At a 4th of July party, Kelly Kelleher meets the Senator. She could be his daughter but they flirt all afternoon and decide to leave together. The Senator has had to much to drink and is driving to fast along the coast road. At one point, he misses a turn, the car dives into the water and sinks. Struggling, the Senator is able to free himself from the car leaving Kelly alone. She is sure he will come back, sure that she will get out of the car but none of this happens, the Senator has just run away, thinking only about his reputation. A cruel story where the timeline is tangled and the border between reality and Kelly’s dreams blurred.
“…and if men looked at her she stiffened feeling her jaws tighten her blood beat with dread and if men did not look at her, if their glances slipped past her as if she were invisible, she felt a yet deeper dread : a conviction of not merely female but human failure.”