Ed would have held out Ella's chair for her but she down too quickly. He did reach over to lightly touch the back of Leah's chair, not really pulling it out but gesturing toward the gentlemanly gesture. He stood, waiting for both women to be seated. But he took up the conversational thread offered by Ella, as if wanting to make up for his earlier lapse i mood. "I've just returned to New York after a few months abroad. I left everything in storage while I was gone and when I got back...well, a real estate agent mentioned this place in passing and I thought I'd give it a try!" He knew he had failed on the literary embellishment front but hoped it was a mild enough answer to help them all settle in.