“What did she think about having a vegetarian granddaughter?”

Anja chuckled. “She was always worried about me starving to death. For her, a meal without meat wasn’t a real meal.”

“My mother was the same when Franzi went through her short-lived vegan phase.”

The waitress stepped up to their table, and Anja ordered the cheese spaetzle and a small salad.

“Do you want it with the caramelized onions or without?” the waitress asked.

Anja hesitated for only a second. “With onions, please.” This wasn’t a date, after all, so she didn’t need to keep her breath fresh for the good-night kiss. An image flashed through her mind’s eye—Susanne and she standing at the streetcar stop where they had to go their separate ways, leaning closer and closer until… She roughly shook her head to chase away the image.

It didn’t take long for their food to be served, and they both dug in with gusto.

The spaetzle was sprinkled with butter-fried bread crumbs and tasted delicious.

The loud group at the large table next to theirs got up and left, and the noise level in the restaurant instantly dropped so they could talk without raising their voices.

“This is good.” Susanne sounded almost surprised. She swiped a piece of beef through the horseradish sauce on her plate.

“What, you thought our little backwoods region couldn’t produce anything worth eating?” Anja tried for a teasing tone, but, truth be told, it rankled her a little that Susanne didn’t seem to like Freiburg.

Susanne put down her knife and fork. “I didn’t say that—or think it,” she added before Anja could say anything. “In fact, no matter where I have traveled, I have often found that the best food is served away from the big cities in little, rustic restaurants like this.”

“So you travel a lot?”

Susanne picked up her cutlery. “Yeah, I do. I did. I worked for a big international consulting firm.”

“Worked,” Anja repeated. “Right. You said you’re in between jobs.”

Susanne nodded.

“Can I ask what…?”

“What happened at my old job?” Susanne hesitated, and for a moment, Anja thought she wouldn’t answer, but then she said, “I finally had enough, so I quit.”

Anja paused with her fork hovering in mid-air. “Enough of what? The bitchy colleagues you mentioned earlier today?”

“Them too. The whole company climate was pretty toxic…at least for women. My boss always picked the shittiest, most difficult jobs for me just because he wanted to see me fail, while his boys got the easy jobs and all the praise.” Susanne’s voice was tight with frustration.

And now Susanne was here in Freiburg, trying to save Paper Love. Did she consider it a shitty job too?

“I thought I could prove myself and make him respect me, but I finally realized that my career wouldn’t go anywhere as long as I stayed,” Susanne continued. “So I quit.”