“Mr. Pierce,” I said. Beside him, I felt smaller than I do with most people. True to form, I vocalized a version of the thought before thinking through to the end, a habit I must break with. “You are, I believe, the tallest of my acquaintances save one. Charles Goddard has a good hand on you, but he is gangly and unattractive whereas you are…not. What I mean to say is— Yes, well. The Diagonal is quite crowded today. Are you going home? So am I.”
