“Long day?”
Lily spun her chair around to see Mei in the doorway. “Long semester.”
“Yeah, the first one’s always rough.” Mei hopped onto the front row of desks. She didn’t look tired in the slightest, which Lily thought was hardly fair. “On the bright side, we have two weeks off.”
“Only after this stupid staff Christmas party.”
“Eh, it’s not too bad as long as you keep drinking.”
“Is it long?”
“Few hours.”
Lily groaned. “All I want to do is go home and sleep.”
“There’s time for that later.”
“What if when I go home to change, I don’t come back?”
“Unfortunately, attendance is considered to be mandatory.”
“David’s not going to fire me if I don’t turn up, is he?” Not that she should be giving David a reason. Lily was already in his bad books, after all.
“No, but you would get a stern talking to, I believe. Come on, it’s not so bad. The first three drinks are free.” Mei had far too much enthusiasm. “It’ll be over before you know it.”
Lily grumbled, but she knew she had no choice. Their usual Friday drinks had been canceled because of it, so she went straight home to get herself ready for the night ahead.
She complained about it to Elsa, touching up her make-up in between exchanging messages.
Must be a popular night for Christmas parties—mine is tonight too.
Maybe we’ll run into one another.Not that Lily would have the slightest idea. As well as she felt she knew Elsa by now, she wasn’t delusional enough to think she’d be able to pick her out in a crowd.
Unless she loudly insultedGone with the Wind, anyway.
We could’ve already run into one another. We wouldn’t know.
True. Elsa could be the cute cashier at the grocery store, the barista at the coffee shop, even the mechanic Daisy kept bringing up whenever they saw one another.
Do you think we ever will? Meet in person, I mean?
Lily didn’t know why she asked it, why she risked breaking the spell. They’d both been so careful to avoid anything too personal, and there Lily was, blowing it wide open.
I don’t know. I look forward to these messages. What if we meet in person and we hate each other?
Lily didn’t think that was likely. Sure, sometimes Elsa could be brash and cutting, but there was an underlying humor there, a sense of vulnerability driving her responses.
I guess, Lily typed, biting on her bottom lip.No sense ruining a good thing, right?
Right. Although…
The pause made Lily’s curiosity burn.
Although?Lily waited with bated breath for a response.
It’s not quite meeting up, and you can say no, but could I have your number? Then I won’t have to keep opening this app when I want to talk to you.
It echoed the same sentiment Lily had been feeling, lately. She didn’t need the app—didn’t use it except for a messaging app, and there were easier ways to do that. She just hadn’t wanted to ask.
