Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Compliment Shower
Amie wasn’t going to crash a bachelorette party.
But she did want to talk more to Raina, and had failed during every attempt to do so thus far.
She knew she could probably try to corner the woman at the bookshop, but wasn’t sure how much Raina would feel free to say in the store’s usual quiet atmosphere.
Amie’s plan required noise … and hopefully some alcohol in Raina’s system.
Spring Street only had one rooftop bar, which thankfully meant Amie didn’t have to do a bar crawl to track down her suspect. She could hear the sounds of music and conversation from where she stood on the sidewalk, waiting for Ziya.
Amie checked her phone again before nervously smoothing down the front of her sundress.
They were going undercover at a rooftop bar, she had reminded herself as she got dressed earlier that evening.
She needed to dress the part. Yes, it was true that Ziya had on multiple occasions expressed how attractive she found Amie in that particular dress.
But this knowledge hadn’t played a part in Amie’s decision to wear the dress.
In fact, Amie had almost chickened out opted for a different outfit for that exact reason.
But the mission came first, and this was definitely the best outfit for the job.
So really, thinking about it, it was incredibly brave and noble for Amie to wear this dress despite its history with her ex-girlfriend.
Satisfied that she had made an airtight argument to the jury that lived in her brain, Amie forced her shoulders to relax as she looked down the street for Ziya. And there she was.
“Hi,” Ziya said, smiling as she approached.
She was wearing cargo jeans and a V-neck olive-green tank top.
Resting on the lace neckline of the top was a delicate orange citrine necklace that made her eyes look an even warmer shade of brown.
A necklace which, most notably, Amie had gotten her for her birthday.
“Hi,” Amie replied, resisting the urge to cross her arms as Ziya studied her outfit.
“I like your dress.” Was that a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth? Did Ziya think Amie wore the dress for her? I didn’t! Amie pleaded with the jury in her brain, who had begun to look like they didn’t quite believe her. I’m not wearing it for her!
“Thanks,” Amie said cautiously, not wanting her tone to indicate that she was mentally in the midst of a heated court case. Then, boldly, she added, “I like your necklace.”
That was definitely a suppressed smile. “Thanks,” Ziya said, tilting her head slightly as she maintained eye contact with Amie.
What was THAT? Amie yelled at the jury, gesticulating wildly. How am I on trial here? Look at her! She wore that on purpose.
We’re a jury of your peers, not hers, said the foreman. Also, just a heads up, this tension is only going to keep growing if you don’t break the silence.
“Okay!” Amie said loudly, her stomach fluttering from Ziya’s gaze. She squinted skyward as if she could see the rooftop bar from where she stood. “Thank you for coming.”
“Thank you for inviting me,” Ziya said formally, gently mocking Amie’s shift in tone. She too looked up. “Is Raina here yet?”
“Not sure. I assume so.”
They both looked back down, then away from each other.
“And the plan is to just try to get her talking?” Ziya asked the sidewalk.
“Basically,” Amie replied to a nearby bush. “I just feel like she has to know something. I mentioned the Benny thing when I texted, right?”
“Mhm. Weird vibes.”
“Also, the way Raina was pushing Madeline to talk to Andrew,” Amie added. “It makes me wonder—”
“If they were working together,” Ziya finished.
“Exactly.”
“Well …” Ziya gestured for Amie to lead the way. “Let’s find out.”
The sun was low in the sky as they arrived on the rooftop. Tables of various sizes were scattered about the space, surrounded by well-cushioned chairs. The bar sat in the center of the roof, an island where the bartender could take orders from any side.
Ziya nudged Amie, drawing her attention to one corner of the roof where a group of women in party hats were loudly cheersing with champagne flutes. Raina was among them, her party hat askew as she clinked glasses with the other women.
“Table for two?” the host asked, picking up two cocktail menus.
“Can we sit at the bar?” Amie asked quickly. Sitting across from Ziya at an intimate table as the sun set felt dangerously date-ish. After the incredibly charged dress/necklace moment, she was determined to keep this mission on the rails however she could.
“How drunk do they look?” Amie asked after thanking the host and climbing up onto their seats. “They’re doing a champagne toast—I feel like that’s a mid-party thing to do, right? Have a couple drinks, then break out the champagne?”
“Hard to tell.” Ziya looked past Amie to assess the group. “All those feather boas are in the way; I can’t see if there are any other glasses on the table.”
