(Author's POV)
They talked. It was easy, surprisingly easy - easier than Joyce had expected with a woman forty years her junior. Aurora was direct without being blunt, curious without being intrusive. She asked questions that showed she was actually listening. She didn't perform interest; she had it.
By the time their main courses arrived, Joyce had quietly made a decision.
She'd come with a check in her handbag. A generous one, the kind of sum that would be meaningful to a young researcher on a corporate salary. She'd planned to present it at the end of the meal as a formal expression of gratitude.
She left it where it was.
It would be an insult. She understood that now, sitting across from this woman. Not because Aurora would be offended by money, but because the gesture would reduc
