At least my recent humiliation had served a purpose.Hearing Maya laugh was the highlight of the morning, even if it had been at my expense.I couldn’t wait to hear it again.
“Did you enjoy that, Pipsqueak?”I stepped up to the counter where Maya made our coffee.“Tell me, what specific shade of red was I?There’s something about hearing your elderly grandmother explain sex toys to you that sets your face on fire.I had no idea I was capable of that level of embarrassment.”I grimaced.“Those meetings ought to come with a warning.”
Maya chuckled to herself as she poured espresso into two cups.She topped them off with hot water, adding a splash of cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon to mine before passing it to me.“Oh, I didn’t like that; I loved it.”
Warmth spread through my chest at seeing her fix my coffee the way I liked it.I couldn’t believe she cared enough to remember that.
“And I’d say you were a deep,deepred.Like burgundy.Or maybe even”—she tapped a finger on her soft pink lips—“the colour of a pomegranate.Almost purple?Either way, not the most flattering shade on you.It’s too bad, really, since it’s the colour you will be for all eternity after I climb through your window with Harold and use his flabby cat belly to smother you for calling me Pipsqueak again.”
I snorted a laugh.“You’re right, though, red really isn’t my colour,” I said, ignoring the death threat altogether.I pretended to fluff my hair.“I’m more of a spring.”
“Aspring?Really?And how would you know that?”
I shrugged.“Nana took me to get my colour wheel done when I graduated high school.It’s come in handy over the years.”One of my fondest memories was of Nana and the saleswoman from her favourite dress shop holding swatches of fabric near my face, positioning me in different lighting, and taking turns inspecting me to determine how well each colour suited my skin tone.
Her cup stopped halfway to her mouth.“That’s … wow.Really?I don’t even know what to say.”She set her coffee on the counter between us, then turned a serious gaze on me.“Why would you agree to that?”
“It never occurred to me not to.She took me to the city for a day of shopping, and that’s what she wanted to do while we were there.I never could tell her no.”I chuckled at her confusion.“If you play your cards right, I might even let you peek at the glamour shots we had taken when I was nineteen.”
I’d had so much fun that day, if only because Nana’s excitement about the photo shoot was infectious.She’d said we needed some lighthearted pictures to remind us it was okay to live our lives, even though we were still grieving the deaths of my parents.She’d said one didn’t have to preclude the other.
Maya stared into the distance, stunned silent.She shook her head as if to clear it.“Well, that was nice of you, I guess.”She gulped her coffee, froze, then shifted her wide eyes to me.“Wait.Did you say glamour shots?Like teased hair, feather boas, over-the-top makeup, and ridiculous poses.Those glamour shots?”
I laughed.“The same.”
“How have I never seen those?Nana shows me the family photo albums all the time.”
“I threatened to give her shortbread recipe to Rhonda Raymond.”
She gasped.“No, you did not!Her arch-nemesis?NanahatesRhonda Raymond.And she loves that recipe.I’ve asked her for it countless times, but she won’t even let me see it.I think she plans to be buried with it.”With a chuckle, she added, “I can’t believe you threatened to give it to Rhonda.”
Nana and Rhonda had been mortal enemies ever since Rhonda stole Nana’s boyfriend way back in grade ten.And if there was one thing Nana took seriously, it was grudges.
And sex toys, apparently.
“Oh, you bet I did.I had to.Of course, it wouldn’t have been the real recipe.Nana has never let anyone see that.But I’ve seen her make them often enough, I thought I could replicate it from memory.”I wouldn’t have been able to, so it was good that Nana didn’t call my bluff.That old woman was wily.When she baked her shortbread, she’d set out piles of decoy ingredients to throw any onlookers off track.I’d baked five batches of cookies with black licorice extract before I figured out what she was doing.I’d been baking cookies and eliminating ingredients ever since, and I still hadn’t gotten them precisely right.
“Okay.”Her face was a mask of confusion.“But it was just some unflattering pictures.Who would even care?”
“You don’t understand.I couldn’t take the risk of those pictures getting out.If anyone had seen them, there was a better-than-good chance that I’d remain a virgin forever.Nana, of course, thought they were adorable.She’d have plastered them all over town if I hadn’t taken matters into my own hands.”
Maya smothered a laugh with her fist.“And you’re not worried about that anymore?”
“Not really, no.”I chuckled.“The virginity thing hasn’t been an issue since my second year of college.And while I loathe the thought that seeing those pictures would make you never want to get to know me better”—I waggled my eyebrows suggestively, earning an annoyed groan from Maya—“I’m willing to risk it.”And I was.Her laughter was magic, and I needed more of it.I needed itall.“Though I suspect that seeing my humiliation on display in full colour might increase my chances with you.”I shot her an exaggerated wink, making her eyes roll.“You seem like you’d be into that sort of thing.”
She shook her head and barked a laugh.I could listen to the sound of her laughter all day.
“Don’t you have better things to do than annoy me?”
I glanced around the store, pretending to think over her question.“Nope.I have nothing going on.I’m all yours.”I grinned, not surprised to realize there really was nowhere I would rather be at that moment.I threw her another cheeky wink.“Do with me what you will.”
“In that case”—she smirked, a mischievous gleam dancing in her eye—“I know just the thing.Follow me.”
Maya walked into the back room without checking to see if I was following, which was for the best.God bless the inventor of leggings for granting me this special moment.
She stopped abruptly, forcing me to grab her arm to keep from slamming into her back.Was that my imagination, or did she gasp when I touched her?But was it a good gasp, or a bad one?
She waited a beat before pointing to a far corner.“The litter box is back there.”
