One Sip at a Time

A whole hour side by side — “with impunity”: for Simon this drive is not the road to a plan but the largest amount of closeness he has ever had in his life. A scent he can breathe; a profile he can look at — if only in the reflection, “one sip at a time”. A psyche starved for years stocks up like before winter.

Note the technique: looking at the reflection, not the person. Years of abuse taught Simon to consume closeness only by stealth, in quarter-glances — direct contact was always punished. Even now, on the threshold of his own “script”, he cannot do it any other way. Closeness, for him, is something one steals.