3-5

 

5.

She spent that whole day at Wimbledon, cheering on her friend Serena Williams, from Serena’sbox. She texted me after the final set as she raced back to her hotel, then texted again while shechanged, then texted me as she was rushing to Soho House.

This time I was already there—waiting. Smiling. Proud of myself.

She walked in, wearing a pretty blue sundress with white pinstripes. She was aglow¹.

I stood and said: I bear gifts.

A pink box. I held it forward.

She shook it. What’s this?

No, no, don’t shake it! We both laughed.

She opened the box. Cupcakes. Red, white and blue cupcakes, to be exact. In honor² ofIndependence Day. I said something about the Brits having a very different view of IndependenceDay from the Yanks, but, oh, well.

She said they looked amazing.

Our waitress from Date One appeared. Mischa. She seemed genuinely³ happy to see us, todiscover that there was a Date Two. She could tell what was happening, she got that she was aneyewitness, that she’d forever be part of our personal mythology⁴. After bringing us a round ofdrinks she went away and didn’t return for a long time.

When she did, we were deep in the middle of a kiss.

Not our first.

Meghan, holding my shirt collar, was pulling me towards her, holding me close. When she sawMischa she released⁵ me immediately and we all laughed.

Excuse us.

No problem. Another round?

Again the conversation flowed, crackled. Burgers came and went, uneaten. I felt anoverwhelming sense of Overture⁶, Prelude⁷, Kettle Drums, Act I. And yet also a sense of ending. Aphase of my life—the first half?—was coming to a close.

As the night neared its end we had a very frank⁸ discussion⁹. There was no way round it.

She put a hand to her cheek and said: What’re we gonna doooo?

We have to give this a proper go.

What does that even mean? I live in Canada. I’m going back tomorrow!

We’ll meet. A long visit. This summer.

My summer’s already planned.

Mine too.

Surely in the whole summer we could find one small spot of time.

She shook her head. She was doing the full Eat Pray Love.

Eat what now?

The book?

Ah. Sorry. Not really big on books.

I felt intimidated¹⁰. She was so the opposite of me. She read. She was cultured.

Not important, she said with a laugh. The point was, she was going with three girlfriends toSpain, and then with two girlfriends to Italy, and then—She looked at her calendar. I looked at mine.

She raised her eyes, smiled.

What is it? Tell me.

Actually, there’s one small window…

Recently, she explained, a castmate had advised her not to be so structured about her summerof eating, praying and loving. Keep one week open, this castmate said, leave room for magic, soshe’d been saying no to all kinds of things, reserving one week, even turning down a very dreamybike trip through the lavender fields of southern France…I looked at my calendar and said: I have one week open as well.

What if they’re the same week?

What if?

Is it possible?

How crazy would that be?

It was the same week.

I suggested we spend it in Botswana. I gave her my best Botswana pitch. Birthplace of allhumankind. Most sparsely¹¹ populated nation on earth. True garden of Eden, with 40 percent of theland given over to Nature.

Plus, the largest number of elephants of any nation on earth.

Above all, it was the place where I’d found myself, where I always re-found myself, where Ialways felt close to—magic? If she was interested in magic, she should come with me, experienceit with me. Camp under the stars, in the middle of nowhere, which is actually Everywhere.

She stared.

I realize it’s crazy, I said. But all of this is obviously¹² crazy.

 

1 aglow   

adj.发亮的；发红的；adv.发亮地

参考例句：

• The garden is aglow with many flowers.园中百花盛开。
• The sky was aglow with the setting sun.天空因夕阳映照而发红光。

2 honor   

n.光荣；敬意；荣幸；vt.给…以荣誉；尊敬

参考例句：

• I take your visit as a great honor.您的来访是我莫大的光荣。
• It is a great honor to receive that prize.能拿到那个奖是无上的光荣。

3 genuinely   

ad.真地；确实地

参考例句：

• She appeared genuinely surprised by this gesture of affection. 看来她真的被这个爱意的表示惊呆了。
• She seems genuinely fond of the children. 她似乎真的喜欢这些小孩。

4 mythology   

n.神话，神话学，神话集

参考例句：

• In Greek mythology,Zeus was the ruler of Gods and men.在希腊神话中，宙斯是众神和人类的统治者。
• He is the hero of Greek mythology.他是希腊民间传说中的英雄。

5 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

6 overture   

n.前奏曲、序曲，提议，提案，初步交涉

参考例句：

• The opera was preceded by a short overture.这部歌剧开始前有一段简短的序曲。
• His overture led to nothing.他的提议没有得到什么结果。

7 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。

8 frank   

adj.坦白的，直率的，真诚的

参考例句：

• A frank discussion can help to clear the air.坦率的谈论有助于消除隔阂。
• She is frank and outgoing.她很爽朗。

9 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。

10 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 sparsely   

adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地

参考例句：

• Relative to the size, the city is sparsely populated. 与其面积相比，这个城市的人口是稀少的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The ground was sparsely covered with grass. 地面上稀疏地覆盖草丛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 obviously   

adv.显然；明白地

参考例句：

• Obviously they were putting him to a severe test.显然他们是在给他以严峻的考验。
• Obviously he was lying.显然他是在撒谎。