I stopped because it was the right thing to do.

[The last few words spoken as if he was echoing the words of someone else.]

I had been wrong, all those years. I gave my father what he wanted, not what he needed.

[Michael hadn't realized that he'd said she was beautiful, the words a mere slip of his tongue.]

You are. Strangely so. [That didn't sound quite like a compliment, but it was. There was something about her that was uniquely attractive.]

Maybe we were just destined to meet here, and become friends.

[While still uncomfortable with all of this, he was feeling more at ease than he had in decades.]