Thinking Time on the Shore

Every boss needs a place where the noise stops. For Pawlie it's the shore at first light, before the boardwalk wakes up and starts wanting things from him.

No phone. No crew. No associates with their hats in their hands. Just the gulls, the cold tide pulling at the sand, and the long memory of North Jersey that he carries with him everywhere — even out here in the desert life, even a whole country away.

Whatever got decided on that beach, the ocean isn't talking. That's why he goes there. The ocean is the only one in his life that knows how to keep its mouth shut.