In days to come, Michael and Lisa forged a surprising friendship, speaking on the telephone nearly every day.

[...]

He truly was misunderstood, he told her. "I know you think I'm gay," he said. "But I'm not. I get tired of people thinking I am gay. But, oh well, fuck them. I know you have heard a lot of things about me, in fact," he continued, "but most of it isn't true. And the stuff that is true, you shouldn't hold against me." He winked at her.

  "Hey, I'm a married woman," Lisa said. "And you're coming on to me."

  "Yes, but are you happy?" Michael asked.

  "No."

  "See?" Michael remarked. "I knew that. You look like a woman who needs to let go and have some fun. You look like a woman who needs to hook up with me."

  Lisa was unable to disguise her surprise at his candor and his ... normality. She recalled staring at him thinking, Who is this man?

[...]

Lisa recalled, "I thought to myself, Wow, this is a real guy. He swears. He's funny. I told him, 'Dude, if people knew who the hell you really are, they would be so surprised. People wouldn't think I was crazy for being into you if they saw who you really are; that you sit around and you drink and you curse and you're fucking funny, and you have a bad mouth and you don't have that high voice all the time.'"

  "He said, 'Well just don't tell them.' I thought he was normal and that everything you saw of him publicly was just a mask."