One day, when we had been together six or eight months, we went for a walk and met a school friend of mine. She suggested a cup of coffee. Joe, thinking to be socially responsible and to charm my friend, took over the conversation. That is, he did not allow conversation to develop. If one of us said, ‘There’s a banana peel on the sidewalk,’ Joe said, ‘Speaking of banana peels, that reminds me of the time in Flint, Michigan, when …’ and he was off on a twenty-minute labour story. My friend looked puzzled. Joe did not notice. In a few minutes he repeated the performance. If we had been alone I would have exploded at him. As it was, I kept my mouth shut and watched. I began to see him through my friend’s eyes. I heard him as I thought she heard him. I imagined her thinking: Here’s an overbearing blusterer one doesn’t engage with, one simply walks away from, too exhausting to try to make terms here.