They paid for that work, asked questions, and thanked me when it helped them.

One afternoon, Hannah and I signed a lease on a small shared office, two rooms above a neighborhood bookstore.

The space smelled of fresh paint and coffee from downstairs.

We carried the computers up ourselves and ate sandwiches on the floor.

For the first time, I could picture an entire decade ahead of me without asking Gordon for permission to exist inside it.

PART 28