Maya

“ Your boyfriend’s name is Bart?”

I turn around to see him, my random companion at the theatre, slowly walking back toward me.

“Yeah,” I say. “You know him?”

He hesitates for a moment as if coming to terms with something, and then he holds out his hand, finally introducing himself. “I’m Richard. Richard Lim.”

Lim?

He pauses a moment and then adds, “His father.”

My lungs empty. “What?” I breathe out.

His father?

My mouth falls open, but I clamp it shut again, looking up at this man with new eyes as realization dawns.

Bart has talked about his father in passing—I knew he lived in the area—but they’re not close, from what I understand. The impression I had of Bart’s father from his son’s brief mentions doesn’t match the guy I talked to in the theater tonight. He’s nice.

And easy to talk to.

And he hardly…