Lesson 5 Showing characters through dialogue<\/p>\n
Danielle stepped up to the entrance of the hotel restaurant and asked the hostess for a single table.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d replied the hostess, \u201cwe have no tables free. Would you like to take one of the tables in the bar?\u201d<\/p>\n
It had been a long day. Danielle sat through training sessions since nine this morning. She was tired and hungry and did not want to wait nor go anywhere else. She agreed to sit wherever the hostess wanted to put her. The hostess led her to a small round table in the back of the bar area.<\/p>\n
Within minutes the waitress, a perky blonde with a long pony tail, came by and asked for her drink order.<\/p>\n
\u201cA glass of Bordeaux, please,\u201d said Danielle. She rested her elbows on the table, closed her eyes and kneaded her temples with her thumbs in an attempt to relieve the stress of the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cExcuse me,\u201d said a voice.<\/p>\n
Danielle looked up. It was the woman who had sat next to her during the afternoon session.<\/p>\n
\u201cMay I sit with you?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
Although she would rather have been by herself and wished this woman would go away, Danielle said, \u201cBy all means. Please sit. I don\u2019t like to eat alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
The woman introduced herself as Erika.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so glad you don\u2019t mind. I really don\u2019t like to eat alone either. It makes me very uncomfortable,\u201d said Erika as she sat in the chair opposite Danielle.<\/p>\n
The waitress interrupted Erika\u2019s chatter when she brought Danielle\u2019s wine and took an order for Erika. She also left some menus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m from Syracuse and this is the first time I have been away, on my own, that is,\u201d said Erika. \u201cI am a little uncomfortable.\u201d She fidgeted with her purse to make sure she still had it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I\u2019ve been doing this forever,\u201d answered Danielle tersely. Now she wished she had not been so nice when Erika first approached her. She wasn\u2019t interested in Erika\u2019s conversation, nor in her company. She didn\u2019t want Erika or anyone else, for that matter, to know that she had never stayed alone at a hotel and that it made her uneasy.<\/p>\n
The waitress came back to take their orders.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you married?\u201d asked Erika after the waitress left.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I am,\u201d lied Danielle. \u201cI got this new job and they wanted me to attend this training session.\u201d She took a sip of her wine letting her eyes wander around the bar. She was not making eye contact with Erika and didn\u2019t want to discuss her personal life with this total stranger. Danielle was in truth getting a divorce from Brad. He left her for another woman. It was a humiliating experience and she was not going to advertise it to anyone, much less this woman from Syracuse.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been married,\u201d said Erika fidgeting in her chair. \u201cI had enough of picking up after that man and I wanted out.\u201d Some spit flew out of her mouth. It missed Danielle. \u201cOur divorce was final last week,\u201d she continued. \u201cThank goodness we don\u2019t have any children. But then I am not keen on having children anyway. They are more bother than they are worth, sloppy, messy and disrespectful. All you do is clean up after them and no appreciation at all.\u201d She was waving her hands in the air and she moved in her seat. In truth Erika\u2019s husband left her. It made her feel better to let the world think that she was the one who initiated the separation.<\/p>\n
To Danielle, Erika seemed as if she had an overactive thyroid. The woman was a bundle of nervous energy and it annoyed her to no end.<\/p>\n
They got their meals rather quickly and Danielle concentrated on eating while her companion chattered away. Danielle was finished while Erika still had more than half her meal untouched.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have children?\u201d asked Erika. She took a sip of her drink.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am very tired,\u201d said Danielle ignoring the question. She wanted to get away as fast as she could. \u201cI must go to my room,\u201d she said as she stood up from her chair. \u201cIt was a pleasure meeting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erika, alone at the table, finished her meal making sure her purse was still by her side. Looking for someone else with whom she could converse, she stood up and moved to another table where a single woman sat.<\/p>\n
\u201cHello, my name is Erika. May I sit with you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lesson 5 Showing characters through dialogue Danielle stepped up to the entrance of the hotel restaurant and asked the hostess for a single table. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d replied the hostess, \u201cwe have no tables free. Would you like to take one … Continue reading