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Two
things are immediately evident to Juliana Blumenthal:
#1—her son and
this woman he insists upon introducing are infatuated with each other (in fact
they positively reek of consummation);
#2—Joanna, trim
and fit as a gymnast though she appears, is pregnant irreversibly (filled out
just enough to preclude a problem-free abortion).
Less apparent
but on-the-spot intuited:
Sam is not the
father.
‘Come in, come in. You didn’t expect to blurt out such stunning news then pull a
sprint, I hope? Give your mom and future mom-in-law a chance to catch her
breath; I’m in shock.’
alternately flattered by:
Sam’s eagerness
to share what she presumes are the couple's heat-of-the-moment plans,
and aghast at:
how
spontaneous, rash, and reckless the pair’s intentions are,
Juliana hastens
to the living room’s makeshift bar for a fortifying drink.
‘I
haven’t any champagne but here’s an excellent cabernet I’ve been saving for some
special occasion...’
(... and
what could be more special than a son proposing marriage to a
three-month-pregnant stranger? is the subtext Juliana throttles, poignantly
aware that there is more to be imparted by the agitated couple seating
themselves on the sofa and opening a laptop module, fidgeting with controls to
access a file in which is compiled she- knows-not-what but which makes Juliana nervous anyway, a
premonition dawning that the revelations made thus far are relatively tame, that wilder more extreme assaults on her single-motherhood are itching to
be waged, her heart already pounding, already racing in advance of some imminent
disclosure).
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