He let out a sigh that sounded almost human, trudged to the indicated spot, and plopped down.

Susanne cut the samosa on her plate in half. “So you are the vegetarian, right?” She glanced at Frau Lamm, who nodded.

“She and half of Freiburg.” Miriam grinned. “If you’re ever looking for a place to get a juicy steak or a schnitzel, I’m the person to ask.”

Was this Miriam’s way to get her to call her? Susanne couldn’t tell. She glanced over at Frau Lamm, who dug into her paneer salad with enthusiasm but didn’t say anything. Susanne gave Miriam a noncommittal nod. “I’ll keep that in mind. But I won’t be here that long. Just until we somehow manage to get my uncle’s store out of trouble.”

“About that…” Frau Lamm looked up from her salad. “Now that you’ve been here for a while and know the store a little, what do you think would be the best way to—?”

“Nuh-uh!” Miriam waved her fork. “Remember the rule? No work talk on Netflix night!”

Frau Lamm snapped her mouth shut and started to hunt down the pomegranate seeds in her salad, as if she didn’t know what else to talk about with Susanne.

Her friend didn’t seem to have the same problem. “So tell me a little about yourself.”

Susanne chewed her piece of naan bread extra thoroughly to give herself a moment to think about what she wanted to tell them. Normally, she didn’t talk about her private life with co-workers. “I’m thirty-eight, was born and raised in Berlin, have an MBA, and I’m in between jobs at the moment.”

Miriam chuckled. “That was the resume version. Now something that wouldn’t make it onto your resume.”

“Miriam.” A warning growl resonated in Frau Lamm’s voice. “Frau Wolff said yes to having dinner with us, not to being interrogated.”

“That’s okay,” Susanne said. While she wasn’t completely comfortable talking about herself in this context, it wasn’t as if she had anything to hide. “What do you want to know?”

“Let’s start with the basics. Hobbies?”

“I don’t have much time for hobbies, but I love snowboarding and just about any kind of water sports. I’m also a bit of an amateur photographer.”

“Water sports, hmm?” Miriam popped half a pekora into her mouth, chewed, and swallowed. “Anja likes getting wet too.”

The small table wobbled, and Miriam jumped. “Ouch!”

Frau Lamm flicked a piece of naan bread at her. “She means I like swimming and water volleyball.”

“That’s what I said, isn’t it?” Miriam innocently batted her lashes before turning back to Susanne. “Pets, house plants, siblings, boyfriend…girlfriend?” She drawled out the last word as if it had five syllables.