Kala sighs with satisfaction when the barista finally gives her the large hot mocha. She had waited in line forever, craving a drink she hasn't had since moving to Berlin, nostalgic for Sunday mornings in Hannover when Bettina would make them both a cup as a Sunday treat. Kala takes a tentative sip and hums her contentment. She turns, triumphant, to show her treasure to Wolfgang, but he's no longer there, watching her through the window.

Kala closes the lid, makes her way to the door, brows knitting curiously as she steps outside. She looks around; her eyes dart from one side of the street to another.

She doesn't notice him immediately: He's farther away, almost at the corner, deliberately hidden from view of the coffee shop. He is turned away, his back to her, head down.

Kala would not have seen the woman with him except her face - beautiful and animated - is partially visible over Wolfgang's shoulder. The woman looks very much like Lila Facchini.

And they are kissing.

Kala lets out a ragged exhale, startled by the hurt that streaks hot and immediate through her.

But just as quickly she shunts it aside, alarmed. Afraid.

She thinks deliberately about what Felix would have her do: From their vague replies, Kala suspects neither he nor Wolfgang want her to interact with Lila Facchini at all.

But if she was really Wolfgang's girlfriend, she wouldn't be simply standing around, slack-jawed and indecisive.

The door behind her opens unexpectedly and a man brushes by, mumbling a gruff "entschuldigung" as he exits. Kala hastily steps aside, mocha escaping from the lid of her cup. She sips off the overflow, distracted, and looks up in time to meet Wolfgang's eyes. But he turns away, watches Lila as she disappears into the crowd.

Kala's face flushes from the sting of rejection. But she schools her features, approaches Wolfgang almost cautiously. She comes to a halt when she reaches his side. He doesn't acknowledge her right away, staring in the direction Lila had gone.

Kala glances at him as she takes a careful sip of her drink. He is a million miles away from her. "So that was Lila," she says rhetorically. She tries to mask her tone to one of mild curiosity, focusing her attention on another sip of her mocha.

"Yes." Wolfgang finally turns to face her. He pauses as if to say something further but thinks better of it. "Yes," he says again, giving a small shrug. He notices the drink clutched in her hand. "You finally got it?"

"Mmhmm." Kala's eyes dart to the swath of crimson against his mouth and struggles to contain her ire. "You have her lipstick on you." Without thinking she reaches up to swipe her thumb across his bottom lip, annoyed that Wolfgang's steady gaze unnerves her. "If I was really your girlfriend," she says absently, "I would be very upset right now." She cringes internally at the tone of her voice, at the accusatory statement that she didn't intend to sound that way.

Wolfgang's eyes shutter a little. "It's not what you think," he says.

The lipstick is not gone, but at least it is barely visible. Kala's shoulders drop. "It doesn't matter what I think." She rubs her stained thumb along the sleeve of her coffee cup, stares at the muted red that smears by her hand-written name. "What I saw was Lila kissing you very publicly because she is here to break up our made-up relationship," she says. "So no matter what I think, or what she does, our relationship will survive. Still." She looks at Wolfgang evenly: "Shouldn't I act upset? That would be normal. It seems very deliberate that she would kiss you like that, here, knowing I'm near."

Wolfgang stills, his expression arrested. "Yes." He frowns at her. "Of course you would be upset." He pauses, as if the thought just occurs to him. "Would we fight?"

Kala gives a small exhale, cheeks flush. The memory of the kiss burns, even though she'd seen little of it. "I think we would," she says. "I would be angry. And hurt. I would turn around and go home."

He looks at her in faint surprise. "You would?"

Kala thinks of her visceral reaction and nods slowly. "I think I would," she says. "I would be too upset to listen to your explanation."

He stares at her for a long moment, the crease between his brows deepening before he seems to make up his mind: "Do it," he says. "Walk away from me. Do what you think you would do if we were really together. We were followed here by Lila's man. He's probably still watching."

Kala looks at him wide-eyed, almost forgetting about that possibility. "If someone is watching us fight and I leave, Lila will think she's won."

Wolfgang shakes his head, his expression enigmatic. "Not if I go after you."

Kala's lips thin. She asks, although she knows the answer: "That's not something you would do?"

He quirks a brow, eyes hard.

"No," he says curtly.

He didn't for Lila: not now, and probably not then. And he wouldn't for her. Not for real.

Kala wonders what Wolfgang would do if he knew how she truly felt, if he knew her speculation came from something closer to the truth. She can imagine those pale blue eyes directed at her, cool and indifferent.

Kala turns abruptly on her heel and walks away. She heads in the direction of the Bahnhof Zoo - opposite of Lila - almost by instinct, knowing she can take a train home from there...if they were really fighting. If she was really leaving.

Kala's steps quicken, her drink spilling again from the lid. She throws it impatiently into a nearby garbage.

She feels a sense of near panic, and she is no longer acting: She wants to go home, wants to be alone, wants to marvel over her colossal stupidity in allowing her feelings to be hurt by someone who will be gone from her life in a week, maybe two. Kala weaves through the crowd of people, oblivious to her surroundings.

She is crossing the street when Wolfgang finally catches her, his hand reaching for her arm.

"Kala."

His face is flushed. She stares up at him blankly, lets him draw her back from the crosswalk to the corner. People stare at them. She feels her face flame as she notices the curious looks. Wolfgang ignores them, his eyes boring into hers.

"You told me to go," Kala wrests her arm away from him, breath quickening. She thrusts her shaking hands in her coat pockets, looks up at him almost defiantly. "How was that?"

He frowns back. "Too good," he says.

