His voice held every evidence of shrugging at no one. ‘I was fat and geeky. I needed something. Knowledge, confidence, all that. And the words to parlay them to great effect.’ He paused. ‘The words were the most important part, I think. They became my calling card.’

‘They still are.’

‘Yours too.’

Blood rushed about; I changed to a lighter tack. ‘So you trained yourself into an articulate awesomeness, and then what? Sexy chicas all around the world?’

‘Ha, yes, for a while. Unfortunately, I have a rather strong tendency towards falling in love, so that didn’t last for very long.’

‘What kind of person do you fall for?’

‘Crazy. Beautiful and crazy.’ He sighed. ‘Like April.’

‘The month?’

‘My girlfriend.’

All my boldness proved a fickle friend. I didn’t want to know. But I knew I had to ask.

‘Why the sigh, Mr D?’

‘I wouldn’t want to bore you with the frustrating pitfalls of my life, dear girl.’

‘I would really like to be bored with the frustrating pitfalls of your life, dear sir.’

He sighed again. Lost, for a moment. ‘It was magic when we met, you know. That’s hard to shake off.’

‘When did you meet?’

‘At Princeton. We met, we clicked, we kissed. Magic.’

‘And now?’

‘Reality’s set in. There are problems at the social and lifestyle levels. Her family has yet to take to the colour of my skin.

I have to be in India in the long run, and that’s a plunge she can’t seem to bring herself to take. Things like that.’

‘But—but these are easily circumvented, right? They’re just the superficial things!’

‘They are, but I’m learning not to underestimate the power of logistics. They matter a lot. Besides, she seems to be falling apart, and that doesn’t help matters. Imagine, every single day of your life, pushing up someone who always seems to be falling, no matter the lengths you drive yourself to for them. I’ve been trying, every day, for the last eight months, to bring her back to herself. Convincing, convincing, praying, pushing, raising her from the dead, taking hits to my own life that I’m not sure I can sustain. It’s exhausting.’

‘Do you love a memory?’

‘Yes. I’ve thought about that. But then, every once in a while, I’ll see glimpses of the girl I fell in love with, and everything comes rushing back.’

‘You’re bound to her.’

‘I’m bound to her.’

‘Oh, Mr D—’

‘The thing is, I just cannot seem to be enough for her.’ How could someone like him not be enough for anyone? And what a horrible feeling, to feel reduced, to go unrecognized.

If no one hears the tree falling in the woods, don’t you lose your mind wondering whether it really made a sound?

‘That’s awful. That’s really just so awful—’ I was horrified to hear my voice crack.