Celebrity Chekhov Read Online Free Page B

modeled. He has no right, for you are his wife. We can take him to court.”
    And the old lady herself sobbed and gesticulated, and she felt faint, too, and lay down on her bed. Neither of them noticed that patches of blue had made their appearance in the sky, that the clouds were more transparent, that the first sunbeam was cautiously gliding over the wet grass in the garden, that with renewed gaiety the sparrows were hopping about the puddles that reflected the racing clouds.
    Toward evening Tiger Woods arrived. The man down the road had called him to tell him that Elin had come to the ranch.
    â€œHere I am,” he said gaily, coming into his mother-in-law’s room and pretending not to notice their stern and tearstained faces. “Here I am! It’s five days since we have seen each other!”
    He rapidly kissed his wife on her lips and his mother-in-law on the cheek, and with the air of a man delighted at having finished a difficult task, he sat down in an armchair.
    â€œSo tired,” he said, puffing out all the air from his lungs. “What a week. The second I landed in Texas, I got a call from Charles Barkley, who just invested in this massive indoor golf facility in Nevada. I know that you don’t like it when I spend time with him, but he said I had to see it. I got right back in the plane. I didn’t spend a minute in Texas. And this place was just incredible. It’s a huge room, bigger than a football field, with hydraulics under the ground so that the terrain can change to mimic any hole in the world. It was like a wonderland. I got lost in it. It’s indoors, so I wasn’t even sure if it was day or night. It was like I was in a casino, on some strange kind of bender, except we didn’t drink or eat or anything. Only golf. I played so much that I think I might have overdone it.”
    And Tiger Woods, holding his knee as though it were aching, glanced stealthily at his wife and mother-in-law to see the effect of his lie, or as he called it, diplomacy. The mother-in-law and wife were looking at each other in joyful astonishment, as though beyond all hope and expectation they had found something precious that they had feared was lost. Their faces beamed. Their eyes glowed.
    â€œMy dear Tiger,” cried the old lady, jumping up, “why am I sitting here? Let me get you something to drink. And are you hungry?”
    â€œOf course he is hungry,” cried his wife. “Mama, bring a beer and some olives. Where is the cook to set a table? My goodness, nothing is ready!”
    And both of them, frightened, happy, and bustling, ran about the room. The old lady could not look without laughing at her daughter who had slandered an innocent man, and the daughter felt ashamed.
    The table was soon laid. Tiger Woods, who smelled of Krystal and cigars and who had been dining at fine restaurants all week, complained of being hungry, forced himself to munch, and kept on talking of Charles Barkley and his investment in the indoor golf facility, while his wife and mother-in-law could not take their eyes off his face, and both thought:
    How clever and kind he is! How handsome!
    All serene, thought Tiger Woods as he lay down on his bed. They are ordinary people. They bore me, in a way. And yet they have a charm of their own, and I can spend a day or two each week with enjoyment. He wrapped himself up to get warm, and as he dozed off, he repeated to himself, All serene!

Chapter 5
The Album
    T HE LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR, THIN AND SLENDER AS THE Katmai Peninsula, stepped forward and, addressing Sarah Palin, said:
    â€œGovernor! We are moved and touched to the bottom of our hearts by the way you have conducted yourself during your administration, by your two years here. . . .”
    â€œMore than two years,” prompted the adjutant general.
    â€œYes. More than two years. During the course of that time, we, on this so memorable for us . . . uh . . . day, want you to