“Thank you, Priya,” I said.
“I’m sorry to call on tonight of all nights.
I saw the ceremony.
I saw your family wasn’t there, and then I saw you leave alone, and I just — I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I said.
“You did the right thing.”
I hung up.
Daniel leaned forward.
“Dad.
What’s going on?”
I told them.
All of it.
The words came out flat and even, the way they do when something hasn’t fully landed yet.
When I finished, Paul’s expression had gone very still.
Daniel stood up from the bench.
“Who is Professor Holt?” Daniel said.
“My thesis supervisor,” I said.
“He signed my degree today.
He shook my hand on the stage.”
The silence that followed was a different kind of silence from the one before.
“What do you want to do?” Paul asked.
I looked down at the letter in my hand.
