Chapter 19: Why I Should Have Asked

Seth came at ten to two and sat on my floor with his back against the bed.

He did not say much, and I fell asleep with my hand hanging over the edge, near his shoulder.

In the morning I answered Franco with one line.

"If you want to make your case, make it to my face, at my work, out loud."

He flew in on Thursday.

I knew he was in the building before I saw him.

The receptionist called up to say, "There's a man downstairs with a binder."

He came up in the elevator with a three-ring binder held to his chest.

His shirt was ironed and his glasses were clean, and he had a new haircut.

"Paola," he said. "Thank you for seeing me."

"Not here by the elevator," I said. "Come in."

The team was gathered in the open area by the long table for the morning check-in.

Seth stood near the window with his coffee, and he caught my eye and lifted his eyebrows.

I nodded.

He had asked me on Tuesday if I wanted an audience for this, and I had said yes.

"Everyone, this is Franco Scalise," I said. "My oldest friend. He's written me a presentation."

"Seven pages," said Franco, and he almost smiled.

"Nineteen reasons," I said. "Sit. I'm going to read some of it out loud."

He sat at the end of the table, very straight, and set the binder in front of him.

The woman who ran our team lunch slid a red pen across the wood toward me without being asked.

I uncapped it.

"Page one," I said. "'Reason one. Proximity to family correlates with improved emotional stability in young adult women.'"

A man at the other end of the table coughed into his sleeve.

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