A recorded observation

Moving between the tightly packed tables with ease and tucking herself behind the table she positioned herself to see both those arriving at the restaurant as well as her fellow diners. Her shopping bags and pristine, green trophy handbag she first arranged around her, then re-arranged, some at her feet and others closer to her still. A waiter asked if she would like a drink but she declined, then quickly changing her mind and asked for water. In the short time before it arrived she had further re-arranged her shopping bags, looking into them as if to confirm that she had made the right choices this morning. The waiter arrived with the water and the girl immediately poured herself a glass. As she sipped the water, she quickly took in the people around her but as quickly, dipped her gaze to her lap when it mostly stayed. Occasionally she would take a sip, minutely adjust her cutlery or reposition her glass, sending out shards of reflected light from the chandelier above. Her nervousness showed. The light caught her chestnut hair, clinically tied back with a tortoise-shell clip, revealing shimmering golden highlights.