“Don’t buy me anything.”
The laughter disappeared.
“Okay.”
“I mean it.”
“I understand.”
“I don’t want a car.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want some private school.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want you to donate to competitions.”
“I definitely understand that one.”
He almost smiled.
“If we ever know each other, I want it to be normal.”
“I would like that.”
He nodded.
Then he left.
Two months later, Nathan agreed to meet me.
He chose a diner.
Not my office.
Not my house.
Not a luxury restaurant.
A diner.
He arrived carrying a notebook.
He sat across from me.
He did not order food.
“I have questions.”
“Ask anything.”
“Did you love Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Then why did you cheat?”
“Because love does not automatically make a person honorable.”
He paused.
Then wrote something.
I looked at the notebook.
“Are you taking notes?”
“Yes.”
