“Oh no.” Amie dipped into her wallet, slapping a few bills onto the counter. “You can keep the change.”
By the time she’d caught up with David, he’d already inserted himself into the interaction.
“No, you don’t deserve a discount on your order just because you couldn’t take no for an answer,” David was saying to Savannah. “As a small business owner yourself, I’m appalled you’d try to take advantage of another small business like that.”
“I don’t remember asking for your opinion,” Savannah spat back.
“Please, folks,” Madeline said. “I’d rather us handle this amicably—”
“I was being more than amicable beforehejumped in!” Savannah exclaimed.
David scoffed. “You were yelling the moment you came in here—”
“Hey,” Amie said, gently patting his arm. “Let’s let them figure it out, okay?”
Taking her cue from Amie, Raina said, “Savannah, we need to get back.”
David begrudgingly allowed himself to be pulled away. “A little kindness goes a long way!” he called over his shoulder. Savannah flipped him off in response.
“Stay here,” Amie said once they’d exited the café. “I need to get my order.”
“But—”
“Stay.”
Amie gave Savannah a wide berth as she returned to the pickup counter. Raina gave her an apologetic smile as the bookstore owner continued to berate Madeline for the poor service.
Savannah paused as she saw the bag in Amie’s hand. “What’s that?”
Amie froze as if she’d been caught stealing. “Uh … brownies? I bought them.”
“Hm.” Savannah rolled her eyes at Madeline. “Fine. I’ll take a dozen brownies with that discount you offered.”
“Great,” Madeline said, sounding relieved. “I’ll get those for you right away.”
Amie was attempting for a second time to make a subtle exit, but Savannah faced her as the caféowner hurried away.
“Tell David he’s lucky you were here to talk sense into him,” the woman said. “He thought that was me yelling? He wouldn’t want to see me actually angry.”
“I’ll tell him.” Amie grabbed the iced tea and hurried out the door.
“Did she say anything to you?” David asked, too distracted by Savannah to notice Amie putting the drink in his hand.
“Nope,” Amie lied. “Let’s go.”
Ziya was brimming with energy when she arrived at Amie’s apartment for dinner that night. She said she was excited for thebrownies, but Amie knew that couldn’t be the whole reason. The brownies were good, sure, but Ziya was practically bouncing off the walls.
“Are you done?” Ziya asked, whisking away Amie’s empty plate before she could respond. She sped to the kitchen and placed their dishes in the sink before bounding back to the table.
“I’ll get the brownies,” Amie said, starting to push her chair back.
“Wait.” Ziya stood across the table from her, bouncing on the balls of her feet. “In a bit. First, I have something to tell you.”
Amie felt nervous, though she wasn’t entirely sure why. Things had been feeling a little off between her and Ziya lately, but it wasn’t anything either of them had been able to put into words, so it had gone unaddressed. She thought maybe Ziya was about to address it, but her girlfriend was clearly suppressing a huge smile, which didn’t seem like the correct energy to precede, “Hey, why do you think we keep sniping at each other for no clear reason?”
“Okay.” Ziya took a deep breath. “I …” She drummed on the table with her hands. “… got tickets to Iceland!”
Amie blinked. “You … okay. Cool!” Ziya didn’t usually make such a production out of announcing her trips, but Amie supposed after dating for nine months that maybe she felt these things needed more of a formal announcement.
