She smiled. “Home. But not yours.”

Given the lack of official records, here are three likely scenarios:

This string appears to contain several elements that could give us a clue about what it refers to:

A poster on the far wall read simply: PORTABLE — and under it, in a looping scrawl: xx. It felt like a signature and a farewell. The host—a slight figure in a midnight suit—moved like a conductor, orchestrating laughter and silence with equal deftness. He drank tea out of a chipped bone cup and watched the room with a look that implied he knew the exact moment the party would dissolve. I wondered if any host ever didn't know.

24/09/17 – we know how to party xx portable