The café settles into an ordinary afternoon around Ember, Elena, and Tessa. No folders sit on the table, only warm cups, a sugar jar, and Elena’s sketch of a basil-flower pin.
Tessa
I’m glad we’re doing something ordinary today. I brought no notes, no files, and absolutely no mystery to solve.
Elena
That sounds perfect. I ordered mint tea, and I’m prepared to discuss gardens, books, or anything else that lets us enjoy being friends.
Elena’s phone vibrates once beside the tea. She reads the message silently, then places it face down, her expression thoughtful but no longer burdened.
Elena
Cybil says she has scheduled an appointment with a counselor and will not contact you unless you invite it. She says she is sorry, and that she understands accountability means giving you room.
Tessa
Then we can leave that where it belongs. For today, I want to help Elena choose the pin and hear what Ember has been reading lately.
Laughter loosens the last stiffness from the table. Elena turns her sketchbook toward Ember and Tessa, while the afternoon opens into tea, gardens, books, and whatever Ember chooses to share.