A toothy smile creased her lips as she laughed at his joke, shaking her head. “I think that’s a good idea, especially if they’re this swanky. I’m not really used to doing these things solo.” Back home, she never had to; her father had an all-or-nothing approach when it came to event attendance. In his mind, it made them look more tightly-knit. “Definitely. I’ll make sure to bombard you with pictures to get you ready for the experience. They need to make a new friend before they get bored of me. Where do you work?” Her pets had been her main source of comfort since arriving to South Carolina, and she was eager to expand her social circle, if only by a little. Luis seemed like great company to keep. “Pennsylvania to Boston,” she repeated, finding humor in the sentiment as she approached the bar. “Living on the cusp of New England wasn’t enough, you jumped right to the heart of it.” She tried not to put too much focus on the way his explanation ended; he seemed okay, and it wasn’t her place to pry. Winona gave a slightly exaggerated sigh, resting her elbows on the bar top and pretending to mull over the way she would tell her story even though she’d practiced it several times, making sure to omit non-essential details. “I got my JD and moved back to New York for a little while to work at my family’s practice, but there were a lot of growing pains in that process. I just came to realize that my family and I operate very differently these days and an old professor of mine put in a good word here in town. Kind of felt like it was meant to be.”
