“Thank you.”
He lingered.
“Rue?”
“Yes?”
“If something outside this project is affecting your ability to evaluate it, you can say so.”
I looked at him.
“How did you know?”
“You have read the same page for twelve minutes.”
I looked down.
I had.
I sighed.
“I’m being evicted.”
His expression changed.
Not pity.
Concern.
“When?”
“I have thirty days if I make a partial payment.”
“How much?”
“No.”
“I only asked—”
“And I’m answering.”
He sat back.
“All right.”
I studied him.
“You could probably solve it with what you spend on coffee.”
“Probably.”
“That’s exactly why you can’t.”
His face was quiet.
“I understand.”
“Do you?”
“No,” he admitted. “Not completely.”
That answer mattered.
He could have pretended.
He didn’t.
“But I understand why you don’t want the two things connected.”
“Yes.”
“They won’t be.”
“Thank you.”
He nodded.
Then, after a pause, “For what it’s worth, the Meridian is hiring temporary event staff next month.”
