“Then why are you smiling,” he says.

“Because.”

“You should do your set for me,” he repeats.

The sun peeks out from behind the clouds and beams down through the trees, sprinkling his face with light. I take a mental picture and file it away for when this inevitably falls apart.

“I can’t do it here,” I insist.

Zarar purses his lips and stares me down. “You’re procrastinating. You want to do it. I can see it in your face.”

I blink at him, feeling strangely exposed and pleased at the same time. How the hell does he know that? I rip off another bite of sandwich before digging my notebook out from my backpack.

“I don’t usually do my set for people I know.”

Z slides sideways so he can dangle one leg off each side of the ledge and face me head on. “I know you don’t, yet, but you probably should. It’ll be good practice. And, big perk, I don’t laugh, so there’s nothing to distract you.”

I eye him warily. How weird is it that I’m this attracted to a guy who doesn’t laugh (except apparently at my saddest, most insecure moment of shame).

“I’m usually distracted by silence.”

His eyes widen. “Ah, so it’ll help to practice with a person who is silent. And it will help me learn about comedy and timing. That’s a big part of why I took the job at QCZ. Actors need a good sense of comedic timing in addition to their dramatic talents; you have to have range to be the next Shah Rukh Khan.”

“Who’s that?”

Zarar shoots me a look of disbelief. “You’ve never heard of Shah Rukh Khan? The king of Bollywood? He’s one of the most famous actors in the world. Like more famous than Tom Cruise. Shah Rukh Khan can do everything: zany comedies, family dramas, tragic love stories—sometimes all three in the same movie.”

“Shit. I’m gonna have to look him up. Is Tom Cruise like the crux of international fame?”

Zarar stares me down with his quarter smile, refusing to tolerate my bullshit. “I’m ready for the set whenever you are.”

I glance around. People are walking by and eating lunch at outdoor tables around us.

“Just here on this ledge? I have to be standing up. It’s called stand-up.” I imagine myself standing up on the path beside the ledge, telling jokes about my dad. It’s nauseating.

Z talks out of the side of his mouth. “You could easily stand if you wanted to. But, it’ll be good practice to be able to do it sitting down. It shouldn’t be dependent on standing. You should be able to do it in any position.”