He doesn't have permission from anyone, not his wife, not her, not even from his own heart.

In fact, the first in that list, and possibly the last, has forbidden that he contact her, and in a fit of screaming after his last betrayal, his wife deleted the number, pressing on the button so long that his phone screamed in tandem with her.

But there is a thin strip of paper, buried deep in the pocket of an old coat, with faint digits written in pencil, and he knows it is there…