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was pleased that Abby had fixed dinner: chicken salad sandwiches. |
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She said, "I hope you do not mind, but I heard noises and looked in on you. The work you do is wonderful!" |
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"It's a hobby," he said self-deprecatingly, though he found himself beaming. She seemed interested as he described other projects he'd undertaken over the years. |
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After they had jointly cleaned the dinner dishes, he asked, "Would you like a nightcap?" |
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"It's a drink before bedtime," he explained patiently. |
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"Thank you, but no," she said. She excused herself and went off to the bedroom. |
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He felt deflated to lose her company; the evening had barely begun. He helped himself to a nightcap. A double. |
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Later he went outside to look at the stars. He felt the weight of responsibility crushing him like the pressure at the bottom of the ocean, and he needed something to lift his spirits. |
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The idea both scared and intrigued him. Last evening, he had felt almost awestruck by a recurrence of that sensation of sharing someone else's emotions; it seemed magnified by Abby's presence. Somehow it seemed to emanate from her, and he had the sense she felt it, too. |
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Not that he believed in nonphysical connections between people. He left that to the crazy or naive. |
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