Can't find anything wrong with her, he said. Batteries good. Alternators putting out fine. She started right up. Victoria said nothing.
Marcus leaned against the door frame. The good news, he said, is she should get you back to Atlanta fine when you're ready. A pause. The interesting news is I think you already knew that. The silence stretched.
Victoria looked at the floor. How long did you know? She asked. About 30 seconds after I got under the hood. He wasn't angry.
He didn't sound angry. He sounded careful. Like someone walking on ground they weren't sure about. Batteries pristine. Fluid levels are perfect.
Enginees in great shape for her age. Victoria put down the magazine. I owe you an apology. She said, "You don't owe me anything," he said. "But I'm curious. " He came fully into the room and sat in the chair across from her, forearms on his knees, not crowding her, just present.
"What were you looking for out there on that road? " Victoria had spent 22 years being asked hard questions in boardrooms. She'd answered analysts and attorneys and journalists. She'd navigated hostile interviews and contentious negotiations and the particular cruelty of quarterly earnings calls. She had no answer prepared for this. I don't know, she said.
Which was the truest thing she'd said to another person in longer than she could remember. Someone who would help me without knowing who I was. Someone who would she stopped. I don't know how to explain it without sounding lonely, he said. She looked at him.
He said it simply. No pity in it. No condescension, just recognition like he'd been there himself. Yeah, she said very quietly. That Marcus Carter sat with that.
He didn't rush to fill it with reassurance. He didn't offer a solution. He just sat with her in it for a moment like it was something real that deserved to be acknowledged. Then he stood up. My daughter gets out of school at 3:00, he said.
And every Friday I make dinner before I pick her up, so it's ready when we get home. If you're not in a hurry to get back to wherever you're headed, he paused. You're welcome to come. Victoria looked at him. He looked back at her.