The Old Man in the Club Read Online Free

disdain.
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Daniel asked. There was anger in his voice and posture.
    â€œI’m so glad to see you,” he said. “Have you received my letters or e-mails?”
    â€œYeah, we got ’em,” Daniel said. “And…?”
    â€œAnd how are we going to get beyond all this if we don’t communicate?” Elliott said. “It shouldn’t be this way.”
    â€œWhat are you doing here?” Danielle wanted to know.
    Before he could give an answer, Tamara walked up from the bathroom. “Okay, I’m ready.”
    Elliott looked at her and then the other two young adults.
    â€œTamara?” Danielle said.
    â€œDanielle, I didn’t even see you,” she responded. They hugged.
    â€œYou know Elliott?” Tamara asked.
    â€œYou’re leaving?” Daniel said to Tamara. “We came here for your party. And how do you know him?”
    The awkwardness was palpable, and Tamara sensed it.
    â€œEveryone is still at our section over there,” she said, pointing. “There’s another bottle coming. But I’ve been here a long time, so we’re leaving.”
    â€œHow do you know him?” Daniel asked again.
    Tamara was confused. Daniel’s and Danielle’s reactions was more than about the age difference. It was something else.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” she asked.
    â€œNothing,” Elliott said. He clutched her hand and started toward the exit. “Let’s go.”
    Daniel grabbed Danielle’s hand and pulled her in the opposite direction.
    â€œAre you dating him?” Danielle yelled.
    â€œWhy does it matter?” Tamara asked.
    â€œDon’t worry about it,” Daniel said. He pulled Danielle into the crowd.
    Elliott stood there looking in their direction as Tamara looked up at him.
    â€œWhat was that about?” she asked.
    He continued to look off in the distance.
    â€œElliott… ” Tamara said.
    He turned to her and had a look on his face she had not seen, a look of humiliation, which was big because he seemed to be impervious to embarrassment.
    â€œThat was my son and daughter,” he said.

CHAPTER TWO
Life, As He Knows It
    â€œW hat? Danny and Danielle are your children?” Tamara asked as they walked past the line of people outside that extended along Peachtree Street to Eleventh Street. “I went to college with them.”
    And that fact shook her. It was one thing to cavort with Elliott around people who did not know him. It was quite another for her to know his kids. It was a connection she did not embrace.
    Neither did Elliott. He placed his hand on the small of Tamara’s back and guided her across Eleventh Street and into Café Intermezzo, a light-night dessert place that was an after-party haven.
    â€œI thought we were going to your house?” Tamara asked.
    Elliott responded without looking at her: “We should talk first… and then see if you still want to go.”
    She nodded her head as they were led to a table on the patio that ran along Peachtree Street. Tamara decided she would not say anything and let Elliott take the lead. She was frustrated that the events had diminished her birthday buzz.
    â€œHow about some champagne?” Elliott surveyed the extended menu.
    â€œMore champagne?” Tamara asked. “What are we celebrating?”
    â€œIt’s still your birthday.”
    â€œYeah, but it’s not like what happened didn’t just happen.”
    â€œI’m glad it did, in a way.”
    Tamara gave him a look.
    â€œI haven’t seen them in two years,” he said. “That’s not the good part. They looked good, didn’t they?”
    â€œYou know how crazy this whole thing is for me?” Tamara asked. “How can I look them in the face again?”
    â€œEasy,” Elliott said. “What you and I do is none of their business.”
    â€œThat might make sense for you,”