Mike looked at her.
"I don't care if you solve your problem," he said. "I just have an investment in hearing it correctly."
She stared at him for a moment before saying, "That's a very strange thing to say, yet it's exactly right."
"I know," Mike said.
She turned back to the window. The train passed through another stop, causing the car to shift slightly as people got on and off, while the morning gray outside began to show the first signs of turning into something warmer.
After several stops, she remarked, still not looking up, "You have a cut on your cheek."
"I do."
"It's been cleaned properly."
"It has."
She looked up then. "Do I want to know?"
He thought for a moment. "Someone else asked me something similar recently about a different situation. The answer is likely the same."
She stared at him for a moment. "Which is?"
"Probably not," he said. "But you'll think about it anyway."
