Page 535

--donation bonus (day #28, post 2/5)--
“No,” said Roman. “I didn’t meet Gina until about a year later.”

“H-how long have you two been... um...?”

“How long have we been, what?”

“Been, um...? Er, what is your relationship, exactly? I-if that’s not too personal, I mean.”

“She’s my second-in-command. My right-hand woman. My babysitter.”

“One of those things doesn’t--”

“She’s the glue that keeps my boat in the air.”

“That’s definitely not a thing people say...”

“She’s the golden goose that makes sure I don’t count my chickens before they hatch.”

“...I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.”

“She’s the giraffe to my peanut butter--”

“If you don’t want to tell me, you can just say so.”

“I don’t want to tell you.”

“Ah...”

Roman gave a sideways nod. “Honestly, though, I’m not entirely sure, myself. Gina is a curious one. I’ve met a lot of people who make their living off of keeping secrets, but Gina is more difficult to read than most of them.”

“You think so? She seemed pretty, um... straightforward... uh, to me.”

“Yes, well. She would. And I did tell her to help you, as well.”

“Hmm...”

“When I first met her, she was borderline agoraphobic.”

“Agora...?”

“She was extremely reluctant to go outside. I don’t think she’d left her apartment in months.”

“Oh... and you helped her get over that?”

“You could say that.”

Hector just looked at him, waiting for elaboration.

“I kind of burnt down her apartment,” said Roman.

“Aha...”

“Accidentally.”

“Right.”

“The details aren’t important.”

“Uh-huh...”

“Long story short, I helped her get back on her feet. Was only meant to be a temporary situation, but she ended up sticking around.”

“And you don’t know anything else about her?”

“I never said that.”

“But you said... all that stuff about her being difficult to read.”

“Yep.”

“Then...?”

“If you want to know more about her, then ask her yourself. Not my place to tell.”

Hector gave a small nod.

“You never answered my question,” said Roman. “How did you originally die? Told you mine.”

Hector nearly cringed. He was better prepared to answer now, but he certainly would’ve preferred Roman to have forgotten.