"Krishna?" Alan said.
"My boyfriend," the nameless woman said. "He was up late."
"More coffee for the rest of us, I suppose," Alan said. "Let's all sit
and get to know one another, then, shall we?"
They sat. Alan slurped down the rest of his coffee, then gestured at the
sack. The nameless woman passed it to him and he got the last one, and
set to drinking.
"I'm Andreas, your new next-door neighbor. I've just finished
renovating, and I moved in last night. I'm really looking forward to
spending time in the neighborhood -- I work from home, so I'll be around
a bunch. Feel free to drop by if you need to borrow a cup of sugar or
anything."
"That's so nice of you," Natalie said. "I'm sure we'll get along fine!"
"Thanks, Natalie. Are you a student?"
"Yup," she said. She fished in the voluminous pockets of her jeans,
tugging them lower on her knobby hips, and came up with a pack of
cigarettes. She offered one to her brother -- who took it -- and one to
Alan, who declined, then lit up. "Studying fashion design at OCAD. I'm
in my last year, so it's all practicum from now on."
"Fashion! How interesting," Alan said. "I used to run a little vintage
clothes shop in the Beaches, called Tropicál."
"Oh, I *loved* that shop," she said. "You had the *best* stuff! I used
to sneak out there on the streetcar after school." Yup. He didn't
remember *her*, exactly, but her *type*, sure. Solo girls with hardcover
sketch books and vintage clothes home-tailored to a nice fit.
"Well, I'd be happy to introduce you to some of the people I know --
there's a vintage shop that a friend of mine runs in Parkdale. He's
always looking for designers to help with rehab and repros."
"That would be so cool!"
"Now, Link, what do you study?"
Link pulled at his smoke, ashed in the fireplace grate. "Not much. I
didn't get into Ryerson for electrical engineering, so I'm spending a
year as a bike courier, taking night classes, and reapplying for next
year."
"Well, that'll keep you out of trouble at least," Alan said. He turned
to the nameless woman.
"So, what do you do, *Apu*?" she said to him, before he could say
anything.
"Oh, I'm retired, Mimi," he said.
"Mimi?" she said.
"Why not? It's as good a name as any."
"Her name is --" Link started to say, but she cut him off.
"Mimi is as good a name as any. I'm unemployed. Krishna's a bartender."
"Are you looking for work?"