Friday at 6 45.

At 6:30 I flipped on his waiting room switch.

He opened the door at 6:45, smiling brilliantly. He gave me my movie. I give him his coffee.

"Thanks," he said.

"Tell me if it's-- are you with someone right now?"

"No, not for a few minutes, do you want to come in?"

"Sure."

"The coffee is really bad."

"It's Table Top." I laughed.

He put it on the floor next to his chair, but then stood back up. I was standing.

"I have another one for you-"

"The 'Lars and the Real Girl'?"

"You haven't seen it, yet, right?"

"No, I want to,"

"Okay, good."

"You own it?"

"I ordered it."

.......................................

"It's really good, it's funny and heart-warming and weird, and, you'd think it would be kinda kinky--"

"Uh-huh,"

"But no, it's not. But it takes place in a little town in Canada up north..."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah... You grew up in Minneapolis or?"

"I'm from Wisconsin. I went to school in Minneapolis..."

"Oh, Madison?"

He nodded. "Good place to be from. General lack of neuroses that makes me uncomfortable."

I laughed and shook my head. "Do you ever visit?"

"I've gone back twice in twenty years."

"Wow. What made you..."

"I went to my high school reunion--"

"Did you really?"

"-and it was GREAT. So I went again... But the people were like, I felt like they were exaggerating, their accents it was like so 'Hi how are ya!' but they weren't! It was just, I grew up with these people?? It was really different. It was just different."

I was laughing and leaning against his bookcase. "Is your family there?"

"There was a diaspora..."

I laughed, "Yeah."

"My parents are from New York City..."

"Ahhh. That makes sense." I looked at him. He smiled.

"Do you ever go back to Pennsylvania?"

"Never." I said. "There's nothing."

We looked at each other for a moment. He looked down at his coffee on the floor. "Well..."

"Yeah," I said and turned toward the door.

"Oh- the other one-"

"Would you like to-"

He laughed, he went over to the door and held it open. "See you Tuesday,"

"Have a good weekend Julian."

"Okay."

"Not too good." I said as I walked past him.