Page 38 of The Human’s Heart

They sighed. “Yeah.”

“You sure? You don’t seem okay.”

They stared at me for a moment before sighing again. “Well, you asked for it… I’m just… kind of bored and sick of not having anything to do outside of work. I thought I’d be meeting people here, and I am, but it’s just… weird.”

“What do you mean?”

They shrugged but sat up a little. “Well, you know I moved here from up north, right?”

I nodded.

“Right. So I don’t really know anyone besides my uncle, but I thought I’d meet more people working here, you know? Buuuuuut… I feel weird asking someone—a customer—to, like, hang out or whatever. It feels inappropriate or something, not to mention just… uncomfortable.”

Before I could suggest they hang out with us, Jett butted in—I didn’t even realize he was eavesdropping—and he said, “You should come out with us on Saturday. You have off Saturday night too, don’t you?”

All three of us typically worked nights every other weekend. Drin liked to give everyone a chance to make the really good tips, so we rotated. I didn’t mind. I kinda liked how fair he tried to be, even if I used to agonize over not always having enough money. Living with Zay helped with that quite a bit. It was hard to accept things sometimes, but I was starting to get used to it. Knowing how much he enjoyed helping me—feeling how happy it made him—went a long way.

Arzu perked up a little bit. “Yeah, I have off.”

“Then come out with us.”

I smiled at them and added, “We’d love to have you join. You can meet our viramores.”

“Yeah?”

“Definitely.”

They smiled, and I swore it changed their entire face. Their very, very dark blue, almost black, eyes lit up and their cheeks scrunched up in an adorable way. It was like their entire face turned happy. “That would be really great. Thanks, guys.”

“Of course.”

Jett said, “We like you, so no biggie.”

That made them laugh as they stood up and pushed their black hair behind their ear. “I’ll give you my number so you can text the details.”

“Sounds good.”

They gave us a wave, then immediately looked like they regretted the gesture, so I waved back to make them feel better. My movement made them snicker a bit as they headed toward the back, probably to grab something to eat before their break was up.

As soon as they were out of earshot, I turned to Jett. “That was nice of you.”

He shrugged. “I like them.”

“So do I. I’m glad they’re coming. It’ll be really great getting to know them outside of work.”

“Totally agree. They’re sweet.”

I pursed my lips, about to point out the fifth wheel thing, but then an idea popped into my head. “Do you care if Zay brings one of his school friends?”

“Nope.” He popped the P. “That’ll help Arzu feel better about being there with two couples too. Ooh! Let’s invite Quinn too. Then no one will feel like an outsider or like we’re setting them up or something.”

“Oh. Yes. Perfect.” To Zay, I said, “Arzu, my new coworker I told you about, is coming on Saturday, so you should invite Beatrix. We’re inviting Quinn too.”

“Oh, that’ll be great. Thanks.”

“Cool. Let me know if she says yes.”

It only took Zay a minute to say, “She’s in. Thanks, mezelie. She’s really excited to meet you.”