...that brief moment of hesitance between "orange" and "mushroom and garlic" was one of those things that rendered it a good thing that Kimblee wasn't a mind-reader; he wouldn't have been able to keep himself from facepalming hard, and it would have been extremely undignified all around.

However, Kimblee found himself more than content to allow her to start; he didn't move to drain the wineglass in the meantime, but at the same time, he was beginning to wonder if there wasn't nearly enough alcohol in his bloodstream for this conversation.

"It's quite all right; I imagine the news must have come as a bit of a shock, wherever you heard it from, and I don't blame you for any suspicions you may have had. However, it isn't something I could discuss with you over the network - it had to be brought up in person. As I was going to be back in town within the next short while, I supposed I could tell you then; I apologize for the fact that you had to hear about it secondhand, but I couldn't do anything about that, myself."