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Fiddling with her napkin, she averts her eyes “I thought it would be good to, you know…”

“Good to do what?” I ask gently

“To get to know you better” She shrugs “There are s about you I don’t know”

She sounds aluilty and definitely apprehensive She tries to hide her reaction, but she’s not a natural liar There’s so on Even so, getting to knowan investment in our relationship, which I like

Scratching my jaw, I consider what to tell her I don’t normally talk about my parents, but she deserves the truth

I finish the last bite onI’ll lose my appetite once I delve into the past, and set the plate aside “I grew up on Vasilevsky Island, but there’s no point in going there There’s nothing left of where I used to live”

She frowns “Why? Was your building demolished?”

“No” Strain locks my jaw

Her brown eyes soften “You don’t have to talk about it I didn’t mean to pry I just wanted—”

“No,” I say again “You’re right You’ll never have the opportunity to ood that you’re asking”

She waits quietly

“There was a gas leak in our building,” I continue “The whole top floor blew to pieces”

“Alex” Gasping, she lays her hand on my arm “Were they…?”

“Yes”

Empathy fills her tone “I’m so sorry”

“Eleven people were killed I was at school when it happened”

A man from my father’s unit relayed the news to me in the headmaster’s office With a stony face and factual words, he told e In just a few seconds, he condemned me to one of the cruelest syste on the children it was supposed to protect