Chapter 10: Chapter 10

“That’s you guys’ definition of fun?”

“Yeah, we’re weird, and it’s not just the queer thing.” She smiled at him, showing teeth, but the smile wasn’t completely friendly.

Mark lowered his gaze and his mug, and then picked up the mug again to have something in his hands.

“Look, Mark, I think I have a pretty good idea what’s going on with you. You’re like a can of Coke and someone or something has just shaken you. If you want to talk about it, off the record, just to get it off your chest, let me know.”

“I don’t want—”

“Therapy, yes, I figured. But there’s something eating you and I can be a… a friend with therapeutic benefits?” She smiled at him again, this time even kinder than before. “A lot of people use that diamonds-under-pressure shit as an analogy for when things go bad. Like you’re supposed to just hang in there and you’ll be good on the other side. Endure whatever and you’ll become a diamond in the end.” She frowned.

“You don’t agree with that?”