每天一点英文 09 that's what friends do

Jack¹ tossed the papers on my desk—his eyebrows² knit into a straight line as he glared at me.

　　"What"s wrong?" I asked.

　　He jabbed a finger at the proposal. "Next time you want to change anything, ask me first," he said, turning on his heels and leaving me stewing³ in anger.

　　How dare he treat me like that, I thought. I had changed one long sentence, and corrected grammar, something I thought I was paid to do.

　　It"s not that I hadn"t been warned. Other women who had worked my job before me called Jack names I couldn"t repeat. One coworker took me aside the first day. "He"s personally responsible for two different secretaries leaving the firm," she whispered.

　　As the weeks went by, I grew to despise Jack. His actions made me question much that I believed in, such as turning the other cheek and loving your enemies. Jack quickly slapped a verbal insult on any cheek turned his way. I prayed about the situation, but to be honest, I wanted to put Jack in his place, not love him.

　　One day another of his episodes left me in tears. I stormed into his office, prepared to lose my job if needed, but not before I let the man know how I felt. I opened the door and Jack glanced up. "What?" he asked abruptly⁴.

　　Suddenly I knew what I had to do. After all, he deserved it.

　　I sat across from him and said calmly, "Jack, the way you"ve been treating me is wrong. I"ve never had anyone speak to me that way. As a professional, it"s wrong, and I can"t allow it to continue."

　　Jack snickered nervously⁵ and leaned back in his chair. I closed my eyes briefly⁶. God help me, I prayed.

　　"I want to make you a promise. I will be a friend," I said. "I will treat you as you deserve to be treated, with respect and kindness. You deserve that. Everybody does." I slipped out of the chair and closed the door behind me.

　　Jack avoided me the rest of the week. Proposals, specs, and letters appeared on my desk while I was at lunch, and my corrected versions were not seen again. I brought cookies to the office one day and left a batch⁷ on his desk. Another day I left a note. "Hope your day is going great," it read.

　　Over the next few weeks, Jack reappeared. He was reserved, but there were no other episodes. Coworkers cornered me in the break room. "Guess you got to Jack," they said. "You must have told him off good."

　　I shook my head. "Jack and I are becoming friends," I said in faith. I refused to talk about him. Every time I saw Jack in the hall, I smiled at him. After all, that"s what friends do.

　　One year after our "talk," I discovered I had breast cancer. I was thirty-two, the mother of three beautiful young children, and scared. The cancer had metastasized to my lymph nodes and the statistics were not great for long-term survival. After my surgery, friends and loved ones visited and tried to find the right words. No one knew what to say, and many said the wrong things. Others wept, and I tried to encourage them. I clung to hope myself.

　　One day, Jack stood awkwardly in the doorway⁸ of my small, darkened hospital room. I waved him in with a smile. He walked over to my bed and without a word placed a bundle beside me. Inside the package lay several bulbs.

　　"Tulips," he said.

　　I grinned, not understanding.

　　He shuffled⁹ his feet, then cleared his throat. "If you plant them when you get home, they"ll come up next spring. I just wanted you to know that I think you"ll be there to see them when they come up."

　　Tears clouded my eyes and I reached out my hand. "Thank you," I whispered.

　　Jack grasped my hand and gruffly replied, "You"re welcome. You can"t see it now, but next spring you"ll see the colors I picked out for you. I think you"ll like them." He turned and left without another word.

　　For ten years, I have watched those red-and-white striped tulips push their way through the soil every spring.

　　In a moment when I prayed for just the right word, a man with very few words said all the right things.

　　After all, that"s what friends do.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

3 stewing   

炖

参考例句：

• The meat was stewing in the pan. 肉正炖在锅里。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The cashier was stewing herself over the sum of 1, 000 which was missing. 钱短了一千美元，出纳员着急得要命。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

5 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

6 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

7 batch   

n.一批(组，群)；一批生产量

参考例句：

• The first batch of cakes was burnt.第一炉蛋糕烤焦了。
• I have a batch of letters to answer.我有一批信要回复。

8 doorway   

n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径

参考例句：

• They huddled in the shop doorway to shelter from the rain.他们挤在商店门口躲雨。
• Mary suddenly appeared in the doorway.玛丽突然出现在门口。

9 shuffled   

v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼

参考例句：

• He shuffled across the room to the window. 他拖着脚走到房间那头的窗户跟前。
• Simon shuffled awkwardly towards them. 西蒙笨拙地拖着脚朝他们走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》