with a handshake after she’d walked me to the bus stop

[Coffee Break]

I encountered the expression "with a handshake after she’d walked me to the bus stop", but am struggling to understand it. Could you please let me know what it means? Here is the excerpt:

All day I’d been doing just that. Looking for one store that was open on Christmas Day and finding all of them closed, lunching with Olaf, who badmouthed his wife in one unending screed, in the packed greasy spoon because everything else was closed, trying to shop for Christmas presents on Christmas Day, the whole day punctuated by hazy premonitions that last night might happen all over again. I had spent the entire day totally spellbound by our parting in the snow, wearing, but not wearing, my coat, saying goodbye with a handshake after she’d walked me to the bus stop and rushed back to her building, handing the doorman the umbrella she had borrowed, not turning, but then turning back at the last moment, every last part of me clinging to the memory of her elbow resting on my shoulder at the party, her burgundy suede shoes kicking off the snow, the cigarette, the ex-boyfriend, the Bloody Mary she had scarcely touched and later abandoned on the balcony while I’d stared at her open blouse, wondering all night why in someone so tanned was the base of her breasts so fair. I’ve been thinking of you all day, all day.

- André Aciman, Eight White Nights, Second Night

This is a novel published in the United States of America in 2010. This novel is narrated by the nameless male protagonist. The protagonist meets Clara at a Christmas party in Manhattan. Now, the protagonist is thinking about Clara.

I am struggling to understand this part, because, in my opinion, she must shake hands with the protagonist first before she went back to her building.
But, as far as I understand, the sentence seems to say that she shook hands with the protagonist after she went back to her building, so I am confused.

 

[Barque]

Sometimes we have to look for the answer that makes sense, even if the literal meaning is different. In this case, I'd say she walked the narrator to the bus stop, they shook hands, and then she rushed back to her building, which could probably be seen from the bus stop as the narrator says he saw her returning an umbrella to the doorman.

because, in my opinion, she must have shaken hands with the protagonist first before she went back to her building.

Yes, you're right.

 

[Ms. Worth]

The author is writing in an intentionally jumbled style, trying to capture the experience of memory -- bits and pieces of memory crowding into the mind, piling on top of each other, with scant concern for sequence.

I think the questioned passage can be read like this:

I had spent the entire day totally spellbound by our parting
-- after she’d walked me to the bus stop and rushed back to her building, --
saying goodbye with a handshake
handing the doorman the umbrella she had borrowed,
not turning,
but then turning back at the last moment,

Natural order would be:
She walked with me (from her building) to the bus stop
Then she rushed back to her building.

I spent the entire day spellbound by our parting:
We said goodbye with a handshake.
I watched her hand the doorman the umbrella she had borrowed.
She started to go inside without turning around for a last look at me
But then turning at the last minute

 

[Barque]

Ms. Worth, I'm sorry but I think you're wrong.

He must have escorted her (by bus) to her building.

He didn't escort her by bus to her building (not at that time at least). She walked him to the bus stop from her building. The quoted passage clearly says so.

We rushed back to her building by bus.

No. She rushed back to her building (on foot) after walking him to the bus stop.

It sounds like you've read the passage in a rush and answered. Please don't do that. As a native speaker, your answers will be taken seriously, so please make sure you've understood the question.

 

[Tarheel]

@Coffee Break It doesn't make much sense (if any), so your confusion is understandable. Maybe the writer is saying his memory of the event is all jumbled up. He's confused!

 

[Barque]

How did he shake her hand AFTER she had left by bus?

She didn't go anywhere by bus. She just walked him to the bus stop. It says so in the passage the OP quoted. Perhaps you should "parse that excerpt" again.

 

[Ms. Worth]

She didn't go anywhere by bus. She just walked him to the bus stop. It says so in the passage the OP quoted. Perhaps you should "parse that excerpt" again.

She didn't go anywhere by bus. She just walked him to the bus stop. It says so in the passage the OP quoted. Perhaps you should "parse that excerpt" again.

Yes, right.
I forgot the details, and I find this site hard to navigate.

It says she walked him to the bus stop and rushed back to her building

Ms. Worth, I'm sorry but I think you're wrong.


He didn't escort her by bus to her building (not at that time at least). She walked him to the bus stop from her building. The quoted passage clearly says so.



No. She rushed back to her building (on foot) after walking him to the bus stop.

It sounds like you've read the passage in a rush and answered. Please don't do that. As a native speaker, your answers will be taken seriously, so please make sure you've understood the question.

 

[Ms. Worth]

Yes, right.
I forgot the details, and I find this site hard to navigate.

It says she walked him to the bus stop and rushed back to her building

Yes, you're right.
It says she walked him to the bus, then she rushed back to her building.

This is the way I parsed this originally:
I had spent the entire day totally spellbound by our parting
-- after she’d walked me to the bus stop and rushed back to her building, --
saying goodbye with a handshake
handing the doorman the umbrella she had borrowed,
not turning,
but then turning back at the last moment,

 

[Ms. Worth]

Yes, right.
I forgot the details, and I find this site hard to navigate.

It says she walked him to the bus stop and rushed back to her building

Yes, Barque ~
You are quite right and I am wrong.
I forgot the details when I returned to this site, and I dreaded getting lost in the navigation of this page -- so I just relied on my memory.

Can I upvote your post?

 

[Tarheel]

@Ms. Worth They don't have upvote and downvote here, but they have all the "like" emojis.

 

[Ms. Worth]

@Ms. Worth They don't have upvote and downvote here, but they have all the "like" emojis.

Got it.
Thanks, sweetie.

 

[5jj]

sweetie.

It's not a good idea these days to use such affectionate terms in addresssing people except in family circles and with close friends.

 

[Ms. Worth]

It's not a good idea these days to use such affectionate terms in addresssing people except in family circles and with close friends.

Okay.

 

[Coffee Break]

@Barque, @Ms. Worth, @Tarheel, @5jj,

Thank you very much for the explanations.
It is indeed a confusing sentence!
So, although the literal meaning says otherwise, it would be reasonable to think:
(1) she walked him to the bus stop;
(2) she said goodbye to him with a handshake; and
(3) she returned to her building.

I struggled to connect the handshake with her returning to her building, so I even considered interpreting "handshake" as a hand waving... but I guess looking it in a more logical sequence as (1) (2) (3) would be better.

I sincerely appreciate your help.