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From the Ladder of Years by Anne Tylor
Anne Tyler was born in Minneapolis in 1941. She graduated from Duke University, and went on to do graduate work in Russian studies at Columbia University. Anne Tyler has written thirteen novels; her eleventh novel Breathing Lessons, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1988. She is a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Text 1
Delia walked up the street, eyes front, she took a right at the corner, and the green square in the distance seemed as comfortable, as well-known and faintly boring, as if she had spent her childhood there. Delia tried the door and it yielded. A steep flight of stairs climbed straight ahead. A ground-floor door to the right bore, on its cloudy glass, Ezekiel Pomfret's name and WILLS @ ESTATES - DOMESTIC CRIMINAL LAW. That door, too, opened when Delia tried it.
Delia stepped into a walnut-lined room with a reception desk in the center. No one was visible anywhere, but behind another door she heard a man's voice. She crossed to the desk, which was bare except for a telephone and a typewriter, manual, not even electric. (She had worried she would find a computer.)
Good afternoon, she would say. I am here to ask if...
No, not ask. Ask was too tentative.
She reached up to pat her hair, she glanced down at her dress checking it for secretarial properness. She smoothed her skirt around her hips and made sure that the trim on her tote – a flashy pink bow, ridiculous, was hidden beneath her arm.
The panel door swung open, and a big-bellied middle-aged man in a seersucker suit surveyed her over his half-glasses. "I thought I heard someone," he said.
"Mr. Pomfret, I'm Delia Grinstead," she told him. "I've come to be your secretary."
Miss Grinstead was Delia – the new Delia, for "Ms.," was how Mr. Pomfret had addressed her throughout the interview. She had drawn her Social Security card from her wallet and read off the number to Mr. Pomfret. She had told him she was relocating after burying her mother. She said she had worked in a doctor's office her entire adult life. “Twenty-two years” she told Mr. Pomfret, "and I felt so sad to leave, but I simply couldn't stay on in Baltimore with all those memories."
If references had been called for, she was prepared to say that her employer had recently died as well. But Mr. Pomfret didn't mention references. His sole concern was the nature of her past duties. Had she typed, had she filed, taken shorthand? She answered truthfully. "I typed all the bills and correspondence and the doctor's charts," she said. She sat straighter in her chair. "I filed and manned the phone and kept the appointment book, but unfortunately I do not take shorthand."
"Well, no matter," Mr. Pomfret said. "Neither Miss Percy or Miss What's-her-name. I have always dreamed of having a secretary with shorthand, but I guess it's not meant to be."
He said she should start tomorrow; her hours were nine to five. Sorry, the pay was just minimum wage, he said (sliding his eyes over subtly to gauge her reaction). Also she was expected to brew the coffee, he hoped that wasn't a problem.
Of course it wasn't, Delia said brusquely, and she rose and terminated the interview. Her impression of Mr. Pomfret was that he was a man without any grain to him, someone benign but not especially interesting, and that was fine with her. In fact, she didn't much like him, and that was fine too. For the impersonal new life she seemed to be manufacturing for herself, Mr. Pomfret was ideal.
At four-fifteen she returned to the shoe store and bought a large black leather handbag. The bag cost fifty-seven dollars. When she first saw the price she considered settling for vinyl, but then she decided that only genuine leather would pass muster with Miss Grinstead.
"Miss Grinstead, when Mr. Miller shows up I'll need you here taking notes," Mr. Pomfret said the following morning. "Mr. Miller is due at two-thirty," he continued. He was leaning over her desk to sign the letter. "I want you to write down word for word everything he specifies."
"Yes, Mr. Pomfret."
He straightened up, cupping his pen, and gave her a sudden sharp look. Sometimes Delia carried her secretary act a bit too far, she suspected. She flashed him an insincere smile and gathered up the letter. His signature was large and sweeping, smeared on the curves. He used one of those expensive German fountain pens that leaked.
"And we'll want coffee, so you might as well fix it ahead," he told her.
Water, filter, French roast. This coffeemaker was top-of-the-line, she supposed it came from one of those catalogs, that weighed down the office mail. Delia pressed a button on the coffeemaker and left the boss's office, closing the door discreetly behind her.
Mr. Miller arrived, Delia followed him into Mr. Pomfret's office to serve their coffee and then perched on a chair, pen and pad ready. She had worried she couldn't write fast enough, but there wasn't much to write. Delia cleared her throat and asked, "Will that be all?"
Mr. Pomfret said, "Hmm? Oh, yes, Miss Grinstead."
In the reception room Delia settled in her swivel chair, rolled paper into the carriage, and started typing. You could have balanced a glass of water on the back of each of her hands. Delia enjoyed everything about this job, especially its dryness.
Pronunciation of proper names:
Anne Tylor
Minneapolis
Duke University
Columbia University
Pulitzer Prize
Delia Grinstead
Ezekiel Pomfret
Baltimore
Miss Percy
Mr. Miller
Explanatory Notes
ground floor – (брит.) первый этаж
WILLS @ ESTATES - DOMESTIC CRIMINAL LAW – вывеска «Завещания и недвижимость – уголовное право в быту
tote – объемная пляжная сумка
seer-sucker suit – летний костюм из легкой полосатой индийской ткани
Miss – обращение к незамужней девушке или женщине; Mrs. – обращение к замужней женщине; Ms. – обращение к женщине независимо от ее семейного положения; обращение к коллеге по работе.
Social Security card – карта социального обеспечения
doctor's charts – история болезни, карточка больного
top-of-the-line – первосортный, наивысшего качества
She carried her secretary act a bit too far – она слишком хорошо вжилась в образ секретарши
French roast – французская обжарка кофе, самая темная и крепкая
panel door – филенчатая дверь
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