Writers and Lovers

After her Friday night shift, she and Oscar go for a walk with a slice of his mother’s carrot cake. Casey enjoys spending time with him and kissing him, realizing that “[t]here isn’t that feeling you get with most guys, like they’re barreling toward one place and one place only and seeing how fast they can get there without complication or too much conversation” (246). The next day at work, Casey tells Harry about kissing Oscar when Silas comes to see her. Silas explains that he needed to get away for a while and that he often desires motion. Casey surprises herself with how much she wants to talk to Silas, and they decide to go on a date to the museum together.

Casey prints out her novel for Muriel to read and feels scared but electric. Silas picks her up in his run-down car for their date at the Museum of Fine Arts. She tells him about finishing her book and is pleased that he expresses genuine happiness for her. They walk around the different art galleries and talk about their missing loved ones. They pause in front of The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, admiring the details and tone of the painting. Casey wishes she could write something “as good as right there, right where that belt cinches her pinafore” (261). They have coffee and tea after the museum, and Casey admires Silas’s comfort with silence. Back at home, Casey is in a cheerful mood and wants to call her mother, before remembering she is dead.

Oscar calls Casey at work to ask her out the next night. Casey says yes, but unease follows her throughout her busy shift. She thinks she should tell Oscar about Silas, since Oscar has children and uses words like “smitten” with her. She doesn’t, and she and Oscar go out to dinner. He gets recognized outside the restaurant, and they joke about Casey not having read any of his novels yet. He tells her he saw Muriel on Wednesday at the fiction group, and Casey is all too aware that Oscar knows Silas too. A man at the next table tells Oscar to have fun with his little girl, assuming Casey is Oscar’s daughter, not his date. After dinner, Casey and Oscar go for a walk. Oscar shows Casey the playground John and Jasper love, and Casey shows Oscar the building she used to live in with her friends. They keep walking and end up at Oscar’s house. They don’t go inside, but Casey can sense that it’s important to Oscar that she sees his home, where his children sleep.

Casey goes to the movie theater with Silas then hangs out in his apartment. Silas has roommates and a typical messy poor writer’s room. He tells her that his parents are unhappy, and she tells him that her father is not a nice man. Casey is extremely aware of how close they are to touching, but they don’t kiss. After Silas drops her off at her home, she checks her machine. Muriel has read her manuscript and leaves a message screaming about how much she loves it.

Casey meets with Muriel to discuss her notes on the manuscript. Muriel tells Casey she needs to write the rape scene her novel alludes to but doesn’t detail. Because the voyeuristic rape is based on that moment in high school when she saw her father buckle up his pants after watching the high school girls changing, it’s difficult for Casey to confront it. Back at home, she writes the whole anecdote out to deal with it properly. Casey works hard to apply Muriel’s notes and respects how much Muriel understood the novel.

Casey continues to spend her mornings walking Adam’s dog Oafie and writing. While Oscar is away doing readings, Silas comes over to Casey’s home. On their walk to the park, Casey realizes it’s the third date, but she doesn’t mention it to Silas because “[o]ur dates are not self-conscious like that. We don’t acknowledge that they’re happening or say what they mean. It all feels a bit haphazard and weightless, and to call attention to this might let out too much of the air” (259). They talk a bit about her book, and she asks Silas why he teaches high school, but they’re interrupted by the geese Casey loves so much. She tells Silas about singing to the geese the night she could feel her mother with her, and Silas tells her he knows that feeling. They finally kiss against the wall of a footbridge. Silas drives her home, and they share deep passionate kisses that Casey loses herself in. Silas needs to leave for a week to chaperone a field trip and says he’ll call when he returns.

Casey finds that dating two men at the same time invigorates her writing and inspires her to explore her novel more. Finally, Casey goes to the post office and sends her manuscripts off to literary agents. 

During her lunch shift, Casey unexpectedly finds that she is serving her father and her stepmother Ann. She hasn’t seen either of them in three years and doesn’t know why they’re here to see her. Even though she’s busy with other tables, they ask her to chat. Her father starts in about quitting golf and about how much money she would be making now if she had become a professional golfer. Ann strokes Casey’s beloved diamond and sapphire ring her mother left her. Casey’s father tells her to let Ann try it on, but Casey refuses. He reminds Casey that Ann took them in when her mother left and tells her to name her price for the ring. They exit without saying goodbye and leave less than ten percent for a tip.

Casey continues to think about her book. She can’t stop the itch to write and misses working on a book that evoked her mother’s childhood. Later, while getting a mammogram at the gynecologist, the technician finds a lump on Casey’s armpit and tells her to get it checked out. At the primary care office, the doctor tells her to stop hygiene products for a week to see if the lump goes away. When it doesn’t, the doctor recommends seeing an oncologist, but Casey can’t get an appointment for another seven weeks. Casey tries to write something new but can’t help missing the characters and rhythm of her former writing project, the book she knew so well for six years.

Oscar calls Casey at work to invite her over for dinner with his kids. Casey is surprised by the invitation but realizes she’s been waiting for it. She discusses her choices with the other restaurant staff, but everyone is stumped. She describes Silas as being unreliable but her attraction to him is intense; she describes Oscar as a herd dog. Casey hasn’t slept with either man yet, so she has only her situation and current feelings to explore, but she knows she needs to decide soon.

Casey rides her bike to Oscar’s house for family dinner. She believes Silas must be back from the field trip by now, but he hasn’t called. John and Jasper greet Casey at the door, and she’s stunned by the interior. The boys bring Casey juice boxes while Oscar prepares dinner and Casey takes out her deck of cards. She impresses the boys with her shuffling skills and teaches each of them how to do it. Over a dinner of chicken and cucumber sticks, John and Jasper tells Casey stories. One of their stories is about Nurse Ellen, a cantankerous woman who worked at the hospital their mother stayed in during her illness. Nurse Ellen finally became cheerful when Oscar gave her the ice cream his wife was too sick to eat. Jasper holds on tightly to Casey’s wrist while they tell the story, and Oscar seems sad, although they all treat the story as if it’s funny. Later, the boys get ready for bed and Casey helps with the dishes. Oscar tells her that the boys “do this with women. Their teachers, their friends’ mothers. [...] It breaks my heart because what is it going to look like in ten years with girls their age? All that neediness’” (Page 300). The boys are ready for bed, and Casey offers to read to them, but Oscar assures her that bedtime is still problematic. He says goodnight, and Casey leaves the house thinking about the toothpaste breath and weight of a little boy against her shoulder.