She must not have done as good a job of not staring at Anja’s legs as she had thought, because Anja asked, “What is it? Am I overdressed…underdressed…what?” She eyed Susanne’s black pantsuit and her light-blue blouse.

“Oh, no, no. Not at all. It’s fine. Perfect, really.” Careful, or she’ll think you like her outfit a little too much. She focused on folding down the tray table in front of her and putting her paper cup down on it. When Anja followed her example, she breathed a sigh of relief since the tray now covered part of Anja’s legs.

“Oh. Good. It took me half an hour and a phone call to decide on an outfit.” Almost under her breath, Anja added, “Not that my phone joker was much help.”

“Who did you call?” Susanne asked before she could censor herself. “Miriam?”

Anja nodded but didn’t offer any information about what kind of fashion advice her friend had given. If Miriam had told her to wear this outfit, Susanne wasn’t sure if she should hug her or kick her should she ever see her again.

As the train started to move and quickly gained speed on its way north, Anja leaned sideways to reach past the tray table and rummaged through her backpack, obscuring her face.

Was she blushing?

Finally, Anja straightened and placed an apple, a banana, several muesli bars, and a plastic container on her tray table.

Susanne glanced into the still-open backpack, which held more containers, brown paper bags, and a bottle of water. “Don’t they sell food at the stationery fair? I haven’t packed anything.”

Anja unwrapped a muesli bar. “Don’t worry. They do, but it’s probably overpriced, and I bet there won’t be many vegetarian options. I know you can survive on air and lo—uh, on air alone, but I can’t.” She offered half of the muesli bar to Susanne, who declined with a shake of her head.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Susanne asked.

“Nothing. Just that except for that one time when you had half a sausage on a bun, I’ve never seen you eat at work.” Anja took a hearty bite of the muesli bar.

When Susanne thought about it, she had to admit that it was true. “Hmm. I guess I sometimes forget to eat when I’m stressed or busy.”

“I’m the complete opposite.” Anja finished off the muesli bar. “When I’m stressed, I can’t stop eating.”

She paused, and they both looked at the empty wrapper.

“Is this,” Susanne pointed back and forth between them and then pointed in the direction they were traveling, “stressing you out? I could have gone with Uncle Norbert, you know? You didn’t have to give up your day off to go with me if you—”

“Oh, no, no,” Anja said quickly. “I’ve always wanted to go to Paperworld.”