After a few seconds of looking at him, arms folded, Elspeth sighed, and held up two fingers, indicating the number of minutes that she was willing to give him. James put his hands together and bowed his head, showing his gratitude. He would make sure to thank her verbally as well when he got the chance. However, with the clock ticking, he turned over to Maria, and smiled.
“Hey, Elspeth says I have only two minutes, so sorry if I have to run,” James blurted. He felt stupid for having lead with that, but he figured it was important for her to know in case she hadn’t seen Elspeth give him the time limit.
Thankfully, Maria laughed, amused. “It’s fine! I understand. And don’t worry, you got me at a good time; this is the first time since we got here that I haven’t been talking with someone else.”
James nodded, happy to hear it had worked out, but he ultimately felt a weird sense of dread. “Talking to someone else”. He was sure it meant nothing, but for some reason the idea of her placing time with him as the potentially last thing she’d do seemed off putting. But, snapping himself out of this thought process, he got his head back into the game.
Thinking of something to say, he opened his mouth to continue the conversation.