I have...heard. [He didn't want to say what he had heard, because it was only what one could find with a superficial glance over the networks and what could be heard in the hallways. His knowledge wasn't as extensive as it should be...but it would do.]

Hayley offered to show me around when I first arrived. She expressed an interest in my work and so, when I started working in the lab, she requested to be my assistant. I agreed. [Friendships were like business agreements to him. Mostly because he didn't know how to form an emotional attachment to that person.]