The next day, Shane is at the Kosciusko Café, an old diner from the 1960s. He is 25 minutes early for a meeting with Eva, and he waits nervously. When Eva arrives, she appears angry, which makes him even more flustered. He knows she’s angry because of their past together, and he intends to apologize when the time is right.

When they start talking, Eva is aloof but still banters a bit. They catch up and admit that they have been writing about each other: Eva’s vampire character Sebastian is based on Shane, while one of Shane’s female protagonists is based on Eva. They have each read the other’s work, and they’ve noticed the parallels. However, Eva resentfully points out that while Shane is overwhelmingly successful, he is famous partly because of the character he modeled after her—a character who deals with trauma and mental illness. Eva is upset that Shane has capitalized on her trauma when she was at her lowest and “not loveable.” Shane argues, insisting she was loveable and that this is why his character is also loveable. He admits that the character is idealized, but he says this is only because he idealizes Eva. This only angers Eva, and the conversation becomes a tense argument.