“It helps that I’m starving,” Ari said easily. Kiernan was actually the perfect distraction – she had been antsy for several days now, which was not aiding her exhaustion, and the reasons for her discontent were not terribly comfortable, at that – a superficial chat with a friend who hadn’t been privy to her recent goings-on was a blessing. “Try the blintzes, or the pelmeni.” Her tongue slipped over the foreign word, the emphasis wrong, the vowels off. Even if she couldn’t say it properly, it tasted amazing.
“I’m considering a few of those, too,” she added, waving at the baked goods in the case. “It’s a very important consideration.”
As they waited for the woman to return to the counter so that Kiernan could place his order – for whatever it was he decided to try – Ari asked, “How have things been with you, anyway? It seems as though I haven’t seen you in months. I would apologize for being a terrible friend, but they’re working me to death.” That the double rehearsals had only begun today was a detail she left it, so as not to detract from the drama.