Sasha tapped Junna on the shoulder and gestured toward the door. Junna turned to see Ayan enter the restaurant, holding a plant, with a confused expression on his face until he spotted them and made his way over to their table.

“Ayan! Thanks for coming!” Sasha said, jumping him and giving him a hug.

“I wasn’t sure about the occasion, so I got you this peace lily,” Ayan said. “Which I realize is maybe not the best gift to give someone, when it takes so much maintenance, but…”

“I love it!” said Sasha. “Not sure if I will be able to take it with me to Paris next year, but I promise to find a good home for it when I do go.”

“Paris?” Ayan’s face lit up, and Junna found herself grinning at his expression. Sasha had talked about wanting to go to Paris for so long that everyone knew about her dream. On the rare occasions she worked at the cafe, Ayan had grilled her about what it was like over there, as she had spent two years studying there way back in the day. She kept reminding him how much things had likely changed, but she clearly loved to talk about it.

“Yep! I’ve been asked to teach there! It’s been my dream for ages! Whole new life, whole new Sasha!”

“That’s incredible,” Ayan said. “I’m so happy for you!”

“Yeah, I’m trying to get Junna to move with me,” Sasha said, sitting back down at the head of the table to Junna’s left as Ayan took a seat to Junna’s right.

“Oh,” Ayan blinked as he glanced back and forth between Sasha and Junna, “r-really?”

There was an awkward moment of quiet, before Ayan frowned at the table and muttered ‘no’ to himself, before glancing up at Junna.

“N-uh, wow! France huh, that’s…wow. Are you going then?” Ayan asked.

“I don’t know yet,” Junna blurted, feeling a sudden flush of warmth up her neck at Ayan’s physical response to Sasha’s news. He was so clearly uncomfortable, his strange tic coming out where he talked to himself when he was stressed. His mental, whatever it was. He had never told her if he was diagnosed with anything, and she had never asked. Which was strange, as he was always open to discussing mental illnesses, perfectly understanding of the gamut of mental diagnoses. He just never seemed to want to label his own. That’s if he even noticed he had something going on, though Junna very much suspected he did.

She looked at him now, his gaze skittering away from hers to bounce around the table nervously.

“Is no one else coming?” Ayan asked, glancing up and down the table. “I mean, when, when is everyone else coming?”

“Oh, it’s just going to be us three. I forgot to invite anyone else. Which is probably for the best, because I don’t want to be hungover tomorrow when I have to pack to fly to Paris later this week to get the tour,” Sasha grinned.

“Wow, you’re jet-setting already,” said Ayan, “that’s so wonderf-oh!” Ayan jumped up as he accidentally knocked his ice-water over onto the table, and apparently into his lap. “S-sorry, let me go find something to clear this up.”

He had grabbed a nearby towel and desperately swiped at some of the water that had dripped onto his pants. He hissed, ‘thank you, I know’ as he took the same towel and began to use it to mop up the water that was spreading to Junna’s section.

“Go to the bathroom and get cleaned up,” Junna suggested.

Ayan nodded thankfully and hurried off in the direction of the bathroom. Junna grabbed some extra napkins off the table and went to dab up the rest of the water. It was unnerving to see Ayan this anxious.

Junna had only ever seen him this flustered a few times before. Some incredibly memorable events, that she didn’t care to relive. She wondered if this time it was because he was already on edge about how inappopriate their newest patron Elijah was acting. It was clear that the situation was getting to him. Elijah did have a looming presence that even the other employees had noticed, though none of the women at the cafe felt threatened by him personally as he never directed his attention to them. Or anyone besides Ayan, for that matter. Junna had seen Soren discussing Elijah with the girls in the back before she’d had to remind him he was needed in the front. Everyone saw it. Everyone was well aware of Elijah’s special interest in Ayan for whatever reason.

Junna wondered if it was time to ask Elijah not to visit their cafe anymore. Or at least get an idea of if he was a danger or not.

