“Yes,” said Sawbill encouragingly.
“I just wanted to warn him off, to tell him to leave us alone. Not to confuse her anymore. So I came to see .you. Everyone knows about you Emomen—even if you are hard to find.”
“We like it that way.”
“Well, the beginning went just as I had hoped— exactly as I had imagined it would. Better, even. I was a terror—although I don’t remember the details very well, I’m afraid. I completely overpowered him spiritually and mentally. He couldn’t take it. He vowed never to see her again. And he meant it. I could
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The Emoman
tell. I was irresistible. Then—yesterday—he confronted me in my office. We had a terrible row. He was a madman! I had never seen a human being behave so. I was reduced to—jelly. He was an elemental force. I tried to stand up to him but I couldn’t. I found myself babbling apologies for ever having looked at Jo-ann. You can’t imagine what it was like. I’ve never confronted anything like that before. Helpless. And he recorded the entire thing, the whole humiliating experience.
“And then, last night I tried to sneak over to see her. To try to rebuild myself in her eyes at least partially. Praying all the while, of course, that I wouldn’t meet that giant, that godlike devil again. I saw them taking the lift up to her apartment—and went out and got drunk. Then it came to me to come back here. You’ve got to give me something stronger this time— something that will last. Something that will enable me to push him away once and for all.”
Sawbill finished washing the wax from his hands. He sat back against the bulk of the cabin. He became absorbed in an inspection of the rear hatchway.