Part 4 (2/2)
”Not to worry,” T. J. said.
Tom pulled two fresh twenties from his wallet and put them on the table, a sum that was fifteen dollars more than the cost of the meal. ”I don't want to take up your whole afternoon, T.J. It was great meeting you, and congratulations again on graduation. Have a blast with the rest of your senior year.”
”Thanks. Should I also . . . about the incubator . . . ”
”Oh yeah, I'll let you know how it's going. It doesn't sound like it's going to be very useful for you at this point, but if you come up with an idea, be sure and get in touch.”
T. J. didn't understand what had happened. He thought he'd gotten a job and now Tom was leaving and implying that there wasn't a spot for him. He scrambled to think of a way to get Tom to sit back down, but he was waving to the waitress.
”See you around, T. J.” Tom reached out his hand and T. J. instinctively shook it.
”Yeah, see you around. I'll . . . I'll e-mail you with an idea.”
”Sure thing, buddy.” And Tom was out the door.
Chapter 8.
Sunny Afternoons in Atherton.
According to the Google Maps app on his phone, it would take Adam an hour and ten minutes to walk from campus to Atherton, where his bike was still parked at the elementary school down the street from the Bristol house. This was not an area meant for walking. Everyone had luxury cars that transported them neatly from home garage to office garage, so sidewalks weren't in demand. Adam trudged along the asphalt shoulder, listening to Arcade Fire through his phone, sweating from the scorching hot day. Why hadn't he left earlier this morning before it got so d.a.m.n hot?
He was still frustrated with Amelia and her resistance to his idea about the company. He was looking down at the pavement, deep in thought, when he sensed a car cruising alongside him. Startled, he looked through the rolled down window of a Lexus Hybrid SUV and pulled out his earphones.
”Hey, Adam! Do you need a ride?” It took his eyes a moment to adjust as he peered through the window at-could it be?
”Lisa! Hi! Uh, yeah, a ride would be awesome.” She stopped the car and he climbed into the pa.s.senger seat. ”I'm just going down to pick up my bike. I left it at the elementary school the other night after the party.”
”Oh, sure. No problem.”
Lisa looked even more beautiful than she had at the party. She'd obviously just come from the pool. She was wearing tiny white shorts and a pink halter-top that had turned dark from the still-wet bikini top underneath. Her hair was damp and clipped back in a sloppy bun.
”Sorry,” she smiled self-consciously, noticing him looking at her. ”I just came from the pool. I'm a total mess.”
”No, not at all. I mean, don't apologize. You look . . . great.” Lisa blushed and smiled without opening her mouth as she pulled the car up to the bike rack in the school parking lot. ”That it?”
”Yeah.” Adam started to thank her, but he didn't want this moment to end. She didn't either. ”Want to come have a gla.s.s of lemonade or something?
It's so hot out there. You'll burn up if you try biking all the way back to Stanford in this heat.”
Adam smiled. ”That would be awesome.”
Adam hopped out of the car, put his bike into the trunk of the SUV, and they drove back to the Bristol house.
Lisa pulled a pitcher of lemonade out of the fridge and poured them both large gla.s.ses.
”I'm just going to run up and take off my wet bathing suit. Make yourself at home,” Lisa said, as she pointed to the living room.
Adam watched her skip up the stairs, her shorts accentuating the perfect roundness of her b.u.t.t. ”Focus,” he told himself, trying not to think about her changing upstairs.
He walked into the living room and studied the bookshelf. Family photos in polished silver frames balanced out rows of color-coded antique books. Adam looked at the smiling faces-T. J., Lisa, and their parents, all tan and gorgeous. In one photo they were dressed in black-tie attire in front of a castle somewhere, in another they were bundled in ski jackets on top of a snowy mountain, and in another they were in bathing suits on a yacht in front of a white cliff (Greece, maybe?).
”Want to see more?” Lisa had crept up behind him. She smelled like lilies and he noticed she'd put on lip gloss, which s.h.i.+mmered pink against her tan skin.
Adam blushed. ”Yeah, I'd love to.”
