Shawna tried to hide sad eyes behind a dazzling smile. She handed me the open box of General Tso's chicken and a pair of cheap chopsticks. True to her word, she'd brought Chinese for lunch, abandoning an insistence to cook, if you call it that. She could manage two things without the threat of burning the place down: tomato soup and grilled cheese.

She'd even caught the tea kettle on fire once. She tried to make a hot toddy by putting the alcohol and tea bags in it to heat. The fire from the gas stove had ignited a teabag tag, which then ignited the alcohol fumes. Things were just getting out of hand when I saved the day.

"You'll never believe who is dating!" Shawna exclaimed. She'd been chattering on ever since she arrived, happy to see me again.

I didn't care about Shawna's office gossip as much as I once had. Still, I pretended, hoping if I did it long enough, maybe my attitude would change. "Well, I haven't seen you in a month, so I don't have a clue."

"Remember the hot cop who helped Sarah with her flat tire?" Shawna asked, stirring her tofu with a ginger sauce I thought was disgusting. At least she didn't demand we share.

"Oh! They're dating! How nice." I popped a piece of chicken into my mouth and chewed. I had to admit the food was good. I knew, in the back of my mind, it had to be delicious to register through my depression.

"No, silly, he and Peggy are dating. He and Sarah called it quits after a few dates. She said he was a little too weird for her."

"Sounds right up Peggy's alley." I shoveled my mouth full of fried rice.

"Right? I mean, I swear I would not be surprised if Peggy showed up at work one day dressed as a dominatrix."

I couldn't help but giggle. "Maybe she should. Might win you more cases. Frighten the opposing side."

"Oh, please, I win plenty! You know I do."

I nodded in agreement. "Yeah, you do."

Shawna was a criminal defense attorney for a big firm downtown. She had the highest win rate of almost all the lawyers in the firm. Rumor had it she was on the fast track to being asked to be a partner. She impressed me, as she did most people; 'squeaky clean' did not describe most of some of Shawna's clients, yet she won their cases.

To be a successful woman was a feat in the criminal defense world. To be one of color was an entirely different matter. I not only admired my friend's accomplishments but her beauty, too.

Shawna's skin was the hue of midnight velvet and looked as soft. Her hair, cut so short she was practically bald, laid in waves against her head reminiscent of the 1920s. Her coloring set off the bright whiteness of her teeth, and her full lips held color in a way that made me envious.

Adding the fact she was nearly six-foot-tall, Shawna looked like a million-dollar, model-glamorous superhero Amazon. Certainly, with my own brownish skin, chestnut hair, and brown eyes, I was nothing to sneeze at; many often told me I was beautiful. But compared to Shawna? I considered myself very average in looks. But my achievements were as impressive as hers; I owned a gaming company with a few of my childhood friends. My crew and I had started in my basement as teenagers learning to code. We went on to create the company while in college together. We got lucky with two of our games became successful almost overnight, it seemed.

We ate in silence for a while before Shawna became brave enough to talk about the real issue. "So, how are you doing, really, Olivia?" she asked, voice quiet and soft.

I had to swallow twice to get my food around the lump in my throat. I downed some of the fancy water Shawna had brought, tap water being too ordinary for her. "I'm... well, I'm not doing so hot, Shawna. My only child has died. How am I supposed to be feeling?" The familiar heart squeeze returned.

Shawna inclined her head. "I get that. It's just people are worried about you. Everyone thinks maybe you should start going back to work, say, a couple of days a week. You know, to try and get your mind off things."

"Let me guess, 'everyone' means you and mom, right?"

My best friend at least had the decency to look rebuffed. "Yeah, okay, so what? It's still a valid point."

"You're not wrong." I sighed and put down my container. I'd lost my appetite. "I suppose it is time to try to get out of the house. Maybe I'll go back to the city, then start at the company on Tuesdays and Thursdays?"

"That sounds like a plan! Even if it's only half days."

I thought and then explained, "It means I need to do laundry and shit. Then, I need to pack. I brought a lot of my things from the apartment."

We—I—had a place in the city as well as the beach house. The commute was just too long from the cottage, and so, to spend my time more efficiently, I'd bought a large, three-bedroom apartment. It took up practically half the floor under the penthouse of a high-rise building. This had also allowed Deirdre to go to a phenomenal school, which was essential to me.

I gasped. "Deirdre's school! I don't think I ever contacted Deirdre's school to tell them she wouldn't be back!"

Shawna patted my knee. "Don't worry about it. Your mom took care of all those little things."

I teared up and sniffled. "Mom has always been so much better at that than I am."

