Maybe that was even good.
His phone buzzed. The team group chat.
Marcus:TOMORROW. TEAM DINNER. MAC'S TAVERN. 7PM. WHO'S IN?
Owen:I'M IN!!! :D :D :D
Dmitri:??
Ryan:I'll be there
More responses rolled in. Jake added his name to the list.
Then, before he could overthink it, he opened a new text to Marcus.
Is Lucy actually coming tomorrow?
Marcus's response was immediate:According to Rei, yes. Why? You interested?
Jake didn't answer. But he didn't need to. Marcus would figure it out.
Everyone seemed to be figuring it out before Jake did.
He drove home the long way, past Main Street, past the shops closing up for the evening, past The Bread Basket—already dark, Lucy probably upstairs in her apartment, doing paperwork or baking tomorrow's bread or whatever it was she did when she wasn't disappearing into her work.
Two people, Jake thought. Both stuck. Both scared. Both starting to figure out that maybe being stuck was a choice they could stop making.
Friday couldn't come fast enough.
Friday morning started the same as every morning—4:45 AM alarm, automatic movements through her routine, downstairs to start the first batch of pork buns.
But today felt different. Today had weight to it. Tonight was team dinner. Tonight she'd see Jake outside the bakery, in a social setting, with other people around.
Tonight she'd have to be a person instead of just the bakery owner.
The thought was terrifying.
"You're doing that thing again," Mae said when she arrived at 7 AM.
"What thing?"
"The thing where you stress-knead the dough. You're going to overwork it."
Lucy looked down at her hands, which were indeed working the dough harder than necessary. She forced herself to slow down.
"I'm fine."
"You're not fine. You're nervous about tonight."
"I'm not nervous. I'm just... preparing mentally."
"For what? It's dinner with friends. Super casual."
"I don't do casual well. I'm better at structured. Routines. Knowing what comes next."
Mae grabbed Lucy's shoulders and looked her directly in the eye. "Listen to me. You're going to go tonight. You're going to wear the blue sweater that Rei texted me about. You're going to eat food you didn't have to cook. You're going to talk to people. And if Jake Morrison happens to sit next to you and you guys have an actual conversation that lasts longer than three minutes, that's good. That's growth. That's you being a human person."
"When did you become so wise?"
