And Then Everything Unraveled Read Online Free Page A

an artistic vork, but very entertaining is zis film—”
    Meanwhile, the woman in the red dress was staring at me. “Who are you?” she asked.
    “I’m Delia,” I said. “Who are you ?”
    “Don’t be silly,” she said. “You can’t be Delia. Delia’s coming tomorrow.”
    “It is tomorrow,” I said.
    “But Delia’s flight doesn’t get in until five past twelve. That’s hours away.”
    “My flight did get in at five past twelve,” I said. “Twelve midnight.”
    “Midnight?” she said in disbelief. “What kind of flight gets in at midnight? Flights get in at noon, not midnight.”
    I didn’t point out that a plane would’ve had to leave the West Coast at three in the morning to arrive in New York at noon. I only said, “My flight got in at midnight.”
    “Then you’re Delia?” she asked. “But when did—how did—I mean—you’re absolutely sure you’re Delia?”
    She ran a hand through her hair, and a black curl came loose from its knot. And all at once, I saw her resemblance to the scowling little girl in the picture and realized why the little girl had seemed familiar.
    She looked a lot like me.
    The thick feeling was suddenly back in my throat, making it hard to say anything, so I just nodded.
    Her mouth formed a perfect red O as realization washed overher. Then, slowly, her hands fell from her hips and the O melted into a wide, warm smile.
    “Well, Delia,” she said. “I’m your aunt Charley.”
    And when she hugged me, it felt like hitting a wave just right.

Four
    For a few seconds the next morning I forgot where I was. All of my dreams had been set in Palo Alto, and I could smell bacon, which happens a lot in the morning at home. While T.K. doesn’t have any of the standard vices like smoking or gambling, she does have a serious bacon habit. So with my eyes shut and the bacon-scented air, it was easy to imagine I was in my own bed. But once I opened my eyes it was immediately clear I was somewhere else entirely.
    My room at home mostly reflects my mother’s taste, which means the palette is white on white, with the occasional splash of white to keep things interesting. I’d raised the possibility of alternative color schemes on several occasions, but T.K. believes that “a monochromatic environment promotes focus and intellectual rigor.”
    If that was true, then I might as well say farewell to focus and intellectual rigor while I was at Charley’s. Here the paint on the walls was a glimmering silver, and brightly colored silks hung at the windows. The rich blues and greens of the curtains should have clashed with the pinks and purples on the bed, but somehow it worked.
    Charley had told me the previous night that she had the curtains and bedspread made from material she found in a store in Jackson Heights, a neighborhood where a lot of South Asians live. She’d redone the room just for me, which was incredibly nice on such short notice, but I had the feeling she’d thought I’d be more exotic, or at least a bit more in touch with my father’s Indian roots. I guess she had no way of knowing that every other person in Silicon Valley is of Indian descent or related to an Internet tycoon, and that frequently they’re both. I’m actually considered pretty mainstream.
    Between the hour and the fact that she was supposed to be coproducing, starring in, and serving as the casting director, location manager, and production designer for the movie being shot on the roof, we hadn’t had much time to talk the night before. Charley had told me about Jackson Heights and also a bunch of stuff about Dieter’s brilliant creative vision before promising we’d catch up in the morning and rushing back upstairs.
    I’d thought I’d be too wired to sleep, but as soon as I’d seen the cozy-looking bed, a wave of exhaustion broke over me. It took all of the energy I had left to drag a toothbrush across my teeth and change into pajamas. The only reason I’d bothered with the toothbrush was