"There's a restaurant," she said. "On the West Side. Aria took me there in February and I've been thinking about it since." She picked her cup back up. "The fish is extraordinary apparently."
Alexander turned to look at her.
She looked at the garden.
"I don't know when I'm free," she said. "I'd have to check."
"Of course."
"And I'm not..." She paused. "This is not me saying anything except that the fish was supposed to be very good."
"I understand," he said.
"Alexander."
"Just the fish," he said. "Nothing more than that."
She looked at him then.
He met her eyes and didn't look away and didn't try to make it into more than she'd offered and didn't fill the silence with reassurance or pressure or any of the things he used to fill silences with.
Just....waited.
She nodded once.
They finished their tea.