He gives a slight huff, the color to his cheeks receding. "You went so quickly you surprised me. You didn't hear me call you?" His eyes course over her face as she shakes her head, the crease between his brows deepening. "You even threw away your drink. I thought maybe something was wrong."

Kala doesn't answer, merely staring up at him. Wolfgang's expression softens. He sweeps an errant curl away from her face. "What now?" he asks quietly.

Kala swallows against the wave of longing, trying to think what the version of herself who is Wolfgang's girlfriend would do. "We talk. Maybe we argue a little more. Maybe I insist I don't want to be with you right now; that I want to go home."

He seems to still at her direction. "I would never make you stay with me if you didn't wish to," he says. He reaches for one of her wrists, tugging gently to free a hand from a pocket. "What if I tell you instead that I didn't know Lila was here; that she kissed me, but it's been over for a long time?" he asks, his fingers brushing against hers. "What then?"

Kala's face heats. She exhales, knowing what she would want to hear. "Then I ask you if you're sure about Lila, that you really want to be with me," she says.

"And when I tell you I do?"

She gives a small sigh. "I believe you. Of course."

He stares for a moment at their hands before he scoffs, gives a faint smirk. "Only here, in this fantasy, is it ever that simple."

There is a tone in his voice, a fleeting look that she knows she doesn't imagine. "Sometimes," she admits. His gaze settles on her and she gives a rueful smile. "A relationship isn't always easy, Wolfgang, but if you're in love with someone, you fight for it. Even if it doesn't work out in the end." Her face clouds a little. Her thoughts wander inevitably to a terrace in Mumbai and the man who once told her that. She gives a self-conscious huff.

Wolfgang doesn't seem to notice. He laces their fingers together. "I guess," he says noncommittally. He squeezes her hand. "So are we good now?" he asks. "Sufficiently made up to continue our date?"

She catches her lip, nods.

He leans in, kisses her gently. "Good show," he murmurs against her mouth.

Kala nods again. "Yes," she agrees.

Her smile doesn't reach her eyes.

…

There are five other people on the team besides herself.

Kala arrives almost ten minutes early to her first meeting and nods at the two men and one woman already there. Lukas hasn't arrived yet.

She sits at the end of the conference table next to a serious-looking man with glasses who smiles politely at her before he resumes texting on his phone. Although Lukas has not interacted with her since his party, Kala is relieved that he will not be able to sit at her other side.

She sets down her coffee beside her pad of paper and pens and settles into her seat when her phone vibrates discreetly in the pocket of her lab coat.

All locked up. Good luck today.

She bites her lip, relieved, before a second message comes on screen.

See you tonight.

Kala looks up quickly, flushed and self-conscious, as if anyone knows - or cares - about her messages. She had left Wolfgang in her apartment as she rushed out the door later than her usual time, panicked that she would be late on her first day with the new team. He offered to drive her to the lab, but she had refused, mindful of Felix's warning about curious co-workers.

And so she had reluctantly left Wolfgang with her keys: asked him to make sure her door is properly locked because it doesn't always do so when it shuts. He agreed to meet her at the restaurant after work to return the keys although she suspects he thinks it was only an excuse.

Part of her worries it is.

Thank you, she types.

She sends the message, pockets the phone again and looks around as she drinks her coffee. The man beside her continues to message on his phone; the man and woman across from them seem to be in polite, if formal, conversion. Kala recognizes all three of their faces but isn't sure what areas they work in. She wonders what expertise they bring to the project, if their interests coincide with hers.

The man beside her gives a heavy sigh before resolutely putting aside his phone. He meets Kala's curious stare with a faintly amused shake of his head. "I am so sorry," he says sincerely. "I'm not usually so rude, but I had a bit of an emergency."

"Not at all!" Kala wonders at the soft accent in his otherwise flawless German.

"So I guess we'll be working together on this project, eh?" he says. "Hernando Fuentes."

She shakes his extended hand. "Kala Dandekar," she says. "Nice to meet you."

Whatever Hernando says next is lost to her the moment Lukas Fischer walks into the room.

Kala feels the blood drain from her face, the old dread returning when he meets her stare and gives a polite nod. He seems to hesitate for just a moment before he walks toward her.

"Hello, Kala." Lukas's smile is strained. "Good to see you again."

"You too." He looks perhaps as uncomfortable as she, and Kala wonders if he is really responsible for contacting Lila, if he knows about the zoo. From the look on his face, he seems aware that she is "still" with Wolfgang.

"I should sit down," he murmurs awkwardly.

Hernando indicates the seat next him. Lukas nods and walks past Kala.

Hernando throws her a curious look, but any further discussion is interrupted by the arrival of the research director and team leader.

Kala focuses her attention on the presentation, her interest drawn by the breadth of the project and the goals of the small team. She throws a furtive glance at Lukas once, surprised to find him genuinely engaged, his attention wholly focused on the work: He makes no additional effort to single her out, speaking to the team leader during a break.

Kala relaxes, her earlier apprehension subsiding. It is evident that Lukas has either lost his earlier interest in her or simply decided to stand down given her involvement with Wolfgang. Whatever the reason, she feels a weight lift tentatively off her shoulders.

She settles into the rest of the meeting with more confidence.

Her fake relationship accomplished what she hoped it would. She is grateful for that, even if its inevitable end will claim more than she'd bargained for.

A/N: I seem to be consistently thanking you all for your patience. I mean it! I appreciate that you're still reading!

As always, thanks go to my wonderful beta Halcyon_Red, who was kind enough to do a sanity check on this update.

Reviews are very much appreciated!