The afternoon sun streamed through the large windows of the coffee shop, painting the wooden tables in warm gold and catching on the rim of Mercury's glass. She sat across from me, legs crossed, still laughing from a joke a while back, head tilted back slightly, the sound bright and unfiltered as it filled the space between us.
"I won't lie though," she said finally, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. "I really missed you."
"Missed you too," I admitted, watching the way her eyes sparkled when she looked at me.
She was her own kind of person, carrying something nobody else carried.
"Tell me more about Lord Bala. Is he like Sinn?"
"No," I said. "Sinn's the better team player. Bala runs things from an office. But he's a good man."
"I see."
A waitress came over with a tray, the glasses clinking softly. We were done with our drinks but still sitting. She set down two fresh glasses of juice, ice cubes shifting and catching the light.
