After an intense encounter with Candace during which she swears she will make him suffer, Joe flees New York for Los Angeles.

Once there, he kidnaps and assumes the identity of a young man named Will Bettelheim, gets an apartment, and gets a job at a bookstore/fruit store/who knows what it is because, as the guy at the interview tells him, “you look like you read and in this city nobody reads.”

Leaving the interview, I see you, buying fruit, and I am mesmerized.

Hello... You... No! Fuck no, I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to try to find out who you are.

I continue looking at you and slowly start to get closer to where you are.

Your shirt looks old, but current. You like to take care of the details, clean but worn shoes. You walk, in a city where nobody walks.

I get closer and closer to you as I look at you carefully.

I won't say hello to you, nor will I accidentally bump into you. You won't even know I was here.

I pretend to look at the fruit, but then I hear your voice.