16 Comments
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olivier's avatar

Richard, I enjoyed reading this very much. The atmosphere immediately draws you in. It stands well on its own as a short piece, and yet it also reads like the beginning of a novel, one I would very much like to continue reading.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

I guess I need to write it then, Olivier!

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Catherine Lane Diehl's avatar

Wonderfully descriptive!

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Thank you, Catherine!

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Laura O'Keefe's avatar

"If I had had the presence to look at her closely, I would have seen someone who had no room for anyone else. But my vision was impaired. "

I suspect that passage resonates with most of your readers. We've all sat waiting at that table at some point.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Indeed we have, Laura!

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Marina Osipova's avatar

Amazing! Every word, movement, every feeling of yours—palpable and, as though it was I, in Dean & DeLuca, watching you and your mysterious woman, sensing what you’ve felt. A gem!

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Thank you, Marina! So nice to hear this.

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Margaret Keeping's avatar

I was expecting a well-known name through the first part of the piece, before remembering that we can be bewiched by anyone . I think you were much too good for her.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Well, maybe not too good for her but certainly a wrong choice!

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Brenda Bowen's avatar

Who was she? And where is she now, I wonder?

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Richard Goodman's avatar

She was part of our writers group. We all thought she'd be the next Mary Gaitskill--or someone like her. Instead, she married a publisher, moved upstate, had two children and never wrote another word.

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Nancy Harmon Jenkins's avatar

well, just wow. And I remember that first Dean & Deluca which you capture so well. And the tension, the mystery woman, the stiff grace of the encounter. Thank you, Richard!

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Richard Goodman's avatar

I'm so glad you like this, Nancy!

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Elizabeth Godfrey's avatar

Oh, this is delicious on so many levels. What vivid memories of place, characters and feelings. It made me squirm.

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Richard Goodman's avatar

Squirm, Elizabeth? Love it!

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