She had forgotten all about the tea.

"No, thank you."

Bella goes back to the table to put her notebook back into her backpack.

"I have a process I use for thinking," she says. "I need time and privacy for it, and the sooner I get started, the better. While it's all still fresh."

She glances up at him as she slings her backpack onto her shoulder.

"Not because this is too weird and I can't deal," she says firmly, because she knows that's what it looks like and she doesn't want to leave him with the wrong impression.

On the contrary: It's too weird not to deal with.