"Who's the other ticket for?" Kate asked Rona as soon as they were all inside. Despite Kate's wishes, they'd missed the first support act and the crowd was milling and building within the venue, growing in excited anticipation of the night ahead while the second support set up on stage.

"My boyfriend, Matt" Rona answered, raising her voice to be heard above the dozens of other conversations going on around them, but not quite having to shout just yet. "If he ever shows up."

Sacha threw Rona a look, and Kate noticed and wondered if Sacha really wasn't going to talk all night. Rona seemed to know what the look meant more than Kate did, and explained her previous comment:

"I haven't seen him all that much lately. I've been so busy working, it's been crazy. Si came down with a cold or something a few days ago and reckons he's not going to be able to make it in at all next week, but he's still trying to control the magazine from his sickbed, and I've been running around like a headless chook tidying up after him. It drives me mad. Still -" Kate sensed that Rona was not so much conversing as venting, and it was best to let her just go at it - "at least I managed to change his mind a bit about the whole 'change of direction' thing. That's how I managed to get the tickets for tonight" she said solemnly to Kate, who had no idea what she was talking about.

"Uh-huh" said Kate, nodding in reply.

"Either of you want a drink?" asked Sacha unexpectedly.

"Sure, thanks mate" smiled Rona. "I'll have a beer. Whatever you're having."

"Get me a cocktail of some kind" said Kate. "Here, you want some money for that?"

"No, I'm good. You can buy the next round if you want."

When Sacha was gone, Rona turned to Kate. "So you're her - younger sister, is that right?"

"Yeah, a few years younger."

"Right." Rona paused for a while, trying to tactfully compose her next question. "So . . . has Sacha always been so . . ."

"So grumpy?"

"Yeah!"

Kate giggled. "Yeah, pretty much. I think -" she turned around to watch her sister standing impatiently at the back of the throng gathered around the bar, and she smiled. "I think she just has very high expectations for the world. Well, not expectations, but ideals. She just can't help but be disappointed with most of the people she meets."

"I can appreciate that" Rona commented.

"Yeah. But with Sacha, it's kind of reached that point where there's - that word again, 'expectation' - there's expectation that people just are going to disappoint her, somehow. So she doesn't let many people get close."

"I noticed that" said Rona. "It was tricky to get her to open up."

"Actually" said Kate, turning back to Rona and looking at her unflinchingly, "it's not really a matter of her letting people in. Sacha chooses you, simple as that. If she likes you, if she decides you're worthwhile, she chooses to associate with you."

Rona just nodded, quietly, and then looked to the bar but couldn't see Sacha any longer: she'd been absorbed into the mass of people and was making her way forwards.

"It was a big thing for her, moving down here away from Canberra" continued Kate. "I'm really glad she has a friend like you down here."