“He really cares about you.”

Junna looked around, sucked out of her train of thought by Sasha’s comment.

“What?” Junna asked, unsure if she had heard correctly.

“He really cares about you. He was paralyzed with fear when I mentioned taking you with me. I watched his face. He looked like he was going to throw up.”

“It’s been really stressful at work, and…” Junna started.

“It’s sooo freaking obvious, Junebug. Ayan is head over heels for you. But he’s a mess! His muttering. I think you’re probably right about the schizophrenia.”

“I don’t know if it’s that,” Junna said, glancing toward the bathroom to make sure Ayan wasn’t walking up on them as they talked about him.

“Well, I can tell you with one-hundred-percent certainty, that he is smitten.”

“It doesn’t, I don’t, it-what difference does it make? If he likes me or not, it doesn’t matter. He’s my boss. It’s a professional relationship. It doesn’t work like that.”

“That is bullshit and you know it. You two have been best friends as long as you have worked at that cafe. He hasn’t been your boss in a long time. There’s a reason he won’t let you call him that.”

“Because he doesn’t like official names that rank him above anyone else, since he sees everyone as being on equal footing?”

“You always make him sound like Jesus. Anyway, the point is, shit, he’s coming back.”

Ayan approached the table looking just as sheepish as he had been when he’d left. He was holding a large hand towel at about waist level, which did a great job of covering up the wet spot on his pants from the ice-water.

“I think it should be fine if I switch the chairs and stay seated until everything dries,” Ayan said, setting the towel on the table, and flipping his chair with the chair next to it. He then sat down and scooted his chair all the way under the table.

Junna couldn’t help but snicker, catching Ayan side-eyeing her with that gorgeous grin of his. The one that always meant that Junna was safe to be her sarcastic self with him. A moment later, they both were giggling at the absurdity of the situation.

“Oh my god! I am so telling everyone about this on Wednesday,” Junna laughed.

“I’ll give you some free doughboys if you don’t,” Ayan pleaded, placing his hands together in a mock begging gesture. “Hell, I will pay for the entire dinner tonight! Though, I was planning to do that anyway.”

“You don’t have to do that,” said Sasha and Junna at the same time.

Ayan scoffed, glancing between them, “don’t be silly.”

“Ayan!” Junna scolded.

“If you want to pay for it, you are more than welcome, but I would love to make that my gift to you. To both of you. I want to wish you happiness in your new paths.”

Junna blinked. It almost sounded like he was congratulating her on moving to Paris next year. She hadn’t even decided to do so yet, nor did she know if she could.

Last night, Sasha had CC’d her on an email with a non-profit that was very interested in her resume, and the fact that she had taken French for four years in college. She didn’t know how Sasha had gotten to her resume, but she admired and dreaded her friend’s ambition all the same. She had been pretty shocked by the salary listed on the position. An amount that she had never pictured making without getting her masters. Junna had asked if it would be too much to take a few days to think about it, and they had told her it would be fine, they would be doing interviews in two days. Two days to even consider applying. And who’s to say she even had a chance…

“I don’t know that I’m going though,” said Junna.

Ayan hesitated for a moment, muttered to himself, ‘I’m aware’, before nodding at Junna. “Whatever you end up doing, I support you all the way. I’ll be devastated to lose my most loyal co-worker and friend, but I will hope to receieve a postcard or two about your adventures across the pond.”

Friend. Coworker. He did see them as equals, but perhaps just that. Equal friends. He was sad to lose a hard worker.

And a friend.

But he would be fine, because he always managed to surive. To thrive under pressure. The life he had lived made something so simple as a friend moving away into a nothingburger. Right?

He would be okay without her. Junna had to remind herself of this. She needed to look after herself first and foremost, before she could look after others.

“So, should we order?” Sasha asked.

“Yes! I’m starving,” said Ayan.

Junna suddenly wasn’t feeling very hungry.