Sacha came back after Easter, but due to conflicting schedules and sundry other small quirks of fate Hannah didn't see her until she'd been back in Melbourne for several days. There were signs that somebody else was in the house again: Hannah went into the bathroom and noticed that the toilet roll was almost used up; she got into the shower and the bathtub beneath was still warm. Still, it was somehow a surprise when Hannah came home relatively early on Thursday night and there was Sacha, making a cup of tea in the kitchen.

"I thought you were back!" Hannah beamed, and rushed forward to hug Sacha.

"I've been back for a while" Sacha replied, nonplussed as usual by Hannah's excitement.

"How was Canberra?"

"Beautiful. It was so quiet. I forgot how nice it is to get out of the big city."

"It was quiet here, too. Well, you know, for Melbourne."

"Right." The kettle started to come to the boil, and Sacha turned around as if to confirm that it was really happening. "Would you like a cup of tea?" she asked.

"No thanks, mate" Hannah replied. "I'm really busting to go to the toilet."

"Okay."

Hannah rushed off, and a few moments later Sacha heard the toilet flush. When Hannah came back she said: "Actually, you know what . . ."

Sacha didn't say anything, but just handed her one of the two cups of tea she'd made.

"That's kinda creepy, you know" Hannah joked.

"I just figured, you're liable to change your mind."

"Yeah, I guess that's me" said Hannah, resisting the temptation to take offence at Sacha's unintended insult; if Sacha had been living with her long enough to know when she might have a change of heart, then Hannah had been living with Sacha just as long, and knew that she wasn't always as careful with her words as she might be. Hannah sniffed at the steam rising off the top of the cup. "Is this . . . Chamomile?" she said.

"That's right" Sacha smiled. "You're learning!"