Part 3: Chapter 4 Summary

Having completed three more marketing brochures for Bart Pollock, Frank Wheeler confidently decides it's time for him to break off his affair with Maureen Grube. As he gets off the bus in her New York neighborhood on a Friday afternoon, he is approached by a brassy young woman on the street who identifies herself as Norma Townsend, Maureen's roommate, and asks Frank if they can have a chat. Seated at a nearby coffee bar, Norma grills Frank about his involvement with Maureen and tells him she's miffed that Maureen canceled plans to go to Cape Cod with her and some friends so she could be with Frank. Norma tells Frank that Maureen is a sweet young girl who's been through some hard times and needs friendship—not an affair with a married man. Frank listens, then tells her she's "a...