They sat across from one another, eating quietly. They both hated the sound of chewing, keeping the level of mastication at a conservative level more out of self-consciousness than mutual decorum.
‘Mmm, delish,’ he said, smiling softly.
Their routines were set. Neither had to ask about the other’s day. It would be offered up if prudent.
‘I ran into an old boyfriend at the super this morning.’
‘Oh?’
‘Really old. From high school.’
‘What’d he have to say?’
‘Just asked me how I am, what I’ve been up to.’
‘That’s a lot to catch up on.’
She swallowed as quietly as she could. ‘I didn’t know what to say.’
‘Did you tell him that you have a family?’
‘Of course. I just mean that it’s been so long since I talked about myself that I felt like I didn’t know where to begin, what might be right or important or of interest.’
‘You’ve never been one to talk about yourself. You’re quite a private person.’
‘Yes,’ she said, remembering the meal in front of her. ‘And today for some reason I felt that that might be a great shame.’
For the rest of the meal she seemed to be swallowing her food without bothering to chew any of it.
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