Goodbye, Mr. Regret

Ines looked at Timothy in surprise. "She came with you?"

Timothy's expression turned a little awkward. Jessica had come by herself. He'd never been much of a liar, so he simply said, "She arrived a day earlier."

"Alright, let me know when you have news." Ines glanced at her watch. "The presentation's about to start. I can't chat much longer—let's leave it here for today."

"Best of luck with the expo, Ines."

"You're too kind."

They left the lounge together. Ines followed an assistant into the exhibition hall, while Timothy stepped outside and lit a cigarette.

He couldn't help but notice how interested Ines seemed in Jessica. Was it because of that graphic novel version of *The Grand Canal, Venice*? The piece incorporated paper-cutting techniques, and Henry had learned those from Jessica. Did Ines want to know more about Jessica's skills?

Back when Henry was in kindergarten, there were always arts and crafts lessons. Jessica had only helped him with simple paper cutouts, just playing along with the child. Those basic shapes were nothing compared to the intricate paper-cutting featured in *The Grand Canal, Venice*. The three-dimensional embossing technique in that piece was a heritage craft-something an ordinary person couldn't master with a few afternoons of practice.

Timothy didn't believe Jessica's little crafts with Henry could compare to such refined artistry; it was just playing with a kid, nothing that belonged in an art gallery.

It was impressive, but

dimensional paper-cutting. It was clever, really-blending an old-world technique with modern animation. Not just anyone could pull that off. Mastering such a craft took

Timothy couldn't figure out how this all

introduced her to Ines, answers would

to go back into the expo. Instead, he texted

come up. I have to step out for a bit. Listen closely to Ines's presentation, and when it's

see Jessica. She could stall him for a while, but not forever. Still, delaying him by a day had been enough for her purposes. Jessica

hadn't accepted her friend request. That said everything-Jessica

Sheila replied:

do. I'll just catch a cab back when it's over.* Timothy drove back to the

waited. And waited. Before he knew it,

Jessica still hadn't returned.

waited for-never the other way