James D Macdonald
Re: Point of View
From Neil's POV:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<HR>
At six-thirty, dressed for dinner, they sat on the back porch, sipping cocktails and looking out at Narragansett Bay.
"You look great, Mom," Neil said.
"Your mother's always been a pretty woman, and all the tender loving care she's received from me over the last forty-three years has only enhanced her beauty," his father said. H
e paused. "What are you two smiling at?"
"You know full well I've also waited on you hand and foot, dear," Dolores Stephens replied.
"Neil, are you still seeing that girl you brought up here in August?" his father asked.
"Who was that?" Neil wondered momentarily. "Oh, Gina. No, as a matter of fact, I'm not." It seemed the right time to ask about Maggie. "There is someone I've been seeing who's visiting her stepmother in Newport for a couple of weeks. Her name is Maggie Holloway; unfortunately she left New York before I got her phone number here."
"What's the stepmother's name?" his mother asked.
"I don't know her last name, but her first name is unusual. Finnuala. It's Celtic, I believe."
"That sounds familiar," Dolores Stephens said. "Does it to you, Robert?"
"I don't think so. No, that's a new one on me," he told her.
"Isn't it funny. I feel as though I've heard that name recently," Dolores said. "Oh, well, maybe it will come to me."
The phone rang. Dolores got up to answer it.
"Now no long conversations," Robert Stephens warned his wife. "We've got to leave in ten minutes."
The call, however, was for Robert. "It's Laura Arlington," Dolores Stephens said as she handed the portable phone to her husband. "She sounds terribly upset."
Robert Stephens listened for a minute before speaking, his voice consoling. "Laura, you're going to get yourself sick over this. My son, Neil, is in town. I've spoken to him about you, and he will go over everything with you in the morning. Now promise me you'll calm yourself down.
<HR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>
From Neil's POV:
<BLOCKQUOTE>
<HR>
At six-thirty, dressed for dinner, they sat on the back porch, sipping cocktails and looking out at Narragansett Bay.
"You look great, Mom," Neil said.
"Your mother's always been a pretty woman, and all the tender loving care she's received from me over the last forty-three years has only enhanced her beauty," his father said. H
e paused. "What are you two smiling at?"
"You know full well I've also waited on you hand and foot, dear," Dolores Stephens replied.
"Neil, are you still seeing that girl you brought up here in August?" his father asked.
"Who was that?" Neil wondered momentarily. "Oh, Gina. No, as a matter of fact, I'm not." It seemed the right time to ask about Maggie. "There is someone I've been seeing who's visiting her stepmother in Newport for a couple of weeks. Her name is Maggie Holloway; unfortunately she left New York before I got her phone number here."
"What's the stepmother's name?" his mother asked.
"I don't know her last name, but her first name is unusual. Finnuala. It's Celtic, I believe."
"That sounds familiar," Dolores Stephens said. "Does it to you, Robert?"
"I don't think so. No, that's a new one on me," he told her.
"Isn't it funny. I feel as though I've heard that name recently," Dolores said. "Oh, well, maybe it will come to me."
The phone rang. Dolores got up to answer it.
"Now no long conversations," Robert Stephens warned his wife. "We've got to leave in ten minutes."
The call, however, was for Robert. "It's Laura Arlington," Dolores Stephens said as she handed the portable phone to her husband. "She sounds terribly upset."
Robert Stephens listened for a minute before speaking, his voice consoling. "Laura, you're going to get yourself sick over this. My son, Neil, is in town. I've spoken to him about you, and he will go over everything with you in the morning. Now promise me you'll calm yourself down.
<HR>
</BLOCKQUOTE>