We ended up getting a set of tea along with some sandwiches she and I made in the kitchen. Other workers were busy prepping food, so we had to make our own stuff. I'm not a particularly big fan of tea, but when a pretty older woman tells you to drink tea with her, you do it!
Right, she's not actually that much older than me. But the tea is already poured, so I can't back out now. Plus, I imagine soda is a rarity these days anyway, so I might as well get some new taste.
I might as well start to ask some questions.
"So, how long have you been working here?"
"Since our town was destroyed." Oh.
"Five years, huh? It must be pretty devastating to have so much damage done to your hometown."
"Ah, I should've specified, I apologize. I didn't actually live in this town."
"You came from somewhere else?"
"Yeah. The place was almost completely destroyed while me and my boyfriend were visiting someplace else."
"So, is the situation over there unrecoverable?"
"The place... is nothing more than a crater." Oh, shit.
"When me and honey found out, we traveled here and set up the mansion system."
Wait, there's something about what she just said...
"So, you're one of the head founders?"
"That's right! Me, honey and his friend are the ones who run this whole system, but..."
She falls silent. Since I'm not one to push on topics like that, I just take a sip of my tea...
Yeah. Really not my thing.
"I apologize, this I'm not really a tea person."
"Then why did you pour some for yourself? We have coffee, or soda, if that's your thing." Damn it, they did have soda.
"I just..."
I fail to give her an answer.
"No... I understand. It's hard to not get caught up in the flow around you, you know?"
"Yeah. It's nice to know someone knows."
"What about you? How's the apocalypse treating you?" Ah, right.
"Well... I'm not sure."
"Ah, that's okay."
She decides to not press further, not that I can blame her. Usually when someone says they don't know how they're doing, it's because they are having a boring day or something.
When I finish my sandwich, I stand up and wave goodbye.
"See you-"
I caught myself off guard by trying to continue the sentence when I didn't know her name.
"It's Elizabeth."
I had a feeling it would be something like that.
"Right. See you later, Elizabeth."