If Richard let himself take in the view a little as Lia went to get her coffee, well, he could hardly be blamed for it. The coffee here was good, and the art was interesting enough, but he found himself more interested in other views. Was everyone in California a super model, or just at the Pax? Where were all of the aging and overweight businessmen, the gangly teenagers with acne, the people over sixty? It wasn't as if he was complaining, but there were moments when California itself started to make him uncomfortable.
Lia's return pulled him from his reverie, and he smiled back. "Don't worry about it," he responded with a matching smile. He took a drink of his coffee, which was as dark and bitter as he could ask for, and at her question looked up with an abashed grin. "Is it that obvious? And here I thought I was blending in so well." Really, he didn't think anything of the kind. It must be pretty obvious how much culture shock he was dealing with.
He chuckled deprecatingly and shrugged a little, setting the mug down. "I'm a recent transplant from the Midwest. Chicago most recently, but before that Michigan and Ohio." He looked at her for a moment, a look of faux-concentration on his face. "I'm guessing you're from around here, originally?" She did sort of look like a native, but he was guessing. She could just as easily have been from Massachusetts, for all he knew.