I met Elena at a fundraising auction six years before that flight.

She had come to rescue a nineteenth-century atlas being sold by a private collector, not to mingle with donors.

While I congratulated myself for bidding generously, she pointed out that the collector had neglected the book’s damaged spine and asked whether my donation included the restoration.

I told her I could pay for whatever it needed.

She said money was useful but listening was a better place to start.

We dated for fourteen months.