Re: [Diner: Marta & Patrick]
Oh. That was the other news - and now she remembered. "I can't." She tried to be casual about the statement, and no let on how much the thought of it bothered her. "I have to wait out the year. I asked." And she'd received a very stern reminder that she'd signed the paperwork agreeing to it. And then they guy she'd asked had pulled out the contract, flipping through it like he knew every line, and slapped it down on the desk between them. And he was right - it was there. Not even in fine print. She had to keep the job, and she had to keep the room. She just had to wait another... 8 months or so. She looked down into her half-full mug of pale coffee and took a breath that shook a little toward the end.
Marta didn't know about Patrick's current internal battles - whether he was flirting with a girl or crossing some sort of line in his head with a very male friend. She just knew that his smile and wink came easy (or at least they appeared to), and were a casual sort of attitude. Sure, she suspected that he wasn't always so assured about it, but for the moment it seemed to fit him.
His credit card appeared, and she couldn't help the small shiver of relief. She blinked to cover it up, but she was glad that he'd remembered that he "owed" her this breakfast. It would make her paying for the next one even easier. He slouched on his side of the booth, and his sprawl brushed his leg up against hers. She jolted just a little, did her best to cover it, and shifted just enough so that he had more room, tucking her own legs tight against the seat. "I'm doing fine. I miss him, yeah. But... things are okay." She blinked and then looked up at him, trying to sound certain. "I've got it handled." She didn't. But she also didn't want Patrick to feel like he had to step in to take care of her. "I think everyone thinks their opinion is right most of the time. It'd be strange if you knew you were wrong but still held onto it." She frowned a little at herself, because many that wasn't quite right either. But things didn't always make sense to her - even less-so lately than they once had. "But it's still really drastic to leave town over something like that."