162 — Are you happy for us?

Desmond tenses up. His breathing becomes heavy, deep, and slow.

His family has always been a sensitive and somewhat mysterious topic. We don’t talk about it, and even though I’ve grown interested in the Sterlings, I haven’t found the perfect moment to ask about it. I know they stopped talking for a while after I arrived in New York, but it was always a mystery why they fought and drifted apart. I