Chapter 52 by Johanna

Does anything of note happen during lunch?

You unexpectedly meet Rebecca's mother

You have finished your meals and are sipping your coffees, chatting pleasantly. Melissa just starts to say something to the effect that she must get going (and you kind of do too, you want to make sure your account and working place are set up for tomorrow, when you will start the preliminary literature review). You both see Rebecca's eyes suddenly narrow and she shifts in her seat. You glance in the direction she is looking at and see nothing out of the ordinary; you turn back around to give your new friend a questioning look, noticing Melissa react in much the same way.

"It's my Mum", Rebecca whispers. "The one in the violet cardigan..." The mature lady is not exactly hard to pick out of the crowd of almost exclusively students. She does not seem to be aware of her daughter's presence so far, as she pays for her take-out coffee and turns towards the exit. Rebecca is trying her best not to look in that general direction, obviously not wishing to encounter her mother so soon after she became one of the first students in the course to need to be punished. You start to ask Melissa something innocent so that the table with three girls in sullen silence does not attract attention, but from Rebecca's face dissolving into an overenthusiastic expression of greeting you understand her mother saw her.

"Hi, Mum!", your new friend calls out. "Hi, Becky." The woman does not look at all intimidating, but you know better than to trust appearances by now. She turns to you and Melissa and you introduce yourselves politely. "Dr Cooper, but Becky's friends can call me Linda", she replies. It will be a while before you can think of her as "Linda" (if you ever can), but you appreciate the gesture. Becky asks her mother about her work and they chat for a bit, with your new friend demonstrating very detailed knowledge about the university's inner workings. The danger seems to have almost passed and the woman is on the verge of leaving you girls to your own devices... but then the dreaded question falls.

"So, did your first lecture go well, girls?"