Chapter 35: Selection Criteria

Jo took the keyboard from Callum when he tried to enter a receipt number in the column reserved for home villages, and ordered them both out of her office. Portsmouth Square had begun to fill. Men unlocked the public tables and arranged thermoses beside folded newspapers. A woman walked slow circles under the trees, striking each arm with the opposite palm. Delivery trucks groaned along Kearny Street. The first buses carried cooks, cleaners, nurses, and people whose employers believed dawn was an adequate substitute for sleep. Callum sat beside Sau-lin on a concrete bench. He had brought two coffees and forgotten that he disliked the first one. She pointed to the untouched cup. "Which is mine?" "I haven't decided." "Then it remains yours." He pushed it toward her. "For you. No condition." The cup admitted her hands. Warmth entered her palms, slight but wholly her own. The smell rose with…