Free Dreamboat by Judith Gould

enough money, she thought. I’ve been saving for something like this for a long time. Yes, she decided, I’ll get away from Albany and try to forget all about the rotten Mr. Tom Gentry.
    By the time she was finished showering, she resolved that she would go to a travel agent this week and begin to explore the possibilities available to her. The sooner the better, she thought. She dried off and put on a bathrobe, tying it at the waist, then dried her hair. When she was finished in the bathroom, she flipped off the light and started for the bed.
    There was a knock on her door, and Crissy stood frozen, staring at it for a moment. No one ever came by without calling first, and she wondered who it could be. She went toward the door and called out in a low voice, “Who is it?”
    â€œYou are at the top of my shit list,” a female voice said from the other side of the closed door, “and I mean that.”
    Crissy couldn’t help but smile, then laughed as she opened the door. “Jenny,” she cried, throwing her arms around her. “I’m so glad to see you.”
    Jenny hesitated before returning her hug and kissing her cheek. “I shouldn’t even be speaking to you,” she said.
    â€œI know,” Crissy said. “I’ve behaved very badly.”
    â€œDeplorably,” she said. “Well, aren’t you going to ask me in, or are we going to stand out here in the hallway?”
    â€œOh, come in,” Crissy said, backing into the apartment. “It’s so wonderful to see you, to hear your voice at the door. You don’t know.”
    â€œYou’ve heard my voice for days on your machine at home and on your cell phone voice mail,” Jenny replied huffily, “but you didn’t bother to return my calls, did you?”
    â€œJenny, you have every reason to be mad at me,” Crissy said, sitting down on the couch beside her, “but . . . but I’ve been in a real funk. I mean the worst, and I didn’t want to . . . Well, I just didn’t feel like talking about it.” Unbidden, tears suddenly sprang into her eyes.
    Jenny put an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. “Tell me about it,” she said in a concerned voice. “What’s happened?”
    Crissy told her about Tom Gentry, and her feelings of acute shame and embarrassment after not hearing from him, how humiliated the experience had left her.
    â€œOh, you poor baby,” Jenny said.
    Crissy shook her head as if to clear it of cobwebs. “Tom. Whew . . . He swept me off my feet.” She looked at Jenny with a puzzled expression. “I don’t think I’ve ever fallen so hard. It was worse than a teenage crush. I feel like such a fool.”
    â€œHe’s a real smooth operator.”
    â€œI’ve never met anyone quite like him before,” Crissy said. “He was so convincing. He worked me like a . . . well, like a master puppeteer. And I was his stupid puppet.”
    â€œMy Lambchop,” Jenny said, grinning.
    Crissy punched her playfully. “You make me feel so much better.”
    Crissy fell silent, wanting to wipe every thought of Tom out of her mind. A cruise would do that. She’d forget all about him if she left town for a good long while.
    â€œWhat are you thinking about?” Jenny asked.
    â€œI’ve been thinking about taking a trip.”
    â€œThat’s a great idea. I need to take one myself.”
    â€œI’ve been saving all of my tips, and I’m going to a travel agent tomorrow at lunchtime to see what I can find out.”
    â€œThat’s so great,” Jenny said.
    â€œThis customer of mine, Beatrice Bloom, has been encouraging me, just like you have. Anyway, Beatrice says I ought to take a big European trip. Maybe a long cruise.” She paused and looked at Jenny. “She says that a lot of the people are older, of course, but that there are