"That was your ex, wasn't it?"
I sighed.
"Yes."
"Sarah?"
"Yes."
Elena looked toward the service doors.
"You were with her for three years."
"I know."
"Then she wasn't nobody."
I stared into my glass.
"No. She wasn't."
Elena's voice softened.
"And people aren't investments."
"I know that too."
"Do you?"
I smiled without humor.
"Dr. Levin charges me two hundred dollars an hour to ask questions exactly like that."
Elena laughed.
"Then I'm underpricing myself."
The tension broke. I looked again toward the service door, but Sarah did not return immediately.
"For what it's worth," I said, "the joke sounded better in my head."
"Most cruel jokes do."
"You're very comforting."
"Pediatric nurse. We believe in honest feedback."
I slipped my hand over hers.
"She told me I was replaceable."
Elena nodded. She knew the basic story, not every detail.
"And that hurt."
"More than I admitted."
"So don't turn yourself into the person who talks about people like equipment."