Alice took a deep breath, and gathered her courage. She hated that she felt nervous. Hated herself for having thought endlessly about whether or not she should do what she was about to do.

She checked her appearance on the rearview mirror. She looked okay. Decent. Yeah. Okay. Get this over with.

She stepped out of her car, and approached the group of people gathered at the sidewalk. "Hey."

Each one looked at her blankly.

"Hi." Alice smiled brightly at them. "I was wondering if any of you knew where I could find Lara Perkins?"

"Kitchen Nazi is running late," a guy to her left told her.

"Which means we're in for a world of pain," a girl nearby added.

Kitchen Nazi? Pain? Were they talking about the same person? Alice tried again. "Lara? L-A-R-A. Tall, red hair, God-given rack..."

"Yeah. Kitchen Nazi." Guy Number One nodded. "Who are you?"

"She's nobody." A familiar voice, yet oddly different, said from behind Alice.

Alice turned, but Lara completely ignored her. The tall chef did a visual count of her staff, and lifted an eyebrow. "If you're all out here, who's inside doing food prep?"

"The food's been washed, Lara." A braver male member of the species told her. "We didn't want to start slicing and dicing until you gave orders on what we're cooking."

Lara nodded. "Okay. The delivery's complete?"

"Yeah, including the berries you ordered." Another girl informed her boss.

Lara smiled wryly. "Everything's so organized. Maybe I'll be late more often if your cooperation is what I get for it. Hell, I might not come to work at all one of these days."

Nobody said anything.

Wisely, Alice thought, as she saw the countenance of Lara. Suddenly this untimely visit didn't seem like such a good idea.

Lara glanced at her watch. "Come on, guys. Let's discuss tonight's menu."

"Um, Lara?" Yet another member of the crew voiced out. He pointed at Alice. "This one's looking for you."

Lara glanced at Alice, her eyes flickering for a second as the sight registered, but it seemed the tough-gal exterior was built to last. "Fine." She turned to her coworkers. "Get some ideas going, hopefully something we haven't done in a while. Basic desserts, but the berries are mine."

They all turned to go back inside the restaurant, while Lara remained outside with Alice.

Alice regarded Lara, saw the difference from the last time she'd seen the redhead. The hair was cut shorter, her streaked red hair darker in shade. And gone was the coy, playful glint in her eyes. Gone was the version of Lara Alice had first caught a glimpse of, all those years ago, when Dana had dated the redhead. This version, the one standing in front of her now, was jaded, cynical. Like she had been forced to grow up and mature before her time. Maybe that was it. The loss of Dana had undoubtedly altered both Alice and Lara, and had forced them both to grow up. Their tryst had been the perfect example of emotional paralysis, but the aftermath of it, between the two women, seemed to have wildly differed.

"This is where you work?" Alice asked awkwardly.

Lara remained silent.

"It's, uh, nice to see you." Alice added. "You look good."

"What are you doing here?" Lara asked bluntly.

"Can't a girl go and check in on her friend?" Alice smiled weakly.

"Friend." Lara repeated dully, then laughed bitterly. "You're checking in? Fine. I'm good. I'm fine. Yes, this is the restaurant, that was my crew. The owner isn't here yet, but I can give you her number, you know, just to 'check in'."

"Lara."

"I'm sure if you look you'll find some of the clippings and reviews of our food." Lara continued. "We serve the classics, but sometimes when we're feeling lucky we do some of the fusion food that's supposed to be really good. Every now and then a celebrity makes the trip to sample the food. I recommend the rack of lamb and the flan, but you can make your own decisions."

"Wow, you hate me that much?" Alice finally snapped. "I see you for the first time in months, and you're unleashing all your repressed anger at me?"