“Hey, congrats! I’m glad they reached out to you.”
She cocked her head, puzzled (and cute). “How’d you know they reached out to me?”
I smirked. “It was only a matter of time before they did.”
She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. “Did you…?”
I dropped the smirk and raised my eyebrows. “Hmm?”
After a quick scan of my face, she shook her head, then said, “Nevermind. How’ve things been for you?”
Heh, fooled her. “They’re actually pretty good. I opened a food truck.”
“Yeah, I visited the Stumpstash office today for lunch and Cassie got a chocolate jiandui and some lychee ice cream for me. Your balls are so delicious!” So Cassie hadn’t been looking to get diabetes after all.
“Thanks. I’m glad you licked it. Liked it.”
She laughed and winked at me. “I did lick it.”
Whoa. She was flirting with me. Blatantly.
So that was what was different. The way she carried herself, her playfulness...she was more confident. She wasn’t even touching me, but the realization brought me to half-mast. I willed it to go away, not wanting to lower myself in the eyes of this new, intimidating, Anna.
Overwhelmed with the need to touch her, I poked her shoulder. “I see that you’ve been climbing a lot.”
She nodded, then poked my abs and said, “I see that you’ve been eating a lot.”
I put a hand to my stomach. “Hey, I still have day-old challah in there. It’s just a little fluffier now.” She laughed, and I warmed at the familiar, vibrant sound. The beautiful twinkle in her eyes.
“Have you been here long? Is Cassie here?” I asked. We both turned to look down and around the corridor.
“You know, she said she was coming but I haven’t seen her yet.” She met my eyes. “We might’ve just been Cassied.”
I chuckled and shook my head. Classic Cassie. “That’s a good way to put it.”
“Do you want to walk around and look at more of the art? Or maybe get a drink?” she asked.
“A drink sounds good. It’s been a long day, and it’d be good to be served by someone else for a change.” We walked towards the bar across from the far stage.
“How do you like the food truck business?” she asked.
“I actually like it a lot more than I thought I would. I get creative license over what I make. I meet and serve customers of different ages and backgrounds and get to see their joy and satisfaction with my product as they eat it.” I chuckled. “It’s very different from software engineering.”
She regarded me curiously. “Are you glad you made the switch?”
“Yeah, I am. It’s hard work, but I really like being able to share something that I’m proud of with other people.” I glanced sideways at her. “Maybe it’s a little bit like what you’ve been trying to do with music writing. Wanting to share your joy with others, doing it in a way that’s creative and fun.”
She smiled to herself and nodded. “Yeah, I think so, too.”
We arrived at the bar and I ordered a whiskey-ginger. Anna asked for the same.
“So what about you? How are things in New York?”
“They’re great, actually. Stumpstash is still fun. I’ve got my own place. And Lina’s now my climbing partner.”
“Yeah, I heard that you guys went to the Adirondacks together with Cassie. How was that?”
“It was...thrilling. Terrifying. Inspiring. I’m so glad that Cassie invited me and Lina. We’re going to go on a climbing trip together every year from now on.”
“That’s great! You’ve really gotten into it.”
She smiled at me and tapped me on the chest. “Thanks to you!”
I shrugged, grinning. “You can lead a girl to a wall, but you can’t make her lead a climb.”
She chuckled and playfully slapped my arm. “You totally made me top rope that first time, though.”
I guess I had. “Well—”
“$20.” The bartender placed our drinks in front of us.
“I’ve got it,” said Anna, reaching for her wallet.
“Nope, I’ve got it. You’re a guest.” I pulled out my credit card and handed it to the bartender.
She smiled, uncharacteristically chill about letting me pay. She picked up the glass and raised it towards me before taking a sip. “Thanks, babe.”
Babe? It was a simple, friendly endearment, but my penis twitched again at her confident delivery. I carefully leaned into the bar and slowly signed the credit card slip.
We picked up our drinks and walked back towards the art corridor to keep talking. “So then it sounds like things are really looking up for you. I’m really excited that you’re writing for Moonslick Mirror, too.”
“You know, it was definitely surprising to me that they just kinda reached out.” She narrowed her eyes at me. “I get the feeling that someone might’ve told them about me.”
I looked up at the rafters, whistling tunelessly. She slapped my arm and exclaimed, “I knew it!”
I chuckled. “I was just speeding things up.”
She stopped walking, turned, and met my eyes. “I really appreciate it, Ian. I appreciate... everything you’ve done for me.”
I shrugged. “I just emailed them. You’re the one who did all of the hard work and wrote such amazing pieces.”
She shook her head and looked down at her drink. “I mean, more than that...back when we were together. I...you were good to me.”
I lifted her chin until we locked eyes once more, then apologized the way I should have, months ago. “No, I was the biggest jerk to you, a complete asshole. You shared so much with me and I...I used it against you. I’m so sorry.”
She lifted her hand as if to cup my face, but casually dropped it to my shoulder instead. “That’s—I know you were just angry because I was being immature. I said some terrible things, too. You obviously have your own dreams and desires, just like I do. And I’m sure your family must be great, to have produced someone like you.”
“I mean, my family is pretty great. But that doesn’t excuse the things I said to you.
