“Ah, the Canadians return!” the bartender from a few days ago called out as they walked in. Charlie nodded at them and followed Olive to a table near the back. She sat facing the door, leading Charlie to sit with her back to the door and facing her.
“Is this seat okay? I know you may be worried about someone recognizing you here,” Olive said.
She was so thoughtful that Charlie couldn’t help but smile. “Yes, this is perfect.”
Olive smiled back, and there they were, grinning at each other like idiots. Charlie mentally shook herself out of it after a few seconds.
“What would you like to drink? It’s on me,” Charlie said.
“Are you having anything?” Olive asked.
“Just a soda. I have a game tomorrow, so I don’t want to overdo it.”
“I figured. I may have done some googling earlier today…” Olive said, and then blushed as if she hadn’t meant to reveal that. “Get one for me too then. Italian sodas are delicious.”
Charlie nodded and made her way over to the bar, where she got them the drinks. When she came back to the table, Olive peeled her gaze away from the TV she was watching.
“Here you are, m’lady,” Charlie said as she placed one of the glasses in front of her.
“Thank you,” Olive said, taking a sip. “I love this flavour.”
Charlie nodded as she drank it herself. Though the vibe in here was intimate thanks to the small tables and the crowd thatpaid them no attention, Charlie had no clue what to say. Theoretically, all of the small talk should’ve happenedbeforesleeping together, not after.
“How was your day?” Charlie finally asked. She was curious about what Olive did.
“It was nice. I toured the Duomo di Milano and called my sister,” Olive said. Her eyes lit up at the mention of her sister, and Charlie thought it was extremely adorable.
“Oh, that’s nice. Do you miss her?”
“I’ve only been here for a few days, somissis a bit of a strong word, but we are very close. But she’s annoyingly been teasing me about my age.”
“How old are you?” Charlie hoped it didn’t come across as accusatory, but she was curious. She had assumed Olive was around her age, and she was proven correct when Olive answered.
“Twenty-nine.”
“Only two years older than me,” Charlie said.
Olive looked surprised for a moment, then nodded. “I guess that makes sense. Professional athletes are usually younger, I guess.”
“Yep, we have to stay in top physical shape.”
“I’m sure you do,” Olive said, smirking as she did a once-over over Charlie’s body.
Charlie supposed she should’ve been immune from such obvious flirting by now, but she was not. Any attention from Olive seemed new and interesting, and she couldn’t stop the blush that she felt heating the back of her neck. Charlie took a sip of her drink to cool off. Those were not productive thoughts to be having right now.
“What’s wrong with being twenty-nine?” Charlie finally asked.
“Nothing, except that my sister keeps saying I’mthirty,” Olive said, as if it was a bad thing to be thirty.
“There’s nothing wrong with that either. I’ve heard yourthirties are supposed to be the best time. Allegedly everything gets better then, in terms of figuring out who you are. That’s what the internet says, apparently.”
“That’s the part that I’m struggling with. I’m almost thirty and no way do I have my shit together, not even close.”
Charlie placed her head in her left hand to look at Olive curiously. From what Charlie could tell, Olive was probably the most put-together person she knew. Charlie was used to people who hit pucks for a living, so her knowledge of normal societal expectations was pretty slim.
“You seem quite the opposite,” Charlie finally said.
“Everything you see online is not as it seems.”
