Of course Mia hadn’t recognized her. Or if she had, she’d certainly hidden it well. No, if she had remembered who Lou was, there would have been at least a glimmer of recognition between them. And whereas Mia’s face hadn’t exactly remained blank, there was no sign of her having any idea who Lou was. Which was good, Lou guessed. She didn’t want to drag up the past—especially not that dreadful part of it—and have an awkward conversation in the Pink Bean, which now no longer could be her place of sanctuary. Of all the people in Sydney, why did Kristin have to hire Mia? Oh well, Lou would have to spend more time at the studio then, or go home between classes. Did Kristin say Mia was the new manager? If so, maybe she had an office somewhere in the back and wouldn’t show her face too much in the shop.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost, Lou,” Amber said. “What’s wrong?”

Kristin and Mia had walked off and sat talking at a table a few feet away. Lou could hear snatches of Mia’s voice when she talked and, after all these years, it still sent an icy chill down her spine.

“Nothing. Not feeling too well today. You know.”

Lou had only been working for Amber for a month, but she already knew her well enough to know Amber would never leave it at that. Her only hope was that Micky would return swiftly to their table after her chat with Jo, so they could change the topic of conversation. But Micky seemed deeply engaged in whatever she and Jo were chattering and giggling away about, so it was just her and Amber at the table, and the silence spreading between them, needing to be filled.

“Mia and I went to the same school. It’s a bit of a shock seeing her here.”

“Oh. Yeah, you did look like you were genuinely surprised there for a moment.” Amber examined Lou’s face for a second longer, then averted her gaze—surely because she remembered Lou had told her a few weeks ago how uncomfortable it could make her feel when people stared at her for too long. Even well-intentioned, kind people like Amber.

Amber’s inherent, blatant kindness was what had drawn Lou to Glow in the first place. She was hooked after her first class with Amber, because they obviously subscribed to the same principles of yoga—the non-trendy, open-minded school of thought on which all yoga principles were founded. Sadly, especially in a city like Sydney, many instructors liked to ignore these and preferred to focus on which latest fad could get them a higher member count and which brand of yoga pants they could sell those new members after class.