The Unwritten Rules

L’HISTOIRE

It's Monday, September 3rd, 2029, eight in the morning, at the Archive of the Indies, the old merchants' exchange next to the cathedral in Seville. For two years, Julian came here as a reader. Today, he's on the staff. He's wearing a new shirt that Sarah ironed and a tie he has already taken off twice. His new office is upstairs, with a high window, a long table, the old map, and a wooden chair with a faded green cushion that Professor Ortega sat on for forty years. A senior archivist is waiting for him at the door with a bunch of keys and a look that says she has seen many new researchers come and go. At five o'clock, someone knocks at the door. This is the conversation you'll be able to say by the end of the lesson.