Bette chimed in to the server, “I’ll have an espresso, too and a banana nut muffin, please,” and then turned to Gail and said, “I do drink coffee, Gail.”

“I won’t presume again,” she said with a smile.  “Can you sit with me?”

Bette nodded and after they paid, walked over to a small table in the counter and waited for their orders. 

“How’s your work going?”

“I’m like a madwoman.  The words are just pouring from me.  I’ve got hundreds of pages of material and I need to start paring it down.  I wish I had this rare collections library in New York, though.”

“Why?  I thought you liked the quiet.”

“I do.  That’s why I wish it was there.  I’m getting so much done, but it’s terribly lonely here.  Really, the only people I know in the whole city are you and Dave over there.”

“You should get out more.”

“I don’t know.”

Bette understood.  The times she was away from Ash left her a little depressed.  “Do you have a boyfriend in The City?”  Though they had probably racked up a full day’s worth of hours together, they never were particularly personal.  Gail knew that Bette had a boyfriend, but Bette knew very little about the private life of the Ph.D. student.

Gail looked at her as if she had asked the silliest, most absurd question ever.  She laughed and was just about to answer when Dave walked up with the beverages and muffin.  “Thanks, Dave,” she said as he placed the items on the table.  “God, that muffin looks good.”

“Would you like one, Gail?” he asked.

Bette quickly said, “We can share.  This one is just gigantic.”

Gail tore a piece from the muffin and popped it in her mouth.  Bette guessed that they were sharing. 

“So, I take it you don’t have a boyfriend in The City?”

“No, not in The City or a boyfriend anywhere else for that matter.”

Nodding, Bette replied, “Too dedicated to school now?  No time?”

Gail sat back in her chair and gazed at Bette, losing herself in the liquid chocolate orbs.  “No, that’s not it.  I don’t have a boyfriend because I had a girlfriend.  We broke up over a year ago.”