Antoinette lived on the same street where Whiskers Market was located, so she wasted no time and it was also easy to offer Amber a cup of hot tea, the hot cup and its steam comforting her after a difficult start as a saleswoman.
She was surprised and a little suspicious of how friendly her hostess seemed despite how little time they had known each other and how interested she was in her personal history. Amber was never much for opening up and telling anything, she considered herself better off as a listener to other people's problems rather than an avid teller, but there was something about Antoinette that was different.
Seeing her guest's shyness, Antoinette began to tell her about herself so she could inspire more confidence in Amber. Antoinette was the oldest of 6 siblings, working class, her father was a butcher and her mother a farmer so the parenting of her siblings had fallen on her until she was able to delegate that task to the second oldest, she had managed to afford a cheap rental near Brindleton market so she could help her family financially, it had been 9 months since she had seen them. In this way Amber noticed her sincerity and managed to loosen up to talk about her family, her mother's recent departure, her siblings, obviously trying to avoid mentioning the dramas that have characterized the Cushings so much.