A little longer

After what feels like another hour or so, Sam sets down the file in her hand and stretches. "Hmmm, Ethan. Lunch? My treat."

Ethan's stomach answers for him, rumbling after all the work he put in.

Standing, Sam closed her laptop. "While I'm gone though..." She leaves Ethan with instructions to pull a few more boxes, asking him to just leave them on the table before leaving.

Sighing, Ethan gets the boxes, having a bit of trouble finding one of them. By the time he's got them all, he hears light footsteps coming down the stairs.

"I'm back," Sam walks in, holding two takeout containers. "Hope you like chicken salad."

Smiling, Ethan does.

A few minutes later, the two are seated at the table, eating their salads. It's a good sized salad, Ethan notes, and tastes pretty good too. Looking over at Sam, he frowns. She's reading a file while eating, her blue eyes running back and forth.

"You know," Ethan swallows, "Lunch is supposed to be a break."

Sam glances up, "You are taking a break."

"I was talking about you."

"Hm," Sam frowns, "Right." She sets down the file, closing it.

The two sit in silence for a moment, aside from the sound of chewing, until Sam speaks up. "I'm sorry about your grandmother."

Ethan feels a piece of chicken catch in his throat, nearly forcing him to cough. "It's uh..." he clears his throat. "Thank you."

"She was nice. I didn't know her very well, mind, but from what I remember she was." Sam shrugs. "Uncle Eddie thought the world of her."

Suddenly Ethan feels awkward. While Sam surely didn't mean it, mentioning his grandmother made Ethan suddenly feel...

He stuffs more food in his mouth, trying to distract himself.

Sam doesn't seem to notice. "Did you speak to my uncle at all? At the funeral I mean."

"Hm?" Ethan's mouth is too full to properly ask what she's talking about. Forcing a rough swallow, Ethan manages to ask: "Your uncle?"

"Uncle Eddie. Well, your cousin Eddie, I suppose." Sam picks around her salad.

"Uh..." As far as he knew, Ethan only had one cousin, and she definitely wasn't named Eddie or was anybody's uncle. The name Eddie was very familiar though... Very, very familiar...

Suddenly, Ethan jolts in his seat, a memory rushing back to him.