Clearly she was overthinking this. Carlos had answered her without any questions or curious looks. Whatever weight she'd given to her question was all in her own head, apparently. George toyed with the tiny cauldron again and tried to relax.

Ironically, her efforts to distract herself were what caught his attention. Carlos paused in his labors and turned to study her for moment. "Hey, what is it?" he asked.

(What do I say now?) George wondered. She gave him a faint smile. The truth has worked well enough so far. "Uhm, I was just thinking about talking to Clarice the other night. She said it sounded like I'd need to learn Portugese. You know," George added, wondering if she looked as nervous as she felt, "if I was gonna...live in Rio."