Clarke was taken aback by the answer he gave. How could someone like everything or find time to do so much? They were clearly at the opposite ends of the spectrum. In fact, they'd probably never talk again after he was done with the shop. But she found it surprisingly interesting to learn about how someone else lived. "That certainly isn't what I expected from you, but it's interesting. I just don't have the time for hobbies. That's the trade off of having a career."
He took another sip of his coffee and looked her up and down like he was studying her. She began to feel a little uncomfortable. "What?" she finally asked.
"I'm just trying to understand why you feel that you're so imperfect; that everything you do is so imperfect." She blushed, wondering how he could guess such a thing about her when he didn't even know her.
"What makes you think that's how I feel?"
"Because that's why you always work and do nothing else. It's like you think you don't deserve to do anything else and that if you don't keep working on it, you'll be criticized. Otherwise, you'd be at home right now instead of micromanaging the cleanup of your closed shop." He winked at her and stood up, throwing his paper cup into the trash before heading out the door.
"You coming?" he asked, holding the door open for her. She shook her head as if coming out of a trance and followed him out the door.