“Oh, well, my mother would still be coming over to do my laundry if I let her. At one point she was trying to convince me to pay extra for this grocery delivery service because that way she could make the grocery list online for me, and she’d never have to worry about whether or not I had enough milk. What else . . . oh! For a long time, I thought my dad was just really interested in the ins and outs of my job because he’d call almost every day to talk about this deadline or that project. And then I eventually realized that he was taking meticulous notes on everything I was telling him and he was really calling to make sure that I was getting all my work done on time.”

“Wow. That’s . . . wow.”

“It’s all done from a place of love. But they can just be a bit much. Why are you laughing?”

“Just . . . my dad is pretty nosy, too.”

“He’s super involved in your life?”

“Yeah. Not the same way your parents are. He loves to know what’s going on in my life. Gossip-wise. And he took, like, crazy good care of us while we were growing up. But the second I was out of the house after graduation, it was like, kid, manage your own life. Kind of a life-lesson thing, I think. He really wanted us to be able to handle stuff on our own. If I ever come to him with a problem, he’ll listen, but if I don’t mention it, he definitely doesn’t offer an opinion.”

“That sounds freaking wonderful.”

“He’s pretty great.”

“Do you have any siblings?”

“Yeah. I have a brother. Hey, uh, what was the painting you were working on?”

“Oh. Ah . . .”

“What’s the pause for? Is it something embarrassing?”

“No. Not exactly.”

“Lemme guess. Nude self-portrait?”

“That’s your first guess for what I’d be painting? Oh, my God. I must have made a weird first impression on you when we met.”

“So, that’s a no on the nude self-portrait?”

“I can honestly tell you right now that I have never painted a nude self-portrait in my life. Nor do I plan to.”

“Shame.”

“It’s a shame?”

“Sure. You’re a looker, Hoffman. People would probably pay good money for a nudie.”

“You’re saying something that sounds like a compliment, but I’m one hundred percent sure that you’re making fun of me right now.”

“Five points for the astute observation.”

“This point system is starting to make me feel like I’m a puppy and you’re my owner. Maybe I shouldn’t be so easily manipulated by imaginary currency.”

“I’ll give you twenty points right now if you tell me what you were painting.”

“. . .”

“Eliot?”

“I’m thinking!”

“Haahhaha. I thought you were gonna start rejecting the point system.”