"She's... different. She's weirdly open with her thoughts, but at the same time it's like she's... I don't know, reading from a script at times. Do you know what I mean?"
"Maybe she just struggles with people?"
"She's... really outgoing."
"Mm. Could be a mask."
Beth turned on her chair and watched me, fingers tapping a gentle beat on the table top.
"In isolation of all of that, how was today? What did you do?"
"She took me a to a Korean restaurant and then seduced me into going with her to a piano shop."
"A what now? A piano shop?"
"Yeah. This huge, sodding enormous palace in Central. They kept it open specially for her, and she played... and... and..."
I took a breath, got control of myself again.
"She's amazing," I whispered. "Oh my sweet f*****g heavens, she's a goddess. She's
