The tone you take in this really makes it. The first person, addressing the reader as a conduit for a dead friend, creating a sense of mystery as you build the story is just irresistible. This is so very well put together, it's so easy to read, it makes for a very easy to enjoy story which is always a very good thing. I adore how you approach this, the mystery, starting with a funeral, and going through the agenda and belongings of his friend, the office, the computer, the whole time not another soul having the faintest idea. It allows you to tease out the story but by bit and it is just so well done. The internal dialogue, and the way he talks to his friend/rival, the fine line between flippant irritation, and affection, between a personal connection and hints of lament, there is so much depth, it is very skillfully done. The ending here is just brilliant, he had covered all his bases, or he thought he had. The things we find it hardest to admit can be our greatest weaknesses. On rereading it, the way his interactions with Martha go, it works well as the ending. And it works like a final puzzle piece in the relationship between the two men. The idea that he gets to walk away but can’t talk about it, this makes for a great stand alone short story, it feels like something straight out of a magazine! Just so very enjoyable <3