A Touch of Jen

It’s amazing how people live day to day without hurting each other.

He asks Alicia if she wants to go to a movie, but she says that her horoscope told her she needs to concentrate on her work. “So you don’t want to let money be a tyrant in your life, but it’s fine if astrology is?

Her laugh is unapologetic, like a theater kid’s.

Can you afford to spend money on this?” “Maybe I’m refusing to allow money to hold a tyrannizing position in my life.

Forgiveness is a powerful medicine, both for yourself, and for others.

She posted a picture at midnight last night to act like she doesn’t care about peak engagement times, but she knows that a picture with several tagged people will do well regardless. It’s an illusion of indifference.

Remy laughs and says, “How fucked up would it be if I broke up with you in the middle of this trip?

What rehearsal? He doesn’t know why this phrase appeared in his head, except that lately he has difficulty believing that this is his life now and not some prank that will be called off soon.

He’s always enjoyed plotlines mediated by on-screen experts, since when things go horribly wrong, eventually there’s an explanation. There’s no ambiguity or confusion when science is involved.

Andrea packs up her briefcase and Remy says, “So you’re just leaving? What was the point of all these tests if you’re not even going to help me?” Andrea reaches out and squeezes his shoulder. There’s nothing sexual about the touch. “Because the next time I see you, it’s possible you’ll be dead. And when I steal the autopsy results to do my own analysis, I’d like to have as much preliminary data as possible.

You know how dreams are--they're less about the visual information than they are about the emotion.

She called women with eyebrows like these “victims of the nineties.” He would never notice this type of thing if Alicia hadn’t been obsessed with the flaws of other women.

don’t think you should feel like you have to present yourself…or perform a certain way. You should feel completely accepted.

How much can you have really changed? Aren’t you, like, over thirty by now? And still working in service?

Alicia says that maybe she should print out a photo of Jen’s face and tape it over her own while they have sex. “I could cut little holes in the eyes.

Remy hadn’t realized that so much of his waking and dreaming life was characterized by a sense of urgency, but now that this urgency has drained away, he feels gratified by the empty thing that’s replaced it; a delicious reprieve from the endless dramas and decisions that are sure to crowd in again if he lets down his guard.

He checks his phone, more as a result of muscle memory than out of a desire to interact.

Stop fixating and be open to whatever happens.

It sounds to me like you’re projecting.

You were regular. It’s ambiguous. It could mean You were perfectly normal or You’re always weird, so it was regular for you to be such a freak.

I don’t mean to sound enigmatic,” says Alicia, “but my object will be both decorative and functional. At least in its final iteration.” “Is it…a rocking horse?

Her eyes got as big as a labrador's when she looks at Alicia's books, all with bookmarks halfway through.