"Uh-" Avery found every single thing he knew about himself had flown right out of his head. He didn't do well with being on the receiving end of interviews. He much preferred to be the one controlling the narrative. Eye contact was not his friend. "Um. I- I- uh well, I guess- I live in here- I live here, in New York, for a few years now, and, and, I'm a journalist-"
Holy fucking shit, thank god he hadn't stammered his way through his job interview like this, or he'd never have got the job. But then, he'd been mentally prepping for that for days beforehand. He'd sort of figured Lyra would do all the talking here, really.