“No, thank you. I haven’t stolen yet, but I’m sure it’s easy there. There are pocketbooks all around, and one just takes something. They steal the meat you buy for dinner.” Therese laughed. One could laugh at it with Carol. One could laugh at anything with Carol.
They had sliced cold chicken, cranberry sauce, green olives, and crisp white celery. But Carol left her lunch and went into the living room. She came back carrying a glass with some whisky in it, and added some water to it from the tap. Therese watched her. Then for a long moment, they looked at each other, Carol standing in the doorway and Therese at the table, looking over her shoulder, not eating.
Carol asked quietly, “Do you meet a lot of people across the counter this way? Don’t you have to be careful whom you start talking to?”
“Oh, yes,” Therese smiled.