Chapter 26

But Ryan was neither of these. He was more like a skyscraper or a pyramid. His base was flung wide open. You could walk among the more mundane features of his life without any hindrance, but as you went up, into the more important bits, you would suddenly find closed doors and dead-ends and he wouldn't refuse to answer, he would just answer in a way that wasn't really an answer at all.

It all made him rather mysterious to her.

After he left, she decided to give Kevin a call after all because her evening had become uncanny from that one act.

He answered. No hello. "Did you return to your uncle's house?"

"Well, I mean, I went back, yeah." She said, "no big deal."

"Oh, good." He paused. They were wasting time, she knew. There was something else he wanted to ask. Something much more important than making small-talk unbearable. Finally, he said it. "parsley, I want to see you."

"Now?" She said. She'd expected he did, but it still shocked her.

"You don't want to see me?" He asked. She could