Chapter Eighteen #2
The silence creeped into Lissa as she shoved the last of the scone into her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said through a half-full mouth of buttery goodness. “I’m interrupting your break. I probably shouldn’t be back here.”
“Nonsense,” the girl replied, keeping her eyes closed. “You enjoy it out here, yes?”
“Yeah, it’s gorgeous,” Lissa agreed.
“Then you should be here. What is life but the pursuit of joy?”
Lissa scoffed. “Oh, hun. Wait a few years. The older you get, the less life becomes about joy, and the more it becomes about responsibility.”
Opening her eyes, the girl wrinkled her nose. “Well that doesn’t sound very fun.”
Lissa took a sip of her coffee, then shrugged.
“Downside of aging, I guess. I used to be all about the fun before I hit thirty. After that, it was like someone flipped a light switch and revealed a room full of adult crap I suddenly had to deal with. And nobody prepares us for what’s waiting in that room.
They just shove a person in and lock the door. ”
“Goodness,” the girl said, nibbling on the edge of one of the scones. “Seems to me you need to find a key.”
Lissa attempted a smile, but she knew it came off as false. The naive optimism of youth didn’t do anything for her anymore. “If you know where to find one, by all means, let me know.”
Clicking her tongue, the girl pushed back from the table. “Oh, I can’t tell you where to find it. That’s on you. But I will say, it’s probably closer than you think.”
Lissa couldn’t help the brief flash of Ria’s face that popped into her head. “Yeah, maybe,” she murmured.
“I should get back inside,” the girl said. “Stay as long as you like. Mixie designed the patio for people to find peace. Seems like you could use a little of that.” She gave Lissa a wink and disappeared into the cafe.
“Hey,” Daria called seconds later, bursting onto the patio from the hidden pathway. “Sorry, I’m late. It’s a long story. I stopped to get gas, and there was this guy—”
“Let me guess,” Lissa interrupted, holding up a hand. “He was too cute not to flirt with, and you simply had to get his number and make tentative plans to hang out in the near future?”
Daria plopped down into the chair beside Lissa. “Okay, not a very long story, I guess. Wow, am I that predictable?”
“Nah,” Lissa said. “But you have a big grin on your face, and your hair’s a little mussed like you’ve been running your fingers through it, which you only do when the guy is really cute.
I also know if you like a guy, you’ll do the passive-aggressive ‘we should hang out sometime’ thing but not make any actual plans because that would seem too forward, and you don’t want to scare him off. ”
Daria gaped at Lissa open-mouthed. “Well, shit. I don’t know if I should be impressed you know me so well or disappointed I’m so transparent.”
Lissa nudged the second latte toward Daria. “Let’s go with impressed. Besides, I know you’re just chasing your happiness. I admire that about you lately.”
Daria quirked an eyebrow. “Chasing my happiness, huh? Did they start selling fortune cookies here?”
“Not quite,” Lissa said, chuckling. “I did have an interesting chat with the barista while I was waiting for you though.”
“I see,” Daria replied, eyeing Lissa suspiciously as she took a bite of the scone. “Oh, fuck me,” Daria moaned, slapping her hand on the table.
“I would,” Lissa snarked, “but I think I’m missing one of your favorite anatomical parts.”
“Very true,” Daria agreed, swallowing her bite of scone. “But if that ever changes…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Lissa cut in. “You say it all the time. I’m the first call you’ll make. Ballsy you think I’m waiting around for you.”
Daria laughed and took another swig of her latte. “Speaking of, have you come to a decision on Ria? Are you going to chase your happiness or whatever?”
Lissa dropped her head onto the table with a loud and slightly painful thump.
“I don’t know,” she whined. “I want to confess everything to Ria and beg for forgiveness, but Marge showed up at the shop today and reminded me it’s more than just my career on the line.
It’s yours and Penny’s and even Lexi’s. Not to mention the other part-time artists.
Can I really put myself before all of you and hand over the keys to Marge? ”
Daria pushed back and propped her feet up on the chair beside her. “I thought you already planned to tell Ria the truth?”
Banging her forehead against the table a few times, Lissa let out a huge sigh. “I did. I am. But maybe I give one more shot to getting the marketing plan out of her. Just in case it’s something that might give us a fighting chance.”
Daria shrugged and grabbed another scone. “Your funeral. You should know she is firmly convinced she accidentally cast a spell on you to make you fall in love with her.”
“Wait, what?” Lissa asked, whipping her head up so fast she hurt her neck a little. “I thought she was worried about the whole destiny spell, client thing?”
“Nope,” Daria replied, popping the p in nope. “She thinks you’re under a different kind of love spell, and you might not even like her. She’s been trying to break it, apparently.”
“Well that explains the skinny-dipping,” Lissa muttered, resting her head on the table again.
“Say what now?” Daria demanded, dropping her feet to lean forward on her elbows. “Are you holding out on me? Because you said nothing happened last night, and I thought we told each other everything?”
Lissa rolled her head to look at Daria, not even caring that she was likely imprinting the iron table’s scrollwork pattern into her cheek.
“Trust me, it was nothing juicy. Well, there was a little juiciness, but you’ve seen how hot she is.
All we shared was a very brief, very cold, kiss.
I thought it was weird she dragged me into the ocean and smeared mud on my back first. Kind of makes sense now. ”
Lissa couldn’t believe Ria was so sold on the whole magic thing that she risked hypothermia just to remove a supposed spell. Actually, it was kind of sweet when she thought about it. After the fact—now that feeling had returned to her limbs.
“Well, shit,” Lissa muttered. “How do I even convince her I’m not under a spell?”
Daria drummed her fingers, and Lissa watched the French tips hit the table inches from her face. “You could always walk away from her,” Daria suggested. “That seems like pretty solid evidence you’re not smitten beyond reason.”
“I don’t know if I can do that,” Lissa admitted, still staring at Daria’s perfect nails.
Her own were a tragedy in comparison, and she really needed a spa day when this was all over.
Most glassblowers kept their nails short for safety reasons, but that didn’t mean they had to look like she filed them on asphalt.
The drumming of Daria’s fingers halted. “Then maybe you are under her spell,” she said, booping Lissa’s nose.
Lissa smacked Daria’s hand away. “Ha. Ha. Very funny.”
Daria blew her a kiss. “I know. Can’t stop. Won’t stop.”
Dragging herself up, Lissa checked her watch. She should really be getting back to the studio. “So, any other bright ideas? Or are you just here for comic relief?”
“Mostly for the jokes,” Daria admitted, “but this time I might actually have an idea that works for both of your predicaments.”
That perked Lissa up. “Gimme!” she begged, grabbing for Daria like the answer might be trapped in her bestie’s beautifully manicured hands. “I’ll take anything.”
Daria grinned. “So…how do you feel about fish?”