She said it quietly and clearly, and there was no performance in it. This quality was the thing Mike had recognized at twelve when he watched her cry genuinely on the stage—she was someone who operated without the buffer of self-deception.
It was not always comfortable. It was also not something he encountered often.
"Living in a double life, huh?"
Ellie laughed. "Yeah, but still... what you said to me while fucking me, I will not give him any real affection, and it seems like our kisses will be on the cheeks only."
"That's the harder version," Mike said.
"Of what?"
"Of being a person," he said.
She looked at him for a moment.
Then she said, "Will I see you again?"
"I'm at Valcrest," Mike said. "And also... We live in the same city."
"That's not what I'm asking."
He looked at her. "Yes," he said. "You'll see me."
