He looked to Naomi.

“Are we really going to argue about every sentence?”

“That’s what you asked for,” I said.

“An opportunity to explain.”

His apology began to change shape.

He reminded me that the fall happened at a celebration, that everyone had been drinking, that no one meant harm.

He said he felt overwhelmed by the media attention and the damage to his companies.

Then he asked whether I would consider signing a statement that the incident had been misunderstood.