Violet arrived at the smoothie place at 6:22 PM; Jeremy was already waiting. He'd removed his suit coat and tie, but still looked overdressed for a smoothie shop—most patrons wore sweatshirts.

He smiled. "Nice to see you again, Violet."

"You too."

They joined the line. He ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie with sorbet. She couldn't have anything like that.

Her smoothie contained blueberries, strawberries, mango, chia seeds, and spinach. No juice, due to the added sugar. She always requested water as a base; it didn't significantly affect the flavor.

Smoothies in hand, they settled at a table with raised stools. Violet happily sipped hers; it had been a while.

Her last visit was over the summer with Noah. They'd shared a large one because he wanted to try what he called her "ballerina food." He said it wasn't bad, but preferred smoothies with sorbet.

As expected, most people disliked clean eating. Violet wasn't a huge fan, but she'd adjusted.

After retirement, she planned to try restaurants her dietician advised her to avoid. That was a long way off, though—she was only twenty-five.

"Tell me about yourself," Jeremy said after a long sip.

That was vague! Violet didn't know where to begin. Why couldn't people ask specific questions? She'd happily answer.

She disliked small talk, but it was necessary. Not everyone knew her life story like Noah, who was her easiest conversational partner.

"Let's see…I'm twenty-five, a ballerina (you know that), and my family (you also know that). So, I guess I love to read."

Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "That's it? I don't believe that. I suspect you're very interesting."

Did he? She wondered how he'd concluded that after only two meetings. She didn't consider herself particularly interesting; Kaleb had called her boring more than once.

"Oh, really?"

He nodded. "From the moment we met. So…what do you do outside of work?"

Not much. She spent time with her parents or Nathan, when schedules allowed, and mostly with Noah.

What did they do? Usually ate out, played board games, or talked—boring by most standards, but enjoyable to her.

"Honestly, I hang out with my family or best friend, and spend a lot of time with my cats," Violet said, shrugging.

She sipped her smoothie, feeling self-conscious. She'd dashed his expectations. She shouldn't have expected much from this date, anyway.

"I didn't know you had cats," he said mildly.

"Oh, yes. Sassy and Rosie. Sassy's old; we've had her since I was a child. We got Rosie three years ago, after our other cat died. He and Sassy were from the same litter."

Jeremy laughed. "Sorry, I have trouble imagining your dad owning pets."

Given their limited interactions, it made sense. He'd told her years ago that her Uncle Cameron was shocked he even wanted Dinah. Now, he was a devoted cat person.

It was odd talking to someone who knew her dad so well, but differently than she did. They'd worked together for nearly five years.

"He once said he got Dinah to impress Mom. He got attached, though. She died when I was little, and he was even more upset than I was," Violet said, smiling wistfully.

Talking excessively about her father with his assistant felt gossipy, so she changed the subject. Asking about Jeremy seemed appropriate.

"I've told you about me. Your turn."

He fiddled with his straw. "Not much to tell. I've been interested in business since childhood in Washington, D.C., and went to Yale for economics. I always wanted to work at Hale Investments, and here I am."

Violet could work with that. Yale was Ivy League, like Columbia. Asking about college would keep the conversation flowing.

They swapped college stories long after finishing their smoothies. Once the awkwardness passed, Jeremy was enjoyable company. They simply needed to find common ground.

Regardless of major, college experiences shared universals. They related, even though most of Violet's classes involved dance. She'd taken enough general education courses to understand Jeremy.

This was nice. It had been a while since she'd had such a conversation, except with Noah. They had long philosophical discussions, but she couldn't do that with anyone else.

At the end of their three-hour conversation, Violet went home smiling. Branching out wasn't always bad; it allowed conversations with people she wouldn't otherwise connect with.