workshop. Once or twice he heard someone
and used his mind to push the tree upright
again, but no one actually came in.
He was just putting the finishing touches on
one of the branches when he heard the clacking
of someone coming down the hall again. He
tilted the tree back to a physically possible angle
and pretended to brush the trunk again, even
though he’d already finished that part.
The workshop door opened and Yuan
came in.
“Oh,” Parker said. “I was worried you were
Ms. Frasier or something.”
“Doing your little trick?”
Parker demonstrated tilting the tree. “It
would have taken me three days to do this with
a ladder. I just finished.”
“It looks great,” she said.
“Thanks.”
“Are you free tonight?”
“I guess,” Parker was wiping some paint off
his hands with a rag. It had been a long time
since someone asked him if he was free.
That’s
probably why I am
, he thought.
50
