JULIAN

I sat with the why.

I sat with it in the quiet of the dining room with the specific and remaining evidence of the dinner, the glasses, the plates Mrs. Billy had cleared, the napkin she had folded with the particular and tidy quality of her hands, and I sat with the why of tonight and I thought about what had changed between the previous runnings and this one.

The terrace had changed it.

The one centimeter.

I thought: she said something tonight because of the one centimeter.

I thought: she needed to say something because of the one centimeter.

I thought about what that meant.

I thought about...