I opened my old OkCupid account, and looked at the list of screen names and saw hers there, offline. This is something I did once in a while—checked in to see if she was, you know, around. I never told anyone, though. I’d go online and just . . . stare. Stare at that screen name. Maude. Maude. It was always offline, but there she was, regardless. There she was, so close, as if on the other side of a door, waiting for me.
