One Day in December

Laurie makes her yearly list of New Year’s resolutions. This year, there is no mention of her dream magazine job. Instead, she is adamant in her wish to get over Jack. Both Laurie and Jack are reeling from their kiss and mired in guilt. Laurie struggles with the truth, unsure “if telling Sarah would be the honorable thing or just a way to make myself feel better” (110). In a moment of deep consternation, Jack stays up drinking alone in the apartment while Sarah sleeps. When Laurie comes home from a late shift at the hotel, Jack tries to talk to her about their kiss and their guilt. Laurie, still under the impression that Jack does not remember their first sighting at the bus stop, tells Jack that she doesn’t think of him beyond that moment and as anything other than Sarah’s boyfriend. 

Laurie and Sarah are packing up their apartment of five years. Sarah has recently gotten a glamorous job replacing a television reporter on maternity leave, and she’s moving closer to her new job. Laurie has come to terms with her lack of career (for now), and with money from her parents, who have a new lease on life after her father survived the heart attack, she will take time off and