Page 18

He accepted in under a minute.

Trier: Six weeks. Plenty of time for you to learn what you’ve agreed to.

Mark: I’ve negotiated with professional athletes for a living. I’ve seen difficult.

Trier: Then you’ll appreciate the improvement.

I laughed and set my glass down.

Mark: Should I be studying? Is there a syllabus?

Trier: There’s a distribution list. You’re not on it.

Mark: Yet.

Trier: That’s what they all say.

I had a reservation at eight with the architect. My jacket hung over the back of a chair, and I still needed to put on shoes.

Trier: Chinese food’s here. I got up for a fork and she took my chair.

Mark: Have you considered buying more furniture? I can look into the logistics.

Trier: I’m fine eating standing up.

I looked at my jacket, then texted the architect to say I was sorry, but I needed to cancel and thought things weren’t going to work. After canceling the reservation, I carried my wine to the couch and typed a response.

Mark: I have a chair available.

I read it twice and then sent it.

Chapter three

Trier

Iread Mark’s message standing at my kitchen counter, holding a fork.

Mark: I have a chair available.

The Chinese food was cooling in its containers, the paper bag dark with a spot of oil. The aromas of ginger and garlic hung in the air.

Peaches sat in my upholstered chair at the dining table, washing a paw, in no hurry to be anywhere else. I knew what an invitation looked like. I also knew how easily I could make it a conversation about furniture, if either of us wanted the exit.

Trier: What’s the cat policy?

Mark: You’re the one I’m inviting over.

I put the fork down.

I considered going. I looked at the containers, checked the time, and thought about seeing Mark somewhere without a desk between us, in whatever he wore at home on a Friday night. Then I looked down at my shorts and the faded T-shirt with a hole beneath the collar, and remembered that Peaches’s medication was still ahead of us.

Trier: I’ve settled in for the night. Does the offer expire?

Mark: The chair’s not going anywhere.

I picked the fork back up.

Trier: What are you having?