Nobody ever said it, but they were all thinking, “What a charmer! What a charmer!” And what a charmer he was. He was good with introductions and even better with good byes. He feigned love the way the rest of us feign interest (because interest is all we can manage). He taught me that sincerity lies in the pauses rather than the actions — that people will believe the gaps in between them before they believe the words. And while I was listening ever so carefully he charmed his fingers onto my hips, and before I could notice, he told me that what he said was true for all other people, but not me. He told me that I clung to words and forgot all about the pauses, so he simply did not make any, and that is how his fingertips came to rest along the place where the skin was stretched tight over my hip bone.
