She wants to be anywhere but here.

She has faked so many smiles in the past that she has it down to a fine art. She casts it in the direction of the man sitting across the table, acknowledging his statement over some such other that is, at the moment, utter nonsense to her distracted person.

She wants to be anywhere but here.

The man clearly likes hearing the sound of his own voice, and effortlessly carries enough conversation for the both of them that she contributes just an “ah” or an “oh” and a “that’s an interesting thought” to keep him going.

And going.

And going.

And going.

But she feels that this man’s company, however undesirable, is needed. She craves this distraction, no matter how useless it is in actually diverting her thoughts from him simply because she needs something to pass the time while he isn’t with her.

She finds it funny how lonely she feels just at that moment.