Chapter Nine
T he world outside had fallen quiet in that way it only did when the snow was coming down. It always amazed Piper that such a silence could fall in a city.
Her boots crunched lightly in the snow that was building up thick and fast on the sidewalks. They’d clear it soon, but, for now, they walked on a soft white carpet that looked like few others had stepped upon it. It was funny how quickly all of the shops and cafés had cleared out as the snow picked up.
Beside Piper, August shivered slightly, pulling her scarf tighter and lifting her collar to protect against the chill.
Piper smiled. “Do you want to go back inside?”
“No, no,” she said, seeming sincere. “It’s just been a minute since I went out in the snow… recreationally?”
Piper laughed. “That’s fair.”
“Ford tries to get me out in it, but I’m usually busy.”
“You know you need to take breaks, right? And going out in the snow is a great way to reset.”
August shot her a look. “It’s a great way to get me craving another hot chocolate that I absolutely shouldn’t be having.”
“Says who? Have all the snow days and hot chocolate you want.”
“You’re trouble.”
Piper shrugged. “Eh. Just a little bit. But doesn’t that make things more interesting?”
“I’m sure it does,” she replied, shaking her head and looking down at the ground where her boot pressed into the snow and left a crisp outline.
Piper grinned, lifting her face towards the snow. Cold, fast flakes landing and melting on her skin sent a shiver down her spine, but it was good.
They crossed the road and headed down a side street. It was lined with cute little boutiques and string lights overhead that seemed even more magical in the snow.
“So, I, uh, took your advice,” August said, a little awkwardly.
Piper grinned. “About…?”
She cleared her throat. “Making the first move.”
“Oh. Nice. Congratulations. How’d it go?”
August grimaced. “Medium?”
“Okay,” Piper said slowly. “Medium isn’t bad.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“But it’s not good either.”
August nodded, her face a little scrunched up. “It is not.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I’m… terrible at it?”
Piper stopped and turned to look at August. “Is that a question?”
She winced. “No. More of a statement I’m embarrassed about.”
“There’s no way you’re terrible at it.”
August looked at her with wide eyes. “That’s a whole lot of unfounded confidence.”
Piper laughed. “I disagree.”
“I’m sure you do.”
“Okay, so, tell me, then, how are you bad at it?” She looped an arm through August’s and they started walking again.
“Well, you know, it’s hard to… figure out what to say as an opener. A basic greeting with no question and nothing original just starts you off on a bad note. Anything too out there scares people off, but, potentially, so does something boring.”
Piper squeezed her arm. “I think you might be overthinking it.”
“I would never.”
“Well, you’d be the first. I feel like everyone new overthinks it at some point.”
August studied her as they walked. “It’s hard to imagine you overthinking it. You just strode right in and had the conversation flowing without a problem.”
Piper laughed. “With you, sure. But it’s not always like that. Right before I met you, I had that date with the woman who barely said two words. And I’ve been ghosted plenty of times.”
“Yeah. Yikes.”
“It’s just how these things go.”
“But ghosted from the first message?”
It dawned on Piper what had happened and she remembered how rough those first few disappointments had felt. They weren’t something you grew to enjoy, but they were something you sort of got used to when you’d been on the dating scene long enough.
She bumped lightly into August. “Yes. I have been ghosted from an opening line.”
“Oh.” She shook her head. “It just feels… harsh. Like, I’d have understood if you ghosted the kiwi guy, but I didn’t say anything like that. I tried to say something based on their interests, and they’d just indicated they were interested, so to just… disappear?”
Piper gave her a sympathetic look. “I know it sucks, sorry.”
“It’s fine. I know these things happen. Like, maybe you aren’t feeling the chemistry from the first message, maybe you’ve already found someone else, maybe you were online during a low moment of needing to get out there and then you ate, slept, and felt a lot better… It’s a million things.”
“But that doesn’t mean it’s not hard.”
She breathed a laugh. “Yeah, a bit.”
“I’m sorry it’s rough. I wish I could tell you it gets better.”
“It’s okay. Měilíng has been asking questions and, because she hit the jackpot the first time, I feel like I’m… bad at this. And then that’s just mortifying to admit.”
“I promise you’re not bad at it. And you’re definitely a catch. You’ll find your person and it will all come easily. Then, all of this will feel like a distant, unnecessary memory.”
August frowned slightly, looking at Piper and turning them down another side street she couldn’t possibly know would lead them close to Piper’s apartment. “Do you think so?”
“Definitely.”
She raised her eyebrows. “But, you’ve been doing this for a minute and if it’s not working for you , what hope do the rest of us have?”
Piper laughed, flattered by the implication. “I’m notoriously picky. Don’t worry about your chances by looking at my… checkered past.”
August laughed. “I doubt it’s that checkered. And I don’t think being picky is bad.”
Piper shrugged and stifled a smile as August took another turn, getting them closer again to Piper’s home. “The way I see it, Měilíng got lucky finding a good one on the first try. Most of us have to spin the wheel a few times to find that match, but it’s out there, you know? It’s worth the effort because when you find it, and you know you’ve both been looking for each other, you get that amazing moment of… knowing you were both already putting the work in. Then you put the effort in together.”
“You’re much more of a romantic than you let on, you know?”
Piper laughed. “I don’t know if I’m really hiding it.”
“Maybe not completely, but you definitely play the whole online dating thing cool, and then you’re out here with that beautiful philosophy on life?”
Piper pulled her arm back and waved August off. “It’s not a philosophy and I doubt it’s all that beautiful.”
Deep down, however, she did think it was beautiful. Or, she hoped it was—and would be. She wanted that love the songs were written about. She wanted to experience that moment of meeting someone and knowing something life-changing was happening.
August shook her head. “It’s definitely both.”
