“I really do. It’s the first time I don’t have to think at work, you know. It’s really simple. Youjust answer the phone and put in people’s orders. It’s pretty laid back. You don’t like it?”“No. I feel like it’s killing my brain.”“Maybe that’s why I like it. I don’t mind not having to think.”

“Listen, I’m going to give you some advice, not because Ithink you need it, but because I feel like I’ve earned it. The right, I mean. To give advice. Here it is:don’t hold onto things. It’s a problem the men in my family have. It’s taken me a long time to figurethis out. Me, my father, my grandfather, we collect things. We collect miseries. It’s what we do. Butsometimes the best thing to do is to just let things go. To let them pass.”

“It’s pretty hard not to like her,” he says. “Even whenyou know you shouldn’t.”

“I don’t think I’m special. I want you to know that,” Odile says sharply. “I don’t think I’m better than everybody else.”

“I told you why. If I don’t do it now, I never will. I’ll just be some office drone ten years fromnow, wishing I had done something interesting at least once in my life.”

“The last four dayswhere everything has finally made some sense. And why is she so ready to throw this away? Because.Because eventually every relationship she’s been in has turned to shit. Eventually she ends upscrewing everything up. So maybe it’s better to leave now before people’s feelings get hurt.”

“I did a bad thing tonight, one of the most terrible things ever: I waited for her to fall asleep, then stole the sheet from under her head. I am missing you or maybe just the idea of you. I have begun seriously thinking about other men. I am afraid I am not strong enough or tough enough for this. I am afraid all the time. I have not slept well in months. When are you coming back, you jerk? We are all trying to be brave without you and doing a real crummy job of it. I do not want to have to be brave anymore without you.”