They ordered drinks from the bartender—a Shirley Temple for Ziya and a watermelon mocktail for Amie.
“You’re not drinking?” Amie asked.
Ziya shrugged one shoulder. “Thought it’s probably best to keep a clear head. You’re not drinking?”
“Same reason. Clear head. For the mission.”
“Right. For the mission.”
Laughter exploded from the direction of the bachelorette party, and Amie wrinkled her nose. “Did that sound like drunk laughter to you?”
“You know, there’s an easy way to deal with this.” Ziya smiled brightly at the bartender as he delivered her drink. “Can we also get a round of Fireball shots for the party over there?”
“Sure thing.”
“Very smart,” Amie marveled as he turned away to make Amie’s drink.
Ziya flipped her hair over her shoulder. “I have my moments,” she said modestly before taking a sip of her drink.
They watched the bartender begin pouring whiskey into a dozen shot glasses arranged on a tray.
“Should we be looking while they get delivered?” Amie asked. “Is it more or less suspicious if we’re looking?”
“Well, the whole point of sending the shots was to get Raina drunker than she already is,” Ziya pointed out, picking up her drink. “Do you want her noticing you and coming over now?”
“Good point. We can’t let her see us yet.” Only half-joking (though she’d deny any accusations that she was any percentage below 100 percent joking), Amie added, “We can do that movie thing where we kiss to keep her from seeing our faces.”
Ziya coughed mid-drink, some of her Shirley Temple spilling from her glass and tap dancing on the countertop.
“Sorry, sorry!” Amie scrambled to grab a handful of napkins. “Bad joke, that was a bad joke.”
“No, it was funny,” Ziya croaked, accepting a napkin and dabbing her mouth. “I just”—she coughed again, then cleared her throat—“didn’t expect it.”
Amie mopped up the spilled drink. “Sorry,” she said again. “I literally asked you to not say flirty stuff to me, and now I’m being a hypocrite.”
Ziya laughed, her voice still slightly raspy from the coughing. “I can handle flirty.”
Amie raised an eyebrow pointedly at the spilled drink. “Can you?” she teased.
“Is that a challenge?”
What might have turned into a record-breaking locking of gazes was interrupted by the soft clinking of glass as a waiter picked up the tray of shots and began walking it over to the bachelorette table.
“Let’s move,” Amie said urgently, balling up the damp napkins and grabbing her drink.
“I can’t believe you’ve never been here before,” Ziya said as they settled into their new seats on the other side of the bar. “It’s such a nice spot. I’d come here more often if it wasn’t for my ‘no repeats’ rule.”
“I don’t know how you stick to that rule,” Amie said. “Remember when you found that restaurant you said made even better dosas than your grandma?”
Ziya made a show of glancing around, lowering her voice. “Yeah, and remember how I said we were to never speak of that in case Naani found out what I said?”
Amie grinned guiltily. “Sorry. But you never went back there again! After all the raving about how good the food was!”
“Life’s too short to eat at the same place twice,” Ziya stated. “But back to my original statement: How have you never been here before?”
“If you didn’t take me, I probably didn’t go,” Amie said.
Ziya looked at her in disbelief. “What?”
“Have we met?” Amie held out a hand. “Hi, I’m Amie.”
Ziya gave a playful moue, shaking her hand. “You did tell me to forget everything I know about you. And a lot can change in three months. Maybe you’re a whole different person.”
“Do I seem like a whole different person?” They had released each other from the handshake, Ziya’s fingers coming to rest on Amie’s wrist.
“I don’t know,” Ziya said, lifting her chin. “Not completely different. But you seem a little different.” She studied Amie’s face, brows furrowing. “Do you think you’ve changed?”
Amie knew she’d changed. It was ironic, considering the unchanging nature of the time loop, but she doubted that anyone could live through the same day for two years without coming out the other side a changed person.
“I think I’m a little different,” she agreed. “I just don’t know if it’s a good different. Or different enough.”
“Different enough for what?”
Different enough for you to be happy with me. “I … I don’t know.” Amie took a sip of her drink to give herself time to collect her thoughts before she said anything too incriminating. “You’re a little different too. I mean, here you are, breaking your ‘no repeats’ rule.”
Ziya chuckled. “Yeah, well, this was a special circumstance. An exception.” She withdrew her hand, to Amie’s great disappointment.
“We’ll just have to find a suspect to talk to at that dosa place,” Amie said. She was rewarded with another laugh from Ziya.