Chapter 64

“I want to see his eyes when he looks down at the audience and sees me there. I’ll know then. I’ll know whose eyes I’m looking into. I’ll see how those eyes react to me. I won’t need to ask any questions, because the answers will be written all over his face. But they got to be real, you know? Like…”

Gerry’s head finished the rest of the sentence in silence: like the expression on somebody’s face when they look across their trailer and see you for the first time. When they have no idea where you came from or why, but for some reason they’re still beaming.

“Like it’s the first time all over again,” Manon said for him.

Gerry nodded. “Yeah.”

A snicksounded in the background and Gerry had to resist the urge to tell Manon not to smoke in the office. Instead, he listened to Manon first suck and then exhale tobacco smoke. “Then I guess I better get you up nice and close, shouldn’t I?”

“That would be helpful,” Gerry said around a smile.