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Back All the Water in the World Save as PDF
Chapters (62)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. PART I
  4. Eve
  5. 1
  6. Maddy
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. Eve
  12. 6
  13. Maddy
  14. 7
  15. 8
  16. 9
  17. 10
  18. Eve
  19. 11
  20. Maddy
  21. 12
  22. 13
  23. 14
  24. 15
  25. PART II
  26. Eve
  27. 16
  28. 17
  29. 18
  30. 19
  31. Maddy
  32. 20
  33. 21
  34. Eve
  35. 22
  36. 23
  37. Maddy
  38. 24
  39. 25
  40. Eve
  41. 26
  42. 27
  43. PART III
  44. Eve
  45. 28
  46. 29
  47. 30
  48. 31
  49. 32
  50. 33
  51. 34
  52. 35
  53. 36
  54. 37
  55. 38
  56. 39
  57. Coda
  58. 40
  59. Acknowledgments
  60. Reading Group Guide
  61. About the Author
  62. Copyright

When we descended to Heathrow, fires were blazing just beyond the curvature of the earth. What lay underneath was blurred in places by hanging nets of cloud. Eventually the dotted lines of London pierced the cloud for good. My heart quickened at the thought of arriving. Life, after all, cannot be lived at forty thousand feet. If I could not get off the planet, at least I was moving toward Maddy rather than away from her. Alison was silent, her forehead pressed to the window, absorbed in the sight. The city turned below, as if on a slowly spinning plate, and I saw that the lines of light were more crooked than the ones I had left behind, and uneven shapes of darkness lay between them.

29

I love having a boyfriend, but it’s kind of strange. Boys are different from girls that’s for sure! Sometimes I’m not sure what he wants or even what I want. Is it that way with everyone, the first time? Jack is always good to me! He is an incredibly nice person and a loyal person. I can’t imagine him doing anything unkind. Ever. That is maybe almost a character fault! Just kidding. He thinks about things a lot and then decides what he’s going to do. Some people just do what they want in the moment. My friend Vicky is like that, so I know. But she’s very popular, everyone wants to be around her. Jack is more of a loner. Well, maybe we both are in a funny way. Maybe that’s why we’re together. What about you? Are you a loner?

As a meeting place I proposed the PizzaExpress on a quiet corner behind the British Museum. I’d stumbled across it on my first day of interviews. I did not want to be on Antonio’s territory when we met. Nor did I want to aim too high in terms of venue. The arched windows and white and green tiles gave it the air of an upmarket restaurant in which decent wine would be served; nevertheless, it was still a pizza place.

I arrived early and found a table in the far corner with a view of the door. Walls were reassuring; corners were better. I shared mine with a metal plaque and a small stained glass window that had no light behind it. Above me hung a cluster of milk bottles made into a lamp. A waiter in a striped shirt and paper hat brought me a glass of wine. I studied the plaque. The building had once been the Dairy Supply Company, bringing high-quality milk from the countryside to London.