Jump Rope and Oatmeal Cookies

I could tell by his manner he was still on guard, as though waiting for a further question from me. There was awkwardness between us that could not be ignored. Something had to be done about it, even if it covered me with shame.

-Daphne du Maurier
REBECCA

Twenty-five years ago today

February 1, 1987
Sunday

I woke up on this Sunday morning and efficiently did my one-hundred jump rope routine. I did the barbell routine, too.

I soon found myself back at mom and dad's house where I joined them for breakfast. Afterwards, I returned to my pad in a horny mood. And so, I called Mark Landreth.
I asked, "What are you up to?"
"I cooked a Barbecue steak dinner for Ivy last night. Then she got sick."
I couldn't help but laugh and asked, "Did she get sick from your dinner?"
"No, she was already sick…but not from the food."
"Oh."
"I'm thinking of riding my bike over to your neck of the woods."
"Oh okay."
"It's not for sure yet…but I will call you if I do."
"Okay," Mark said reassuringly.
I didn't ride my bike there.

I slept. Then I went for a short neighborhood bike ride. I saw Tony, Helen and Lauren at mom and dad's house.

John and Sherri dropped by at mom and dad's house as well. They had just returned from a Pebble Beach Golf Tournament.

I went home and left to order Chinese Food To-Go for me, mom and dad. While ordering the Chinese Food I met a guy named Richard Weinstein. He was from an area of New York called Long Island. He was very QBL (Questionable), but a very nice guy.
"So what do you do in New York?" I asked.
Richard replied, "Well, I'm an artist. I'm mostly into glass art and I do massage physical therapy as my primary business."
I thought to myself, "There's no future in that."

I ate with mom and dad at their place and returned—yet again—to my pad. I was hungry again by eleven o'clock. I had a banana and a glass of milk with oatmeal cookies.

Extreme measures were not to be employed just because an opportunity had presented itself.
-Stieg Larsson
THE GIRL WHO KICKED THE HORNET'S NEST