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you in a few weeks when I'm back in town.' She reached for her coat. 'Back out into the cold.'
    Sophie exchanged another quick glance with Toni. Christine's miniskirt would probably have given her chilly legs no matter what the season. Sophie and Toni both dressed neatly for work but their skirts and tops were conservative by comparison with the young drug rep's wardrobe.
    'I'll see you out.' Josh was on his feet fast enough to help Christine with her coat. He then held the door open and Christine's smile indicated that his courtesy was more than making up for his junior partner's earlier brusqueness.
    Sophie grinned. 'He's the perfect gentleman, isn't he?'
    Toni had an odd expression on her face. 'Oh, yes,' she agreed quietly. 'As long as the subject is worthy.'
    She took her glasses off and began to polish the lenses with a tissue.
    'How did your visit with the optometrist go?'
    Toni brightened considerably. 'We talked about laser surgery again. I've always been put off because the results for higher degrees of myopia aren't so good, but there's a new technique now.'
    'Really? What's that?'
    'LASIK. Commonly known as "flap and zap".' Toni pushed her spectacles back into place and picked up one of the pens beside Sophie. Turning over one of the broadsheets Christine had left on the table, she rapidly drew a circular diagram on it.
    'You know how short-sightedness is caused by the eye being too long and the cornea too curved so that the light is focused in front of the retina.' Toni was illustrating her point with rapid additions to her diagram.
    Sophie nodded. 'The laser is used to flatten the cornea and redirect the light, isn't it?'
    'Yes.' Toni coloured in the front portion of the eye she had drawn. 'But when a greater degree of correction is needed it can leave problems with scarring and corneal haze. You can even end up with a worse refraction error than you started with.'
    'A bit offputting.'
    'With flap and zap, they take a layer off the whole cornea first and roll it up to one side. It's only three times the thickness of a human hair. Then they reshape the central five millimetres of the cornea. It's all computer controlled and very accurate. Then the flap goes back. It's improving the outcome and cutting down on a lot of the complications.'
    'Are you going to try it, then?' Sophie was in trigued by Toni's knowledge and enthusiasm. The diagrams she had drawn were impressively clear. Sophie would have to copy the design when she wanted to explain visual problems to her patients.
    'I'm going to get my first eye done on Friday,' Toni told her. 'They only use local anaesthetic drops and with this technique you can be back at work in one to two days instead of a week. I'll have the weekend to recover.'
    'Is it expensive?'
    'Mmm.' Toni shrugged. 'But what else do I have to spend my money on? They'll only do one eye at a time, but if it goes well I'll have the other one done in a couple of months. I might even be able to throw my glasses away.'
    'Let me know if I can help at all,' Sophie offered. 'If you need a lift anywhere or anything.'
    'I'll be fine,' Toni assured her. 'I've got it all worked out. Don't tell Josh or Oliver, though.'
    'Why not?'
    'They might try and talk me out of it. Josh might be worried that I'll need too much time off work.'
    'Or he might try convincing you how intelligent you look wearing glasses and you shouldn't give them up.'
    Toni groaned. 'I look like a secretary. Or a librarian. Efficient and boring.'
    'Never.' Sophie smiled warmly at her colleague. 'And what's more, you're a lot braver than me. You even ate the sushi.'
    Toni eyed the remains of the food. 'That sauce was a bit fiery. Maybe Janet will like it. I'd better get back to the office and let her have some lunch.'
    'Let's hope the afternoon doesn't produce any more dissatisfied customers.' Sophie carried her coffee-mug to the sink. 'You really got an earful this morning.'
    'Water off a duck's back,' Toni said cheerfully. 'I think Oliver