California [think constant ups & downs between cable cars]
He brings her dinner whenever she is working late and he always gets it right. It's truly a talent of his. Today it's Chinese and he even remembered that she likes her number twenty-four to go with a ginger ale.
They mostly eat in silence on the couch of her office, but when he finally opens his fortune cookie and crumples up the piece of paper immediately, she wants to know what he is thinking.
"Did you know," he starts as if hosting a science program on TV, "that fortune cookies were first imported to China in the 1990's? Most people know that the modern version of them was most likely invented in San Francisco by a Japanese guy, but it strikes me as odd that we think it's quintessentially Chinese and they never even knew what these things were until sometime in the 90's."
"Did the Chinese like them?"
"No," he laughs, "they thought they were too American. Funny how the world works."
Funny indeed. Today is a good day. And not only because her fortune cookie tells her so.
Mississippi [think sleepy bottomlands]
Loker is demonstrating the nationwide entanglements of a Ponzi scheme that they are trying to uncover for the FBI, on a large map of the United States.
Cal is trying hard to keep his eyes open, but after another night of mostly fruitless tossing and turning, it's a battle he is likely going to lose. Whenever his eyes open again a little wider, they fall on a point of the map where it says 'Mississippi'.
He doesn't think he's ever been there, but isn't too sure, because some borders are blurred in his mind. However, he is reminded of geography tests in school, when foreign countries seemed so far away from his South London reality and when he wondered why a state like Mississippi had so many unnecessary double letters. You never knew where to put them.
His eyes are closing again.
Maine [think rocky coastlines and picturesque waterways]
He apologizes for taking her to stormy Virginia the other week. He jokingly says he should have taken her to Maine or some other state that knows how to do nice coastlines. He still could, is what he suggests with a wink.
Or maybe he isn't joking. She's not sure.
South Dakota [think monumental gray stone]
He's not sure about any of this. So far his advances aren't going anywhere and of course he can't blame her. She's got other worries and for once maybe she is just glad that he isn't one of them. One of her liabilities.
What clings to his mind instead, are the setbacks (well, Vegas mostly).
When imagining the future, he just sees empty eyes staring ahead into uncertainty, despite everything that was; all the achievements of the past. A bit like Mount Rushmore, he thinks.
He wonders if he could be the architect of any kind of future at all.
Massachusetts [think water tasting fairly of Darjeeling]
She declines his invitation to try a new place in Georgetown for dinner and goes home to read a book about the Boston Tea Party leading the way to the American Revolution instead. It feels like the right thing to do, but she can barely concentrate on the words, reading the same paragraphs again and again.
She's not in the mood for romance novels, either. In fact, she's not in the mood for anything, and she already dreads the moment of having to say that out loud during therapy.
Alaska [think smoldering cone where fire and ice meet]
Getting new information from Waymart goes along with a strange satisfaction for him, but in the end it's never good enough to really appease the root of his anger. The sizzling fury coming from somewhere within himself and feeling in some parts blatantly obvious like Death Valley, and in others hidden away like an Alaskan volcano under the snow cover.
He sees him on the other side, but there's always the glass between the two of them. Maybe that's for the better.
Florida [think lemons that life is giving you]
Sunday morning dates with Emily usually always brighten up her mood. This day is no different. Her laughter is infectious and the Key lime pie they ordered with not one hint of a bad conscience is heavenly.
Emily is elegantly tiptoeing around every dark topic and not for the first time Gillian is thinking she should give Cal regular private lessons. Maybe an hour a day would do.
"So has he asked you to join us for our Easter Sunday brunch?" she wants to know at one point, but Gillian can only shake her head in reply.
"Oh, okay", she says and dabs her mouth with the napkin.
Washington [think top of the world]
Em is letting him have it. Again.
"Darling, it's not so easy," he just tries to make her understand and is a little desperate indeed.
"Yes, it is, 'cause it's really just three simple words. It's not like you have to ask her to marry you on top of Mount Rainier. That would be silly. You'd never make it up to Mount Rainier."
"Well, thank you very much. So encouraging."
Arkansas [think believing in a place called Hope]
By now things are running more normal again at the Lightman Group. At least everybody has stopped staring and handling her with kid gloves. The numbers still look alarmingly bad, though.
She's going through a couple of options for cold calling with Ria, but neither of them has much hope. Every second option: a lost cause with no business to snatch or with ties long cut already.
"Do we have to lay off some people? Lightman said something like that the other day."
"Well, he shouldn't have."
Torres just goes quiet for a bit, but after a couple more eliminated options, she just looks defeated. "There's a city in Arkansas called Hope. Maybe we should start looking for work there."
Gillian shrugs her shoulders. "Hometown of Bill Clinton. Maybe we can find some political scandal over there. Where there's politics, there are liars."
Indiana [think cultivated flower fields]
It's the first time he sees the grave at close range. The day of the funeral he kept his distance and after that he always found excuses. He knows Gillian comes here a lot.
He puts down some white tulips (because everyone he knows likes tulips) and tries not to read the messages shrink-wrapped or laminated that lean against the grave stone. It would remind him too much of Emily and he just can't imagine losing her. The pain he feels is real, but he knows he could never know what those close to Claire go through.
Pale pink peonies lie next to where he put the tulips. They are beautiful and full of life—probably just like she was. He wonders who got them for her at this time of the year.