"It was a mistake. I gripped it too tightly." I lie at the end with the most casual tone I can muster.

She doesn't believe and just nods, saying nothing. We stare ahead for some time until she thinks it wise to introduce herself.

"I'm Ashley, by the way. I don't think you would recall anything about me." She crosses her legs neatly, sending a kind of check-out glance at me.

Seriously, the introduction is unnecessary because I know who she is already.

She's been working in my ...