“This problem goes a lot deeper than who pays for the burgers. I was comfortable with you, but now I’m not.”

“Why? What does my job have to do with anything?”

It was probably a lot easier to be casual about success when you’d experienced it. “Tell me about your company.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to know.”

He sighed. “I design and sell DBMS.”

“I don’t know what that is.”

“Database management software.”

“Still no idea what that is. Time to stop the conversation. It’s not making me feel good about myself. I don’t even understand what it is you do, let alone how you do it.”

“Basically I design software that make databases run smoothly.”

“So you don’t make something I’m likely to have used, or any individual.”

“Not directly. Our products are used by big companies.”

“And you set up the company.”

“Yes.”

Martha felt herself shrink. “From nothing.”

“Yes.”

“And now it’s worth—a lot.”

“I guess. The diner we talked about is up here on the right so you need to turn.”

Martha turned, and parked outside the diner. “I’m not sure I can drive knowing I have a tech tycoon in the seat next to me.” She was hit by a wave of depression. She’d been enjoying the trip so much, but it was all an illusion. Or maybe delusion would be a better word. This wasn’t a new life. It was a pause in her old life. Yes, she was having fun but it wasn’t real. She couldn’t spend the rest of her life driving old ladies across America. What lay ahead wasn’t a sun-soaked adventure in California, but a return home to the less than welcoming arms of her family. It was all very well realizing that she needed to distance herself from people who made her feel bad about herself, but how?

“What does my job have to do with anything?”

“Let’s put it like this—if my body was my ego, right now I’d be skinny.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Wasn’t it obvious? “Being with you makes me feel small. You’re intimidating.”

“Intimidating?” He looked astonished. “How?”

The fact that he could laugh made it worse.

“You may find this funny, but I don’t.” When she’d been with her grandmother she’d never seen the importance of striving for a career, but even she had to admit that what she’d achieved so far in her life couldn’t be described as impressive. “Maybe you should be a little more sensitive.”

“Maybe you should have a little more self-confidence. You’re too easily intimidated, Martha.”

“That’s easy to say when you’re a massive success.”