"can we put aside everything for a second and just talk like normal people?"

"i’m not interested in anything long term."

"you should know before this goes any further that i can't commit to anything serious — much less a relationship."

“when were you going to tell me you were seeing someone? i thought i was the first person you told about that stuff.” lula tries, and fails, not to sound hurt as she asks the question. pulls her lower lip between her teeth and rubs it back and forth for a moment before shrugging. “i was just surprised, is all.”

"just sleep in the bed with me. i’ll even make a pillow wall between us."

"they said we’d make a cute couple. can you believe that?"

“gabi…” lula felt an awful lot like someone approaching a cornered dog, even if she was the one who’d been effectively jumped in this situation. “what was i supposed to do? keep in touch and give myself away?” she knew that she’d been lucky in getting away and wasn’t willing to do anything to jeopardise that. including reaching out for friendly chit-chat with gabi. "of course i wondered about you this whole time..."

"this is getting a bit embarrassing," lula muttered sheepishly, trying to shoo her cat away from sliding around their legs. "i swear, i don't even get greeted like that when i come home from work. are you sure you don't carry treats in your pockets or something?"