to someone having been unkind several hours earlier. Instead, I asked whether she had managed to take a break.
“Eventually.”
“Good.”
“That’s it? No advice?”
“I’m professionally capable of giving advice nobody wants. I’m trying to conserve it.”
She laughed, then reached for her water.
The evening loosened after that.
We talked about a terrible movie we had both finished for reasons neither could defend. She asked how I decided when to let students argue and when to bring them back to the lesson. I asked whether she had ever
