The Weight of a Vow

Jacob merely puts his phone face down — a one-second gesture. But the “broken part” of Simon’s mind instantly gives it the weight of a vow: he saw who was writing — and stayed with me. Obsession is an interpretation machine: it processes any data whatsoever into proof of a bond.

A similar sign-seeking mechanism runs through infatuation and delusions of reference alike: coincidences become signs, signs become promises. There is no way to test the interpretation — the other person never even learned about the “vow”. The less real connection there is between two people, the harder this machine has to work: it must build a relationship out of gestures, glances, and a phone laid face down.