The fluorescent light above the window buzzed.

Charles nudged his coffee cup aside and drew a small black notebook out of his shirt pocket.

A thick rubber band held it shut.

He snapped the band off, wrote three lines, and slipped it back.

The pages were narrow, with numbers running down the left margin and a date at the top of each.

He wrote with a carpenter’s pencil, flat and stubby.

“You take notes on lunch?” I asked.