He said with certainty, “I bet you were a sixteen-year-old runaway with all kinds of ideas about the world.” I laughed and told him how generous he was to think sixteen-year-olds have ideas. He went on to say that my “brave face” could not fool him. I had to wait to correct him because it seemed he had much more to say. He said I had probably dated plenty of older men because I thought I could really be “handled” that way, and that he knew all my “tricks.” He said he wanted to know me beyond what I “served up” to other people.
