Professor Matthews received her warmly, and they spent the better part of an hour discussing their common interest in Dante. He mentioned that Cecilia Marinelli was arriving from Oxford the following week and suggested that Julia drop by in order to attend a reception that was being held in Professor Marinelli’s honor. Julia accepted the invitation gladly. Then he walked her to the graduate student lounge and introduced her to a group of students before politely taking his leave.
Two of the students were cordial but not particularly friendly. The third student, Zsuzsa, who was from Hungary, welcomed Julia immediately. She told Julia that a group of them met for drinks every Wednesday at Grendel’s Den, a local pub overlooking Winthrop Park. Apparently, Grendel’s had a lovely patio and an exceptional beer list. Julia promised to meet Zsuzsa there the following Wednesday night, and the two women exchanged email addresses.
Despite Julia’s overall shyness, a character trait that she would never lose completely, she fit into the Harvard landscape like a hand into a glove. She found an undergraduate tour guide called Ari who gave her an orientation to the campus, the library, and the graduate school. She secured a library card in advance of registration, which would be held in August.
Julia dropped into the graduate student lounge on occasion to see Zsuzsa and to learn more about the atmosphere of the department. And she spent long hours in the library, hunting down books that she would need to read that summer. Exploring the neighborhood, she found a grocery store and a bank and claimed a particular Thai restaurant, which was just down the street from her apartment, as her new favorite place to eat.
So by the time Rachel called her on June twenty-sixth, Julia was completely at home in her new life and happy. Almost.
Julia was in between customers when Rachel called her cell phone, so she asked one of her co-workers to cover for her and walked out to the front lawn so as not to disturb anyone.
“Rachel, how are you?”
“We’re fine! I’m sorry it took me so long to get back to you. Some bastard stole my phone and I had to get a new one. Then I had to go back through all the messages, starting with the ones about the wedding and —”
Julia gritted her teeth only slightly as she waited for Rachel to draw breath so she could steer the conversation in a completely different direction. In two or three paragraphs, her patience was rewarded.
“Gabriel quit his job.”
“What?” Rachel almost shouted. “How do you know?”
“A friend of mine was his research assistant in Toronto.”
“That explains it,” Rachel said.
“Explains what?”
“Gabriel sold his condo. He sent Dad an email saying that he was moving and that he has been staying in hotels while he looks for a house.”
Julia leaned her back up against the old, gnarled oak tree that stood in front of Peet’s.
“Did he mention where he was looking?”
“No. Just that he’d hired a company to pack up his things and put them in storage. But if he quit his job—”
“He’s in the process of quitting.”
“Then you should call him! Julia, it’s the perfect time. You have to call him.”
Julia gritted her teeth. “No.”
“Why not?”
“He broke up with me, remember? I’m not going to be the one to fix this—assuming it can be fixed.”
Rachel grew very quiet for a moment. “I’m not suggesting you sweep whatever happened under the carpet. But I hope that you two could talk about what happened. He needs to hear how you feel about all of this and what happened to you after he left. And frankly, he needs to offer some kind of explanation. He owes you that. Then you can tell him to get lost, if that’s what you really want.”
Julia squeezed her eyes shut as a wave of pain washed over her. The thought of seeing Gabriel—and listening to his explanation—physically hurt.
“I’m not sure my heart can survive his explanation.”
Chapter 42
Julia buried herself in busyness for the next few days, studying in preparation for her introduction to Professor Marinelli. Since the Professor was the guest of honor at the lavish reception where they met, their conversation was short, but a success. Professor Marinelli was still settling into her new home, but recognized Julia’s name thanks to Professor Picton’s recommendation and suggested that they meet for coffee in July.
Julia wafted home on a breeze of optimism. She was so happy, she decided it was finally time to begin the project she’d been avoiding—unpacking her books and arranging them on shelves in her small apartment. Until that evening, she’d availed herself of Harvard’s libraries. But every day the collection of boxes nagged at her, and so she finally decided it was time to organize them. The process took longer than she anticipated. She finished about a third of the boxes that evening before walking to the Thai restaurant and ordering take out.