When Marisol knew I was watching, she was, as always, quietly competent and unremarkable, giving no particular sign of the fierce protector underneath.

The performances people give for an audience they wish to impress tell you almost nothing, because everyone performs, and the better someone is at manipulation, the better their performance.

It is only when people believe the audience is gone that they show you what they actually are, and Chloe, believing me thousands of miles away in Toronto, finally stopped performing and became what she truly was, while Marisol, believing the same, went on being the thing she truly was, which was extraordinary.

The cameras did not create these truths.