She said: not in the way I meant before.
She said: not as a comparison to anything.
She said: you just look like.
She said: you look like a person who is completely herself.
I said: yes.
I said: that’s it exactly.
Alison appeared at my elbow.
She had the expression of someone who has been watching something
carefully and who has a follow-up question.
She said: everything okay?
I said: yes.
She looked at Dana.
Dana said: Alison.
Alison said: Dana.
There was a moment.
Then Dana said: I was apologizing.
Alison said: I heard.
Alison looked at Dana with the expression she had been using since freshman biology.
The expression that found them less interesting than they believed themselves to be.
Then something softened slightly in it.
She said: I appreciate that.
Dana nodded.
We moved on.
We spent another two hours in that ballroom.
We talked to people we had not talked to since graduation.
