What does it mean when Kathy describes the old man as having 'mentally curtained off' the back of the shop where the pair have been browsing?

This passage from Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is about Tommy and Kathy having accompanied Ruth, Chrissie and Rodney to Norfolk, where they make a surprise discovery.   “Is that it?” He seemed genuinely skeptical, perhaps because I wasn’t making more fuss. I pulled it out and held it in both hands. Then suddenly I felt a huge pleasure — and something else, something more complicated that threatened to make me burst into tears. But I got a hold of the emotion, and just gave Tommy’s arm a tug. “Yes, this is it,” I said, and for the first time smiled excitedly. “Can you believe it? We’ve... Show more

This passage from Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro is about Tommy and Kathy having accompanied Ruth, Chrissie and Rodney to Norfolk, where they make a surprise discovery.

 

“Is that it?” He seemed genuinely skeptical, perhaps because I wasn’t making more fuss. I pulled it out and held it in both hands. Then suddenly I felt a huge pleasure — and something else, something more complicated that threatened to make me burst into tears. But I got a hold of the emotion, and just gave Tommy’s arm a tug.
“Yes, this is it,” I said, and for the first time smiled excitedly. “Can you believe it? We’ve really found it!”
“Do you think it could be the same one? I mean, the actual one. The one you lost?”
" As I turned it in my fingers, I found I could remember all the design details on the back, the titles of the tracks, everything.
“For all I know, it might be,” I said. “But I have to tell you, Tommy, there might be thousands of these knocking about.”
" Then it was my turn to notice Tommy wasn’t as triumphant as he might be.
“Tommy, you don’t seem very pleased for me,” I said, though in an obviously jokey voice.
“I am pleased for you, Kath. It’s just that, well, I wish I’d found it.” Then he did a small laugh and went on: “Back then, when you lost it, I used to think about it, in my head, what it would be like, if I found it and brought it to you. What you’d say, your face, all of that.”
" His voice was softer than usual and he kept his eyes on the plastic case in my hand. And I suddenly became very conscious of the fact that we were the only people in the shop, except for the old guy behind the counter at the front engrossed in his paperwork. We were right at the back of the shop, on a raised platform where it was darker and more secluded, like the old guy didn’t want to think about the stuff in our area and had mentally curtained it off. For several seconds, Tommy stayed in a sort of trance, for all I know playing over in his mind one of these old fantasies of giving me back my lost tape. Then suddenly he snatched the case out of my hand.
“Well at least I can buy it for you,” he said with a grin, and before I could stop him, he’d started down the floor towards the front.
" I went on browsing around the back of the shop while the old guy searched around for the tape to go with the case. I was still feeling a pang of regret that we’d found it so quickly, and it was only later, when we were back at the Cottages and I was alone in my room, that I really appreciated having the tape — and that song — back again. Even then, it was mainly a nostalgia thing, and today, if I happen to get the tape out and look at it, it brings back memories of that afternoon in Norfolk every bit as much as it does our Hailsham days.

- Kazuo Ishiguro, Never Let Me Go
 

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