Mrs. K made a scoffing noise, then put more of the food that I couldn’t pronounce onto my plate. It was some sort of pasta dish with bow tie noodles and little bits of onions in it. I’d had a lot of good food, but whatever she was giving me was far better than anything I’d ever had in my life.

I could see why Sarai loved this restaurant so much. When you sat down to eat, especially if you were alone, you were treated like family. They didn’t serve you and ignore you; they made conversation and made sure you were enjoying your meal. Mr. K had already come by the counter twice to pat me on the back and tell me I looked sharp in my uniform. Mrs. K had stood across the counter, talking to me about the weather and what had been in the news lately, and had informed me that I needed to put a little meat on my bones in case we had a hard winter. She’d said that last part ultraseriously, and I wondered just how hard a winter they’d lived through, but I didn’t ask.

I checked my watch again as I shoveled more food into my mouth. I had to leave in five minutes if I wanted to be back to work in time for a security briefing.

When I’d texted Sarai about meeting me for lunch, I’d known it was a long shot that she’d be able to come on such short notice, but I was still hoping. I’d been serious when I told her that we’d make our schedules work so that we could spend some time together. Yeah, it would be easier if we weren’t so busy, but that was life. Sometimes you just had to take what it gave you and make the best of it. It had been weeks since I’d seen her beautiful face in person, but I knew that she had a lot going on. She’d sent me selfies of her doing random things—standing in front of her door with a beanie on her head and a huge grin on her face, looking bored with her head resting on her hand in what looked like a classroom, making a silly face with ice cream all over her mouth. My favorite, though, was one she’d taken of her legs in the bath, her feet propped up at the end of the tub. She may not have enough time for me at the moment, but the woman knew how to make what few seconds she had memorable. I just wished I could actually see her in person once in a while.