Chapter 17

• One week had passed, and Noémie had yet to figure out how the hell Ajax knew about her dream house. She had tried to ask—the most straightforward way to approach him—but the moment he appeared in front of her, her tongue would curl back, and words would suddenly feel inaccurate and insufficient for one reason or another.
• It wasn’t as if they hadn’t talked at all in the past seven days. Noémie had never known Ajax to be much of a talker, but he was certainly capable of holding a conversation. His usual responses to any offhanded question ranged from yes, no, or maybe. Although, it was the humming that she found particularly vexing.
• To Noémie’s surprise, Ajax had started working from home. Many times, she would walk out of her room only to bump into a new face almost every day. The entire second floor seemed to be reserved for office work. The constant tapping of shoes and heels kept the house noisy until six in the evening. After that, silence would once again settle over the place, interrupted only by the occasional ring of a cellphone.