Somehow, Rietta managed to get herself invited to dinner and ended up sitting on one side of Zephyr, while Nielle was on the other. As he entered the dining room, Zephyr gave Nielle a peck on the cheek and, it was only when Rietta stood looking at him expectantly, that he absentmindedly helped her into the chair. Rolling her eyes, Nielle sat down, moving her chair in by herself; she wasn’t helpless and could manage her own chair just fine, thank you very much!
For his part, Zephyr seemed oblivious to any undercurrents between the two women, merely inquiring how their day went. Rietta happily reported that she and Julia had shown Nielle some of the woods. Nielle wanted to point out that Rietta had just basically tagged along, but Zephyr seemed so pleased that their day had gone well, that
