sloan Kettering, “and died two years ago,” eyeing the narcotic drip that invariably followed another round of chemotherapy. “Were you very close?” And after a few weeks sitting bedside at a hospice, “it was his firm,” the final rainy afternoon at Union Field Cemetery with a few hundred mourners. “Do you miss him?” Alan thought of the panorama they’d strolled around a few hours ago, “he was very good at what he did,” and recalled the replica of the cemetery where his father was buried, “and took pride in his work… as clichéd as that sounds.” She shook her head, “it doesn’t.” “Most of my achievements, to a certain extent, all of my achievements are a result of his hard work… and with the exponential growth the firm is experiencing right now I can’t share it with him.” “Well,” she quietly suggested, “he’d have a granddaughter now.” “He never had time for his children,” Alan concluded, “I studied architecture to be closer to him and all I’ve done is inherit his success.”
    The overhead lights came up as she whispered, “it’s morning again my dear and time for me to get on the subway,” then kissed him on the ear, “and go to work.” He placed his hands on her shoulders, “Why don’t you call in sick?” She said, “Again?” with a smile. He anticipated the rest of the afternoon in her Jackson Heights apartment, “you can do that everyday.” Stephanie felt as dizzy as she sometimes did just before falling asleep, “you’re going to get me fired.” Alan repeated the offer, “I’ll pay your rent,” he had made yesterday on his cell phone while pushing Olivia in her stroller through Prospect Park. “I like my job,” she squeezed his hands, “and besides I don’t want a sugar daddy.” He shrugged, “just for a few months.” “I think you should see my place before saying that.” Alan placed his hands on her shoulders, “I didn’t think you were going to ask,” and kissed her on the forehead. She nodded at the city behind him, “it’s right over there,” and pointed at