Anja slid her chair around the round table in her mini kitchen, closer to Susanne, so she could glance at the opening of the blog post. “It’s not working?”

“It is, but I think it would work even better if you could add a more personal touch. You keep saying that it’s what your…our customers want, right?”

“Right.” Anja rubbed her chin and tried to think of something but came up empty. “Any suggestions?”

“Maybe you could weave in a personal experience. Have you ever gotten stationery or writing instruments as a gift?”

Anja grimaced. “Yes. I once got a fountain pen from my first girlfriend, but I sold it a year later because it wasn’t working.”

“The pen?” Susanne asked. “Or the relationship?”

“Neither. It was stiff and about as bendable as a nail—and that’s true for both the nib and my ex.” Anja surprised herself by answering honestly. She had been the one to do all the compromising in the relationship, even contemplating moving halfway across the country to Hamburg, while her girlfriend hadn’t been willing to meet her halfway to make their life together work.

“That sucks.” Susanne gave her a compassionate look. “I hope it got better after that.”

“Are we talking about gifts or relationships?” Somehow she got the feeling Susanne was more interested in hearing about her relationships than about any stationery presents she might have received.

Susanne hesitated.

“It’s okay to be curious and ask questions, you know?” And it really was okay, she realized. In the past four weeks, she had gotten more comfortable with Susanne. She didn’t even feel self-conscious about the size of her apartment anymore, maybe because Susanne really seemed to like it. “That’s what people do when they make new friends, right?”

Susanne’s gaze flicked over to her. “Are we? Friends, I mean?”

The memory of their almost kiss up on the tower flashed through Anja’s mind, as it had more often than she cared to admit in the week that had passed since then. It had been a decidedly more-than-friendly moment, but she ignored it. “We could be. I don’t think I’ve ever spent so much time with anyone, and we haven’t killed each other yet, so…”

“We’ve been too busy working to hatch murder schemes.” After a moment, Susanne cracked a smile. “But let’s assume I was asking about relationships. I mean, I could report them to the LGBT police if the lesbians and bi women down here in Freiburg are not treating you the way they should.”

Anja chuckled. “I didn’t have another girlfriend after her, so the lesbian and bi women in Freiburg are safe for now.”

Susanne’s eyes widened. She put down the mug she had just picked up without taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “Wait. You mean bendable-as-a-nail woman was your first and only girlfriend?”