"Ya know, love,"

Michelle looked up from arranging her cloak just in time to see Luke wink at her.

"you shouldn't worry yourself any about the dress. Not enough to make yourself uncomfortably warm."

Im not worried about my dress, she told him automatically. And Im not uncomfortable. Lies, lies, all lies. She was hot and uncomfortable and she was quite worried about the fate of her dress, as she was likely to throw it in the fire when she got back to the cellar. As if to prove her point, though, she left her cloak open, only draped loosely over her shoulders. She would just have to sit up straight and hold her breath for the rest of tea.

It was just then that she was rescued by the arrival of the aforesaid tea. Michelle had been well trained in the art of serving the esteemed beverage, and promptly set about doing so. Do you take milk? she asked Luke. And how many sugars? She prepared both of their cups to order; hers was black the only way to go in Michelles opinion and passed Lukes cup and saucer across the small table.

His disappointment with the Valentine Special was something Michelle found distinctly amusing. I think theyre cute, she said of the little pink sandwiches. She picked one up and took a dainty bite. It tasted a bit like sardines. Michelle managed to mask her flinch of surprise at the unexpected taste, and forced herself to swallow it, cringing internally. She followed it with a long drink of tea to clear out the taste. She didnt want to say anything rude against the special hed ordered, and she decided that silence on the matter was perhaps the best approach.

She placed the sandwich back on her plate and selected a cookie instead. It was shaped like a heart and espoused no vulgar messages. Instead, it was covered with a dollop of glittering pink jam that looked quite scrumptious. She took her first bite of the cookie with some trepidation of spirit. Luckily it turned out to be much better than the magically colored sandwich, although the glittering sparkles grated like sand in her mouth. Michelle took another drink of tea, wondering what culinary spells could have gone wrong in Puddifoots kitchen.

She felt like she needed to make a polite comment of some sort teatime always required that. The food is very pretty, isnt it? she said.