My sister was not ready to go home.

My sister looked at the shops across the street and said we could have a quick look. Yasmin's quick looks have chapters. I had already reached the part of the afternoon where I was thinking affectionately about my own sofa.

We had met two friends for lunch and walked to a cafe afterwards. Nobody had made a formal itinerary. This was usually a strength. Today it meant I did not know whether leaving now would count as abandoning the expedition.

Yasmin had taken the train into my part of the city. I had met her at the station. Somewhere between those two facts, I had appointed myself responsible for her entire journey until she was safely deposited back where I found her.

I asked what she needed.

"Are you expecting me to come back to the station with you?" I asked. She looked surprised. "Do you want to?" I said I had been assuming I should. She said she had been assuming I would tell her if I wanted to go.

This accounted for several minutes of increasingly passive conversation about a shop neither of us had yet entered. I had been waiting for permission. She had been waiting for an opinion.

We checked what was actually shared. I was carrying her book in my bag, so I gave it back. She had enough battery to check her route. She knew the station, and one of our friends was heading in that direction later. She did not need me to stay. She also knew she could ask if that changed.

If we had come in one car, or if she wanted support for an unfamiliar journey, we would have needed a different arrangement. Neither was true. I had created an escort duty without first discovering whether there was a passenger.

I said I was leaving, then left.

I told the others I had enjoyed lunch and was heading home. Yasmin asked me to send the name of the soup we had liked. One friend asked whether I wanted to join them next weekend. These were reassuringly ordinary responses.

I did not say I was exhausted, unwell or needed somewhere urgently. I was simply finished with the outing. It felt odd to say that while three other people were visibly continuing to enjoy it.

At the corner I nearly turned back to make sure they understood. Then I saw them discussing a window display with the seriousness they normally reserved for ordering dessert. They had understood well enough to resume their afternoon.

I got home, made tea and did nothing noteworthy. Yasmin sent a photograph of a bright orange coat she had tried on. I said it looked useful for locating her in a crowd. She said that was not the review she had requested.

Later she messaged that she was on her train. I was pleased to hear from her without feeling that I had spent the intervening hours on duty.

Before our next outing, we said which parts we wanted to share and roughly when each of us might leave. It took less than a minute. I still offered help with the journey, because she is my sister and I like her. I waited for the answer this time.