On Monday, Higgs had gone back to work. Partially, this was because he needed to get out of his parents house. And partially, because there really was a lot of work to get on with. Higgs probably could have extended his sick leave, he'd even briefly wondered whether the Ministry gave compassionate leave for people going through a divorce, but in the end had decided that actually, it was probably far more productive for him to actually just go back to work. There was only so long one could spend cooped up at home talking to your parents dogs (who absolutely loved it, but that was besides the point).
So Higgs had gone back to work. To a table full of paperwork, his least favourite part of the job. By the time lunch came around, Higgs was barely through a third of it and most likely would have missed the occasion altogether if not for Lydia appearing. It wasn't until she actually spoke that Higgs realised she was there, looking up at her instructions that they were to lunch. "Lovely seeing you, too, Lydia," he told her with a small smirk, but did close the folder he was working on in favour to getting up.
"Congratulations on your new job," Higgs offered as they walked. He had seen her say she had got it on the journals but couldn't actually recall whether he had congratulated Lydia on it. The past few weeks were a bit of a blur. The whole month was, really. "Does this mean you're treating me?" He asked a little teasingly, in no way expecting her to actually pay for his lunch.