Lisa pulled a stack of alb.u.ms off one of the shelves and led Adam over to a big white sofa next to the window. When she opened the first alb.u.m, her face lit up. ”Look at these. From the Beijing Olympics. We were in the front row for the opening ceremonies. And here-afterwards we met the President of China at this super-fancy dinner on some sw.a.n.ky rooftop where they launched fireworks while we all drank champagne. It was so much fun.”
She turned the page. ”And these are from Christmas. The year we rented that beautiful Swiss chalet in Chamonix. You could ski straight out the back door onto the mountain and, afterward, end up at the most ridiculous apres ski parties.”
Adam was enthralled with the pictures. He couldn't believe she'd been to all these places. But he was even more enthralled with Lisa's smiling face as she looked at the photographs. He was watching her-a strand of hair had fallen tenderly down the side of her face-when she opened a second alb.u.m and, for a split second, her cheeks went pale. Quickly, she flipped to the next page.
”Here!” she pointed to a picture of her younger self on top of an elephant. ”We rode elephants in India. T. J. was terrified and refused to do it.” She giggled. ”Oh, he'd die if he knew I told you that!” Adam smiled. ”At least you're not showing me his baby pictures. I bet those are really incriminating.”
She giggled again. ”Oh, they definitely are!” She opened a third alb.u.m.
”Look at this one.” She pointed to a picture of T. J. as a toddler, naked, sitting in a diaper covered in brown goo, crying with a look of pure anguish on his baby face.
”Oh my G.o.d, that's not his-”
”Ha ha, no. It's chocolate pudding. Apparently he got upset while his nanny, Odelia, was making it, and he splashed the whole bowl all over himself.”
Adam smiled. ”How about your baby pictures? I bet you were really cute.”
Lisa got quiet and looked down at her purple polished toes. ”Those aren't out. I mean, there aren't many.” She hesitated. ”There aren't many pictures of me when I was a baby.”
Adam grimaced. It was going so well and now he'd upset her! ”Oh, that's cool. I didn't mean to-”
”No, don't apologize. It's not your fault. I just don't really like the earlier memories, that's all.”
”Is that why you skipped the page before?” Lisa looked up at him, her eyes peering deeply into his, as though she was searching for a sign that she could trust him. He could lose himself completely in those eyes.
”Yeah, it is,” Lisa said. She fiddled with the corner of the second alb.u.m and then, as if deciding that Adam was someone she could open up to, turned back to the page she'd skipped.
The photo on the page showed a smiling toddler, pudgy with a head of blond curls, holding the hand of a younger Mrs. Bristol, who was grinning as she led the girl up to the front door of the house they were now in. The door was covered by balloons and a sign with a painted clown and the words, ”Welcome, Lisa! We love you!”
”I don't understand,” Adam said.
”I was-I mean, I am- adopted,” Lisa said quietly.
Instinctively, Adam reached for her hand. ”There's nothing wrong with that, Lisa.” He wanted to hug her, to hold her and press her head against his chest and kiss away her tears.
”I know. It's just-well, I think I always feel guilty, like I don't really deserve any of this. Like I'm an outsider.” She looked up at him. Her eyes were br.i.m.m.i.n.g with tears, but she smiled through them. ”I don't know that I've ever admitted that to anyone.” Adam smiled warmly back, his gaze meeting hers. ”I think it makes you deserve it even more. And I think it makes you even more incredible.” Lisa blushed and forced a laugh to try to lighten the mood. ”I can't believe I told you all that. I just met you, like, a few days ago. I don't know what it is about you. I guess I just really feel like I can trust you.” Adam's heart was beating so fast he worried she'd hear it. ”You can.” She smiled back at him and squeezed his hand, which still rested on hers. Just then they heard the back door open and Maria, the housemaid, called out from the kitchen. ”Miss Lisa, are you home?” Lisa stood up as she called back. ”Yes, Maria, I'm in here,” she said, and then turned to Adam. ”Can I drive you back to campus?”
”No, no, I can bike back. I think I'm ready to brave the weather now.”
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