Page 119 of Hello Stranger

“We are not even close to done here,” Joe said. “I promise.”

And so we shut it down.

Joe found his shirt and his jacket. I straightened the apron we hadn’t even had time to remove. We steadied our breath. Shifted gears.

And then, with dread, I opened the door.

“How did you even get up here?” I said as Lucinda walked in.

“Mr. Kim gave me your new passcode. Because it was an emergency.”

Kindhearted Mr. Kim. We’d have to have a talk about Lucinda.

“What emergency could possibly exist between me and you?” I asked.

But Lucinda was sizing up Joe. “Is this the man you stole from Parker?” she asked then.

Stole? From Parker?“I have never stolen anything from Parker,” I said.

“That’s not the way I heard it,” Lucinda said.

“That’s never the way you hear it,” I said.

Joe cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, ma’am, but Sadie’s right. I was not stolen.”

“Look,” I said to Lucinda. “We’re kind of in the middle of something.”

“I can see that,” Lucinda said.

“Please don’t come over here and peep through my windows, Lucinda,” I said in a tone like we’d been over this a million times.

“I wasn’t peeping. I was knocking. I couldn’t see anything but feet, anyway.”

“Lucinda,” I said, “I’m busy.”

But Lucinda remained righteous about her choices. “You left me no other options! You wouldn’t answer my calls. You wouldn’t respond to my texts. Do you think I wanted to trudge over to your hovel in the middle of the night? I did not. But I need to speak to you!”

“So speak,” I said.

Lucinda looked Joe up and down. “Privately.”

“Let’s get this clear,” I said, gesturing at Joe. “Heis my guest.Youare an interloper.”

“You can’t ignore me forever.”

“Yes, I can. I absolutely can. Why would I do anything else?”

But now Lucinda had decided to start looking pitiful. I didn’t even have to see it to know the choreography: the trembling bottom lip, the moistening of the eyes, the drooping of the brows. A signature technique for getting her way. Which worked on a surprising number of people. But not me.

Unfortunately, Joe hadn’t built up an immunity to it.

He could watch for only so long before he caved. “You know what?” Joe said. “I’ve actually got some stuff to do.”

Ugh! Damn human compassion!

“No, you don’t,” I said.

“Yes,” he nodded at me, like,This has to happen.“I do.”

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