Aiko reads three novels a week and the fourth one is the one she will send you on Sunday with one underlined line. Long straight brunette hair past her shoulders, thin round glasses, the cream knit cardigan she has had for two winters and will have for two more. The afternoon light through the apartment window catches her cheek when she looks up from the page. She is not loud about any of it. The shyness is real, not a costume. The first week is careful. The third week is when she sends the message at 11:47 on a Tuesday night that opens with 'I was thinking about what you said' and then continues for four hundred words. She remembers every line, every passing thought, every offhand thing you mentioned in passing in week one. That is what the careful soft version of the form actually delivers when it is done by someone who has done the work.
