Chapter 7
Aria
“Your friend does not look like she is okay, Ari,” Lila remarks, watching Lucy hurry to the back room.
I frown as I watch her scurry away. I don’t like seeing her upset.
I don’t realize I’ve taken a step towards her until I feel my sister’s hand on my arm, keeping me from going after her.
I shoot Lila a look, but she just shakes her head.
“What did you say you get here?” she says, pulling me towards the counter. I know my older sister is trying to distract me, but it’s not working. Despite that, I try not to ignore her completely.
“Uh, the Lavender Haze is really good. It’s like a London Fog with lavender extract.
It’s delicious,” I say absentmindedly, still looking to the door where Lucy disappeared.
Dragging my focus back to the here and now, I add, “You’d probably like pretty much any of their blended coffees.
The Salty Summer is a s’mores with salted caramel flavor, which is really nice.
” I pause and address the woman behind the counter, “Is Lucy okay? She seemed…upset.”
The woman – Cierra, by her name tag – scoffs and pins me with a glare, “Yeah, no idea why she would be upset. She was perfectly fine ‘til you and your date came in.” She tosses her head pointedly in Lila’s direction.
“My…do you mean my sister?” I ask, confused.
I’ve always been friendly with both her and the other guy who tends to work behind the counter with Lucy.
I can’t figure out what would cause this hostility.
“I was hoping to introduce them, but if Lucy is feeling unwell, I can always come by another time…?”
Cierra’s eyes widen and she laughs, tossing her pin-straight black hair behind her shoulders.
“Your sister? Give, ah, give me just a second to get her out here for you.” She turns her focus to Lila and adds, “You go ahead and figure out what you want to try tonight.” With that, she turns and strides urgently into the back room, leaving me and Lila standing alone.
I stand staring after her for a moment.
I turn to Lila, hoping to commiserate in a what the hell fashion, but as soon as I make eye contact with her, she bursts out laughing.
Full-on doubled over, barely breathing, eyes watering kind of laughter.
I stand there frozen, feeling like I am missing something.
After what feels like forever, Lila finally dries her eyes and straightens up looking me up and down and shaking her head.
“Oh boy, I haven’t laughed that hard since Niall stuck a candy cane up his nose in fifth grade,” she chuckles, referencing our baby brother’s antics, still taking deep breaths to calm herself.
“What are you…?” I start, but am cut off by Cierra reappearing with Lucy in tow. I lose my train of thought as Lucy steps around the counter to greet me looking sheepish.
“Hi,” she says a bit shyly.
“Hi,” I breathe back, before shaking my head and stepping back to introduce Lila. “Lucy, this is my older sister Lila. Lila, this is my friend Lucy.”
I turn and see Lila stepping forward with amusement in her eyes, stretching out a hand, “Nice to meet you, Lucy. Ari hasn’t stopped talking about you, so I’m glad to finally meet the woman who inspired such…
enthusiasm in my baby sister,” she finishes with a wicked grin.
I blush and glance away as Lucy takes Lila’s hand and murmurs back her own greeting.
“Lala, would you mind grabbing a Lavender Haze for me along with whatever you want. I can pay you back –” She waves me off with a stern look. “–or not, I guess. I just want to talk to Lucy for a sec.” I step towards Lucy, not waiting for Lila to answer, though I hear it anyway.
“I think I’ll get a Hairpin Drop, what do you think, Cierra?” she says, a tad too loudly and I hear the barista’s answering snort.
“Not likely…” she mutters with humor, ringing up Lila.
I ignore them and move with Lucy to stand near an empty table so we can talk privately. “Are you okay?” I ask softly, still concerned.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just been a long week,” she replies with a smile, eyes darting everywhere except meeting mine, “No date this weekend? I was getting used to you bringing in your eye candy every Friday.” Her joke falls flat and she still won’t meet my eyes.
Fuck, is she…disappointed?
It’s taken me too long to admit it, but I want her. For a real relationship, not just some fun. I was going to ask her out tonight, but now I don’t know.
Did I misread everything? She can’t even look at me.
I could’ve sworn she was flirting with me every time I come in, but maybe she was just being friendly.
Maybe she felt safe flirting with me because I was bringing in other dates and wouldn’t take it the wrong way. Oh fuck, fuck, fuck, abort mission.
“Nope, just me and my sister this time,” I say, internally wincing at the artificially high pitch to my voice. “Thought I might hang out with you a bit. That is, if you’re not too busy?”
“I don’t want to intrude on your time with your sister,” Lucy deflects, still not meeting my eyes, “and I need to get some details finalized for a new artist coming in tomorrow night. But maybe another time?”
“Yeah, totally,” I say much more casually than I feel, my heart sinking. “I could text you, if that’s okay?” She nods and heads back behind the counter without another word.
Lila heads my way with our drinks – hers a pink and orange blended concoction – and we head to the couches by the bookshelves.
Lila lives on the other side of the city with some roommates and is always working, so our visits are few and far between.
It’s nice to catch up. We laugh and exhaust our normal topics, but my gaze keeps straying to Lucy setting up the mini music stage. I just wish I could –
“You hearing me, Ari?” Lila’s voice cuts through my haze and I can feel the blush on my cheeks as I refocus on her. I open my mouth to respond, but she cuts me off. “I can see how you look at her, you know. What’s going on there?”
“Nothing,” I mutter, but she keeps her eyes focused on me. “It’s the truth! It’s just…an unfortunate truth. I don’t know, maybe it’s ridiculous. With how we met –”
“Wait, how did you meet?” she exclaims, her gaze sharpening. “You’re keeping something from me. You’ve been hiding something since you and Jacob broke up. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy you dropped the asshole, but it’s time to fill me in. So, spill.”
And I do. I tell her everything about discovering Jacob’s infidelity, contacting Lucy, us confronting him…even the kiss. She listens without interruption while I go on about everything that I’ve been feeling, the dates I’ve brought in here, and planning to ask her out tonight.
“I have been psyching myself up for a week, Lala! And she has just been all distant and weird tonight and now I have no idea whether it would be okay or not!” I finish my quiet rant, mindful of our environment.
“So, you have been bringing your dates here?” Lila asks, her brow furrowing. At my nod, she continues, “And then, you brought me here at the same time, on the same day, that you brought those other dates?”
“Ah,” the blush on my face made a reappearance.
“I guess it would be poor timing to try and ask her out, yeah? I guess that’s why she seemed out of sorts; she was expecting me to come in with a date and she was thrown off balance.
” I continue muttering and nodding to myself.
“I will just have to start hanging out more often, create more opportunities.”
“Yeah, sure, that’s why she was off balance,” Lila chuckled to herself. I look up at my sister again and see the amusement on her face, so I make the mature choice and stick my tongue out at her.
“Enough about me,” I say abruptly, straightening up and pinning her with a sly look. “How’s Claire and the rest of the girls?”
As she launches into stories about her roommates’ hijinks, I take another sip of my drink and let myself bask in the contentment of having my sister here for a while.