Dirge sat in the booth of a restaurant wearing her nice casual clothing, which was still old and worn. She sat across from a woman dressed in business attire that had a small briefcase on the table. She looked a little irritated to be there, but still looked at Dirge with pity and concern.

“Thanks for meeting with me like this Sarah,” Dirge began thankfully. “It really means a lot to me and my little buddy here.”

“Miss Stewart this is all highly irregular and it should be done during office hours.”

“I’m really sorry about all this, but it can be so difficult to get around sometimes it is hard to work up the courage to brave the busy day traffic.” Dirge said apologetically. Goddess I really hope she buys that.

“ Ok. You did bring all your paperwork right?”

“Yes ma’am,” Dirge said sliding it across the table.

The other woman looked through the paperwork for a short time and nodded to herself. “Well, everything appears to be in order. It will take a bit of time for your full benefits to start Miss Stewart. You do have a place to live and a means to support yourself until then correct?”

“Oh, yes ma’am. I’m living with a friend right now and she is helping out until I can get my finances set up.”

The woman spoke while busy at work filling out the paperwork, “That is quite a good friend you have there. You look a little familiar, like I’ve seen you around somewhere before.”

Dirge looked a little nervous, “Um…are you a fan of opera by chance? I used to perform with the San Francisco Opera Company.”

“Oh my God,” the woman began. “You’re that Carol Stewart? I loved your work and the arias you performed really touched me.”

Smiling sweetly at the woman Dirge spoke, “Why thank you. I’m just glad I was able to reach the audience like that.”

The businesswoman’s attitude had changed completely. Smiling she engaged Dirge in a conversation about her past performances and then about opera and their favorite works. They carried on far longer than the business would have required them to.