Scene: A corner bookshop cafe. MARA, a proofreader, is buried in a laptop. TOBIN, a courier, ducks in out of the rain.

TOBIN: (To the barista) Flat white, please.

(Tobin scans the room, spots the free chair beside Mara, and sits. He sets a damp parcel on the table.)

MARA: (Smiling) You brought the weather in.

TOBIN: Sorry. I'm Tobin.

MARA: Mara. I read for a living, or I try to.

TOBIN: What is it you read?

MARA: Manuscripts, mostly. Though lately I've been