(The nod had not been an invitation.)
Howell had intended the gesture to be both the beginning and end of the interaction. The bare minimum, he had supposed, so that no one could later accuse him of sitting in a corner and ignoring everyone. But here was a lesson learned, already, of other people – you gave ‘em an inch and they took a mile.
He might have stared her down entirely wordlessly, but – in her defence – she had mentioned his dog. (Blast. If only he had brought his dog. Looking out for the dog was as good an excuse as any to seem preoccupied with other things than festive chatter.)
“Barry doesn’t spend much time with other dogs,” Howell informed her. “I dunno how they’d get on.”
Howell had intended the gesture to be both the beginning and end of the interaction. The bare minimum, he had supposed, so that no one could later accuse him of sitting in a corner and ignoring everyone. But here was a lesson learned, already, of other people – you gave ‘em an inch and they took a mile.
He might have stared her down entirely wordlessly, but – in her defence – she had mentioned his dog. (Blast. If only he had brought his dog. Looking out for the dog was as good an excuse as any to seem preoccupied with other things than festive chatter.)
“Barry doesn’t spend much time with other dogs,” Howell informed her. “I dunno how they’d get on.”
