She cast Mr. Darrow a side glance at his words, but didn't immediately reply. Even before she and Zelda's relationship had suffered, Dionisia didn't remember Zelda ever speaking about male friends she had. Work friends, yes, but nothing in Mr. Darrow file — it would be a lie to say she wasn't scanning for any information on his life outside the emergency room, which was probably against a rule or ten — indicated that he worked alongside her at the Ministry.

"We did," she answered simply, trying to keep emotion out of her voice. The topic of her and Zelda's friendship was still a sore subject, but she had hopes that Zelda would one day forgive her. Zelda was a stubborn woman, but never before had she refused to forgive Dionisia for hurting her feelings. (She just hoped Zelda would realize she'd never meant to.)

"I wasn't aware that Zelda still spoke about me," she added crisply, peeking up from the file to meet his gaze. "I hope her words haven't damaged your initial impression of me?"

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