Shawna passed me the box of ever-present tissues before asking, "So, what do you need to do to head back to the city besides..."

A meowing kitten, who came running in from god-knew-where, interrupted us.

"You have a kitten!" Shawna exclaimed, scooping it up to cuddle. "What's his name?"

"Her name is George," I explained, reaching to disengage the exuberant kitten from Shawna's chenille sweater. Successful, I hugged the purring ball of fluff close before George clamored on me.

"That's an odd name for a female cat, but, hey, you do you. You must be on the mend if you got a kitten!"

"No, actually... a new friend... a neighbor... brought her by yesterday, practically begging me to take her." My story wasn't a lie. Well, except the friend part.

"Oh! What's your friend's name?" Shawna asked, trying to entice the kitten into her lap.

I panicked and didn't know what to say. My phone pinged. I looked down to see it was a text from a "Lucas Satana" paired with Lucifer's picture.

~

Lucifer: I see you have company. I'm coming over. - Lucas.

~

I cleared my throat. "Well, actually, his name is Lucas."

As soon as I mentioned him, Lucifer walked across the deck and tapped on the French door. Angel, for once, walked close by him as if he had manners.

"Oh, my," Shawna murmured under her breath. "Tell me this is Lucas. Please?"

"Yep." I stood and stretched.

He waved at me as I made my way to the door. Throwing it open to the sunshine and cool breeze, I greeted him. "Lucas! So good to see you again, neighbor! How is the house coming along?"

Without missing a beat, Lucifer leaned in, and we cheek-kissed in greeting as was customary. "I love my little cottage! And, the fact I have such great neighbors is a big bonus." He turned and motioned to Angel, and the dog obediently sprawled out on his stomach, settling in for the wait.

My eyebrows arched. I hadn't realized Angel was obedience trained. I reached down and scratched behind his ears, trying not to dump George in the process.

Lucifer waved a little wave at Shawna, "Hi. I'm Lucas. Lucas Satana."

Surprised, I recognized this was the first time I'd ever heard Lucifer use contractions.

Shawna did nothing to hide her approval of him, even dressed in his casual beach garb of slouchy shorts and a hoodie. "Well, I can tell you, it's quite nice to meet you."

He smirked at her and looked her up and down. "Likewise."

They grinned at each other as I rolled my eyes. "Lucas, would you like some lunch? We have some moo goo gai pan and spicy pepper steak we bought for dinner later. Plenty of rice and egg rolls too."

"Oh, man, that sounds good! I'm starving. Yes, thank you for inviting me."

The three of us tackled the food, though Shawna and I ate lighter than before.

"So, Lucas, what do you do for work?" Shawna asked.

"I'm retired. I was something of a lawyer, though not quite, in import/exports. Now, I dabble in writing the odd contract here and there."

I coughed, choking on my fortune cookie. I washed it down with the fancy water.

Shawna's eyes widened. "Wow! You do not look old enough to retire. Impressive!"

Lucifer all but batted his eyelashes at her. "Well, tell me, what do you need to retire? Age or money?"

Shawna tipped her bottle of water at him. "An excellent point."

He shoved a big piece of moo goo gai pan into his mouth, then mumbled around the food, "What do you do?" He certainly would not win any prizes for elegance and refinement with his performance, I concluded. I'd become fascinated watching him put on the new persona; he was a well-practiced actor. How much of a personality does he wear for me?

"I'm a lawyer. Criminal law."

He swallowed. "Impressive. I bet you have to put aside your morals to do that job."

The bluntness of his statement horrified me, but Shawna seemed to find it charming. She snorted. "No, not really. I took an oath to defend people as if they were innocent until proven guilty, of course."

He smirked, "Yes, of course. But you have to know the truth of it at least some of the time."

"Honestly? I make a point of not asking."

My eyes widened. I'd not realized that about my friend.

Lucifer—Lucas nodded. "Yes, I can see how it would be much better not to know."

"It is, trust me."

He smiled once again, turning to me. "Olivia," he began, "I have a favor to ask. I don't have my washer and dryer installed yet, and I loathe going to the laundromat. Could I impose on you and run a few loads in yours?"

"Of course, you can!" Shawna interjected before I could answer. "As a matter of fact, we were just getting ready to do Olivia's clothes so she could come back to the city. We can add yours right in."

"That would be great! Thank you." He inclined his head to her before addressing me. "So, you've decided to get out of the house?"

"Well, it was either say yes and go willingly or risk kidnapping, I think." I gave Shawna the side-eye.

"Oooo." He winked at my friend. "A kidnapping scene. Kinky."

She smiled and, unperturbed, returned the gesture.