“Athena?”
“Rupert.” Athena was surprised to hear the voice at the other end of the telephone. “How are you?”
“Well … I think.”
She heard the smile in his voice.
“I don’t know if you remember,” he continued, “but I know I owe you a meal.”
He sounded nervous, Athena thought, and at the same time, she wondered how often he might have asked a woman out. She replied quickly and reassuringly, “I do recall you mentioning something of the kind.”
“Good … good.”
She waited. After a pause, he continued.
“Dinner? Would dinner suit you?”
“That would be nice. When do you mean?”
“Tonight?”
“Oh!” Athena was surprised but tried not to show it, “At your home? And with your niece … Neti?”
Rupert told her briefly about the change in his circumstances brought about by the return of Neti’s mother. A
