The dinner the following evening was good.
Not eventful. Not significant in any way I could have written down afterward. Just good.
The easy kind, where you talk about ordinary things and laugh about small ones and don’t
feel the need to turn everything into a moment. Adrian did not make a unilateral decision
about anything. I did not have to push back on anything. We ate and we talked and at one
point he said something about Daniel that made me laugh so hard I had to put my fork
down, and he looked so pleased about it that I made a note to tell Daniel, who would not
be pleased at all.
On the way home I thought: this is what the argument was for. Not the fight itself. For
the other side of it.
Three days later Lucas called.
He had the specific tone he used when approaching somet
