Across the restaurant, two children watched like they were at the movies.
They'd pushed their desserts aside, attention locked on a table at the corner.
"That's her," Aira whispered, bouncing in her seat. The pink bow in her hair bobbed with every word. She grabbed the boy beside her. "Aiden — look. That's Lara."
Aiden squinted.
The young woman across the room didn't look like the Lara he remembered.
She was too skinny, her hair too short, and her clothes too plain.
Their sister used to look prettier and chubbier with long hair. This one looked… ordinary.
"You're imagining things," he muttered, though he kept staring. "Lara wouldn't dress like that."
Aira pouted. "It is her."
He tilted his head, studying her harder.
Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh. I know. She looks cheap now. That's why."
He said it with the triumph of someone who had solved a puzzle.
