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able to find a job here that'll pay the same
what I made there."
    "Apples and oranges. Cost of
living is cheaper here. It's about how much you save."
    "I know what it's like. I've asked
around. I didn't gain enough management experience there to qualify
for higher positions here. I really have to stick to the plan and
go away again. I told you about that, right?"
    "Yeah, you mentioned it. So that's
why you're just home all day? You can't find a job?"
    "Not one that'll match what I used
to get."
    "I can give your name to our HR
people, if you like."
    "I don’t know. Um, sure. Thank
you. It’s my mom. She’s kind of kicking me out of my place when
school starts. She wants my cousin to live there because she’ll pay
rent, and I’m a bum."
    "Where are you going to live when
she kicks you out? Are you going back home?"
    "It all depends on what job I get,
I guess. But the goal is to be in Hong Kong or Thailand by
then."
    "Is your cousin hot?"
    "She’s a teenager."
    "Hey, I’m trying out the friendly
thing. You seem nice enough."
    "That’s nice. I can imagine just
telling my mother this story, it’ll kill the cousin move-in plans
really quick. Thanks!"
    "Don’t be so sure. Mothers like
me. I cook. My shower has hot water."
    "I’ve seen no evidence of
this."
    "Try out my shower whenever you
like."
    "Yeah... my aunt finds out about
this and Megan’s out of here. Just like that."
    "Maybe I shouldn’t try it then.
Not a fan of abrupt disappearances."
    "It won’t be abrupt, with my aunt.
There will be yelling."
    "You know, there was one guy I
worked with...he was part of this regular Monday meeting about a
project, and then one day he just wasn’t. Stopped showing up. None
of us knew why. He wasn’t fired. I really thought he had died or
something. But my friend at HR assured me he didn’t, but no one
explained what had happened to him."
    "Well if they know but would
rather not tell..."
    "That’s fine, but I freaked out a
little. Went to that dark place for a few days. How crazy it was,
to be gone and everyone’s pretending it’s not weird."
    "That reminds me of something I
saw on CNN, this laundromat in Baghdad—"
    "I saw that. All those unclaimed
clothes. People who just—abruptly left. Yeah I saw that. I actually
thought of it when the guy disappeared. At least before I was
assured that he wasn’t dead."
    "Well maybe it’s not all bad when
someone abruptly disappears. Good news can be just as urgent as bad
you know. An opportunity comes and sometimes you don’t have time to
pick up your laundry."
    "That’s nice. Too
nice."
    "Too nice?"
    "You’ve been out in the world
longer than I have, but you can still say that. What was it like
out there, Moira? Didn’t they give you a hard time?"
    "Hey, you’re enjoying my company
now because I see the best in people. Who were you even a week ago?
Just a guy."
    "I apologize. But seriously—was it
difficult living somewhere else?"
    "Not really, no. But it wasn’t
like I was a pioneer. I had an entire support system
there."
    "What was the worst thing about
being away?"
    "Oh at first, every little thing
bothered me. Like, I totally took for granted that my dad made a
pot of barako every morning and shared it with me. Then I think after two
months in Singapore, I just started crying because I missed it. I
was so looking forward to my next visit because I wanted to slip
back into that familiar routine, but he had stopped doing it by
then. He bought that pod thing that makes one cup at a time.
Because I wasn’t there anymore."
    "Aw."
    "I know right. And then I insisted
that we have coffee the old way just because, but it was such a
production. Had to look for the coffee pot in the pantry storage,
clean it, and then we didn’t have enough beans...it was a
disaster."
    "Or a heartwarming family comedy.
Some things you just can’t go back to, I guess."
    "That’s right. It wasn’t fair of
me to leave for me —because it was always for me, and not because I needed to
find