Chapter 2 Summary

David is lonely. He has nothing to look forward to every week, since the Thursday interludes have been cancelled. He spends a lot of time in the university library, reading and researching quietly in the deserted reading room. One Friday night, he notices one of his students as he is walking home. Her name is Melanie Isaacs; she is a thin girl with short black hair, wide cheekbones, and large, dark eyes. As he catches up to her and they begin to chat, he can't help but think of her in a romantic way. Every semester, it seems, there is another Cape Town beauty that is in his class and that he has a crush on. They walk on and discuss the various authors that they have studied in class this semester. He invites her to his apartment for a drink, and she...