“Okay, let’s see.” Susanne put her fork down and ticked each item off on her fingers. “No pets, one plant—species unknown—one twin sister, no girlfriend, and definitely no boyfriend.”

“You have a twin sister?” This time it was Frau Lamm who asked the question. “Wow, that must be so cool.”

Susanne shrugged. “My sister is great, but I’ll have to disappoint you if you’re imagining all kinds of shenanigans that we got into as kids, pretending we’re the other. We’re not identical, so we don’t look any more alike than other siblings.”

“Still,” Frau Lamm said, “growing up together, having someone who’s always on your side, who understands you without many words… That must be kind of special.”

Susanne had never thought about it much. Since she had never known anything else, maybe she had taken that kind of relationship with her sister for granted. “Yeah, I suppose it is. We’re still pretty close.”

“What does your sister do for a living?” Frau Lamm asked. “Is she a businesswoman too?”

“No. She lives from hand to mouth,” Susanne repeated what her sister always said when asked about her job.

“So she’s a starving artist?” Miriam asked.

Susanne chuckled. “No. She’s a dentist.”

“Ouch.” Frau Lamm touched her very white teeth that didn’t look as if they had much need for a dentist. “Is she your dentist too?”

“Hell, no! She put a Lego piece up my nose when we were playing doctor as kids. I’m not letting her anywhere near me with a drill.”

Miriam burst out laughing so hard that she made the dog wake up. Frau Lamm’s laughter was quieter, but it was warm and genuine, making Susanne chuckle along with them.

Finally, when the laughter had died down, Susanne looked back and forth between them. “How about you?” Her gaze settled on Miriam first. She found it easier to address her, maybe because she didn’t want to appear too nosy about a co-worker’s private life. “Any siblings, Frau Blattmann?”

“Frau Blattmann.” Miriam groaned. “God, you make me feel like a school teacher. Why don’t we just call each other by our first names?” She lifted her water glass to drink to it.

“Um…”

Susanne and Frau Lamm glanced at each other.

“Miri, Frau Wolff doesn’t—”

“It’s fine.” Susanne suppressed a sigh. They could be professionals and work together efficiently even without the formal barrier of using last names, right? Just because they called each other by their first names wouldn’t make them friends.

“Great…Susanne.” Miriam enthusiastically clinked her glass to Susanne’s, and after a moment’s hesitation, Anja lifted her glass too and joined it to the others. “And to answer your question about siblings… I’m the youngest of six.”

“Six?” Susanne echoed.

“Yeah. And I’m the only one who doesn’t have kids, so Christmas at my parents’ is an adventure.”