“Do you know where you’re going, by the way?” she asked, gesturing around them and changing the subject.
August shot her a look like she knew what Piper was doing, but she did look around like she was trying to figure out where she’d led them. “Uh… no.”
Piper laughed. “Well, as beautiful as the snow is, it’s getting cold and I’m hungry. You?”
August continued looking around. “Yeah, I could definitely eat.”
“Great. Then, I know where we’re going.”
“What? Where?”
“My place.”
“Your place?”
“Mm. Yes. You were basically leading us there, anyway.”
“I was?”
Piper laughed. “You were. See, the world is amazing and things… work out.”
“You’re getting that from me accidentally leading us to your place?”
“Absolutely.”
“I think it’s just a coincidence,” she said, reaching out to grab Piper’s hand and stop her.
Given that they were both wearing thick gloves, it wouldn’t have taken much to break free of the grasp, but Piper stopped and turned. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah. Just, you know, I can go back to my car, or we can eat out. You don’t have to—”
“Oh. It’s totally fine.” She grinned. “I mean, unless you’re worried I actually am a vampire and I’m leading you back to a grisly death?”
August scoffed. “No. I just don’t want to put you out.”
“You’re not. I’m offering.”
“Fine, but if I find out you sleep in a freezer, I’m leaving immediately.”
“Oh, don’t worry, being out here is giving me my chill for the day.”
August eyed her. “Maybe I’m not surprised you like the snow.”
Piper laughed. “Well, assuming I’ve hidden my vampire paraphernalia well enough that you decide to stay, we can take a look at your opening lines if you like?”
“On Hummingbird?”
“Yeah.” She grinned. “Don’t worry, I’ll show mine too, so you don’t have to feel weird.”
“Oh, I don’t think there’s a way to do this without feeling weird.”
“Yeah, fair point.” She shook her head and kicked up a bit of snow in front of them, watching the way it glittered in the light. “I’ll show you mine so we can both feel weird together.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Hey, we made a deal.”
“Yeah, to be the person we could contact after a bad date.”
“Well, we’re friends now. Helping each other get good dates is all a part of that.”
“I’m still not clear on why you aren’t already getting them.”
“And you think I’m the flatterer?” Piper asked with a smirk.
August rolled her eyes. “Just calling it how I see it.”
Piper grinned and nodded towards her building. “We’re up here.”
“Massima’s not going to mind me just bursting in?”
“She’s not home. But she will be devastated that she missed you being here.”
“Your friends sure know how to make someone feel like a celebrity.”
Piper laughed. She supposed she could see that. They were clamoring to meet August, after all. And Massima would have loved to be the first to do so.
She led August up through the building and to her apartment, throwing the door open with a flourish. If her friends were going to make August feel like a celebrity, she was going to have to keep up.
“Nice place,” August said, banging the remaining snow off her boots before she stepped inside.
Piper waved the compliment off, but she was glad August liked it. August could say what she wanted about Piper being cool and collected, but she still felt like August was the cooler one between them—and spending more time with her wasn’t doing anything to challenge that perception.
August wandered through the apartment to the kitchen, stopping by the fridge and turning to Piper with her eyebrows raised.
Piper smirked and gestured for her to go ahead.
She laughed and pulled the freezer door open, not taking her eyes off Piper. Once it was open, she glanced away and quickly back. “Food, huh?”
“Disappointed?” Piper asked, holding back a laugh.
“Not yet. I haven’t checked your bedroom yet. This could all be part of your ruse.”
“I should tell you, it usually takes a few more dates before I invite women into my bedroom.”
August blanched, then blushed rapidly, and groaned. “I didn’t mean—”
“I know.” Piper laughed. “I just couldn’t resist.”
“Oh, my god.”
“But…” She walked towards her bedroom door and held her arm out. “While we’re on the topic, have at it.”
August shook her head, but she walked past Piper into the room, looking around at the decor before her gaze settled on the bed. “Doesn’t look much like a freezer.”
“No? Shame.”
“Is it?” she asked with a laugh.
Piper fell backwards onto the bed, her legs hanging off the end. “Not at all. This is much more comfortable than I imagine a freezer is.” She patted the spot next to her and turned her head to smile as August landed beside her. “Okay. Should we look at these messages?”
August groaned slightly as she pulled her phone out. “Don’t laugh, okay?”
“I won’t,” Piper promised earnestly.
August nodded, unlocked the phone with her fingerprint, and handed it to Piper without even navigating to the app. Piper was impressed with the level of trust.
She didn’t have to search for it, though. August had a notification. Piper clicked on it and smiled at August. “I think you might be doing better than you give yourself credit for.”
“What?”
Piper handed her the phone and watched as August read the message that had come in while they’d been out, walking in the snow together. A message that asked if she wanted to meet up next week.
“Sometimes, one message will get you a whole date,” Piper said.
“Apparently.” She huffed slightly. “No reply for days, and then this happens? I swear it’s just the universe trying to make fun of me.”
“It is not. It’s just a weird coincidence—and it’s someone, correctly, wanting to go on a date with you.”
“So… you think I should say yes?”
Piper sat up and looked at August. “You don’t want to?”
“Ugh. I don’t know.” She stood up and held out a hand to Piper. “What I want right now is a hot drink and some food. I’ll decide after that.”
Piper took her hand and pulled her back into the kitchen. “Reasonable. Never make decisions on an empty stomach.”
“I think that’s when you’re shopping.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s not advice for life.” Piper started pulling out mugs and paused to look at August. “We can talk opening lines after we eat.”
“Oh, you mean when I’ll have about ten other messages?”
Piper laughed. “Maybe. Nothing wrong with sending that energy out into the world so everyone can get back to you right now.”
August shook her head. “Fantastic.”