Chapter 4 Summary

Sub-Novel

The man and woman continue to meet in secret. At a cafe, she is uncomfortable because of the part of town in which it is located, and he is uncomfortable with the "fancy" way she is dressed. Their togetherness, for him, is about sex; their togetherness, for her, is about what is missing in her marriage: love and respect.

The two of them leave the cafe and go to a room he is borrowing from a friend. It is threadbare, worn, and shabby. The woman is again uncomfortable in this environment but is so needy for what the man can give her that she stays. They make-love and he continues telling her the science-fiction tale about the residents of Sakiel-Norn.

In another instance, at another time, the man and woman meet in a friend's apartment where they again make love, and again...