. Lola
"Lola" she introduced herself. She was draped over her chair with a regal air, and Steve wondered if he should ask her permission to sit down. He looked at her: she was wearing the strangest outfit he'd ever seen on a woman, which was saying something considering the array of weird he'd been met with since he'd been defrosted. Her black knitted dress seemed to be covered in woollen baubles the size of gumballs. Her hair was shaved underneath, the top part long and teased into an unruly bun at the back of her head. And she was wearing unattractively large, black framed glasses that didn't seem to have any actual lenses in them... She looked him over and clearly wasn't any more impressed with what she saw.
"So what do you do for a living, Steve?" she asked in a way that seemed slightly insolent.
"I work for the government" he said, giving her his usual cover-story.
She made a dismissive noise. "Paper-pusher?" she asked.
Steve considered her. "Not exactly. What do you do?"
"I run an 80's-themed recycled vintage clothing boutique in Williamsburg" she said.
Steve couldn't quite picture what that was, so he just nodded.
"What sort of car do you drive?" she pressed.
"No car, just a bike."
"Oh" she said, looking interested "Glad to hear it. I just have a custom fixie, gets me where I need to go. So much better for the environment."
Steve's brow furrowed. "A custom fixie? I don't think I've heard of that brand."
She looked at him like he was dull. "A customised fixed gear."
"Oh. Do you mean a bicycle?"
"Yes, I mean a bicycle. What did you think I was talking about, motor bikes?" she said with an air of sarcasm. They stared at each other. "Don't tell me you have a motorcycle?"
"A Harley" Steve offered proudly.
Lola snorted. "Oh, okay, Easy Rider."
"Hey! Rosie is a beautiful machine" Steve said defensively.
Lola laughed bitterly. "Rosie, of course. You would have to give it a girl's name."
"What's wrong with that?" Steve said coldly. "You don't have a name for your bicycle?"
Lola frowned deeply, caught. "Eduardo." she admitted. "But at least he's not a gas-guzzling motorcycle. Those things have no purpose anymore- they're antiques." she sneered.
Steve shrugged "Well I guess that's why I like them." he said coldly.