Fiona laughed again and Lauren laughed along with her.

“Are you staying long?” Lauren asked. “This place is heaving…”

Fiona took the hint. “You can sit with me, if you want.”

“Really? That’s so nice. Let me repay you with a coffee. What’s your poison?”

Fiona asked for a double espresso and Lauren ordered a latte for herself. Fiona slugged the espresso back like it was a shot of whisky, then ran her hand through her hair: dyed and layered, with little beads and gems woven into it.

“What are you reading?” Lauren asked.

They made chit-chat for a while, talking about books. Lauren’s chance came when Fiona asked about work.

“It’s okay,” she said. “I love my job. I’m grateful to have a steady teaching assistant gig. But my boss is being such a pain in the arse.”

“Your boss, as in Scott?”

“Yeah. He’s been so snappy lately, for no reason. I even called him out on it the other day.”

“Oh?” Fiona was gazing hungrily, ready to devour every little gossipy morsel.

“I waited until after class and told him he couldn’t shout at me in front of the students. It’s unprofessional. I actually felt bad for him. He was so apologetic. He ended up telling me he was having problems at home.”

Fiona laughed harshly. “What a surprise.”

“Huh?”

“It’s a miracle Scott and Casey have even lasted this long. I don’t want to speak out of turn, but, well…”

The door to the café opened and a man walked in, shouting into his phone. Everybody glared at him, looked at each other to confirm their glaring was justified, and then returned to their private conversations, as his voice rose over the soft music playing on the speaker systems. “I don’t care how long it takes. Just get it done.”

Fiona rolled her eyes. “Some people are so clueless.”

“I won’t argue with that.”

“What was I saying?” Fiona asked.

Lauren feigned confusion. She didn’t want to seem too impatient. “Something about Casey?”

“That’s right.” Fiona grimaced. “Between you and me, I never liked her. She was always so fake. Everybody else loved her. Natalie really liked her, but then Natalie always enjoyed nasty jokes.”

“Nasty jokes?”

“Casey had a twisted sense of humour. Most of the time, she was Miss Nice, you know the type, always remembering to ask about your family and this and that, but it just seemed so forced. It was like she’d read a book called How to be a Human Being. Nobody else seemed to notice. But sometimes, she’d let out her mean side. I remember this one time we were at a bar and there was this larger woman there, and Casey just kept going on and on about it, to the point the woman overheard and started to cry.”

“And Natalie liked that?” Lauren asked, an edge to her voice.

“Natalie was laughing the hardest,” Fiona said. “But she was drunk. We all were.”

“Maybe that’s it then.” Lauren shrugged. “Maybe Casey’s letting out her nasty side with Scott.”