He knew her well enough. She would not let herself be the first to speak. He sounded feeble in his own ears when at last he said, ‘What incredible events.’ The end of the Cold War was their small talk. ‘Yes. I came as quickly as I could.’ He was about to ask where from but in the same breath she added quickly, ‘How is Larry?’ He missed the sorrow that lay behind her lightly posed question and heard only a trivial enquiry. It startled him, the sudden force of his own feelings. This was what he carried with him all the time and barely knew it. He leaned back in his chair to increase the distance
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