“For sure. He’s curious, the way you were at that age. Sensitive, but still strong. You had a quiet boldness even then. Kind of this self-containedness. He has that, too.” She lowers long lashes, shielding her dark eyes from me. “And his eyes. They’re exactly like yours.”

I can’t resist touching her in even the smallest way, not a second longer. I tip up her chin, her heart-shaped face, until our eyes meet.

“We got interrupted the other day.” The softness of my voice barely conceals my voracious hunger for every detail of what she’s done while we were apart. “Tell me what’s been up with you.”

“A lot.” She laughs, leaning back on her palms. “If I get started, we’ll be here a very long time.”

“I’d like to be here a long time. The longer the better.”

I play that back in “Mona talk,” and realize she would make it sound dirty. “I mean—”

“I know what you mean. We have a lot to catch up on.”

I lean back on my palms, too, aligning our faces, our bodies seated on the wall. “I told you all about Aiko, Noah, my family, the school. Your turn.”

“Well, I don’t have those things,” she says ruefully. “I’ve mostly just had work. In a way, I’m married to whatever candidate I’m managing at the time. They tend to take over my whole life.”

“You want kids?”

“Honestly, I hadn’t given it much thought until recently. Apparently my clock is ticking. Well, according to my gyno and my mother, at least.”

“I hate it when we pressure women to reach certain benchmarks by certain times when we don’t have those expectations of a man. Clooney was the man, a confirmed bachelor who could play the field, and we loved him for it. Same for Leo DiCaprio. Just taking his time, enjoying life.”

“While a woman who wants to focus on her career,” she says, “but have great sex with no commitments is slut shamed and pitied until she lands a man.”

“No one could pity you.”

“Oh, you’d be surprised.” Her laugh is in a bitter code I’d love to crack. “Things look different from inside.”

I used to be inside—used to know her from every angle. But that was the girl. This is very much a woman sitting beside me, a fascinating woman who tempts me.

“You obviously love your job very much,” I say.

“I’m doing exactly what I was meant to do. I can’t imagine anything else being more fulfilling.”

“I get that. When I started YLA, it felt like I’d come face-to-face with myself. Found my path.”

“The school, what you’re doing, really is remarkable. I may have watched a few viral videos of your students on TikTok. They’re amazing.”

“They’re my joy. Them and Noah, of course.”