4.3b

There's a point at which idiocy becomes obvious even to the person whose decisions are idiotic. Sometimes, it's the screamed epithet in the children's bookstore, a panicked mother suddenly blanching as the moment of passion passes and she realizes that what was once an unbearable day has suddenly turned on her and become an unforgettable scar. Sometimes, it's the gravel lining the corner of the road, a man confidently stomping the brake pedal and finding, to his horror, that the tree he thought impossibly out of reach was now wrapping his passenger door in a loving embrace. Sometimes, it's thinking you could drive across the country to see an old flame and discovering in Nebraska that they didn't actually want to see you after all and, to your everlasting mortification, you only misread their last email and "Why not?" didn't mean "yes," because it meant "I'm trying to be polite, trying to leave you space for your dream to breathe without having to dash it to the ground myself." But Charles knew all this and still found himself in Omaha with a stupid look on his face.