"He's not as bad as you're thinking, Melanie, and he's terrified Nick is going to turn up one day and break him in two. He, Nick, had about the same expression on his face as you do right now when I told him Eric was the first person I met when I came here."

I was avoiding her question and we both knew it, but I wasn't going to answer what she already knew.

"You should at least meet him and give him a chance before you decide to start getting angry about it."