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“I’an rubbing her eyes

“Are you tired?” Paul sounded concerned

“A little My eyes bother me sometimes It’s probably stress” She put her hands in her lap “Sorry I don’t want this conversation to be all about ”

“We’ll co you?”

“When I rad students end up with eyestrain You should get your eyes checked”

“I hadn’t thought of that Do you wear glasses?”

“No, I drank a lot ofup It helped ht carrots did that”

“Milk helps everything”

She laughed

Paul couldn’t help but appreciate Julia’s beauty, hed

He was about to say so but was interrupted by the waiter, who served their lunch When he withdrew, Julia spoke

“Are you seeing anyone?”

Paul fought a frown

“Ali and I go out occasionally But it’s casual”

“She’s a nice person She cares about you”

“I know that” His expression darkened

“I want you to be happy”

He changed the subject “How are things in your progra “The professors are tough and I’ all the time, but I love it”

“And the other students?”

Julia made a face

“They’re very competitive I consider a couple of them friends, but I don’t necessarily trust them I went to the library once and found that someone had hidden a bunch of the Boccaccio resources so the rest of us couldn’t use thehts in the library sharing a carrel?”

“Definitely not” She nibbled on her food

“Do you go out at all?”

“Rarely It’s aard because the other students bring their partners and Gabriel won’t join ood idea to socialize with grad students”

Paul bit his tongue Hard

“He wants to have a baby,” Julia blurted

She cringed, iht be a bit difficult, given his biology,” Paul teased When he saw the look on her face, he grew serious “And you don’t?”

“Not right away” She twisted her linen napkin in her lap “I want to finish raduate”