Summary

Walking down Bleecker Street after a five-year absence from New York, Susan ran into a homeless woman she thought looked like her friend Leisha. While initially hesitant to engage, as she wanted to spare her friend the embarrassment, she realized the woman was not her friend and gave her some money. The incident set off a stream of old memories, as Susan remembered years ago how she and Leisha used to contemplate the directions their careers would take. Since her career had not progressed as a writer, Susan had made her way to Chicago, becoming an editor at a television magazine that did not satisfy her completely.

Susan recalled how she and Leisha had met at the University of Michigan, where initially the only connection they had was a man they both had an affair with. While they despised each other at first, they...