“Sorry, Juliet. I meant no offense,” the woman replied with a smile.
“No problem. And I meant it: they are doing good. So, if you want something other than drip coffee, I recommend taking the risk.”
“What do you say?” the woman asked her.
“Oh, if it’s no trouble,” Maisie said.
“Hi. I’m Juliet,” the other woman said and held out her hand to Maisie.
“Hi. Maisie. Sorry, I work next door, and I thought this was a regular café.”
“How did you hear about it, though?” Juliet asked. “We don’t have any signage up for that reason.”
“A contractor told her,” the first woman said.
“Ah,” Juliet replied. “Well, I need to get back. Let me know what you want, and I’ll get them started.”
She looked at Maisie expectantly.
“Oh, a peach tea and a caramel latte. Do you have the cookies here?”
“Sure. Which one?”
“The peanut butter,” she replied. “Two?”
“No problem. I’ll see you over there,” Juliet said and walked off.
“I’m India, by the way.”
“Sorry. You’refromIndia?” Maisie returned her attention to the first woman.
“No, but I get that a lot,” the brunette replied, laughing. “Mynameis India.”
Maisie smiled and said, “That’s a pretty name.”
“Thank you. So is Maisie.”
“Maisie just makes people think of corn.”
“What?” India laughed.
“You know, like maize. Corn.”
“Oh,” India said, nodding. “Right. Well,Ididn’t think of corn, if it makes you feel better.”
“A lot better, actually,” Maisie said. “Maybe I should’ve gone by my middle name instead.”
“What’s that?”
“Mae.”
“Maisie Mae?” India asked with a smile. “That’s sweet.”
“Mae was my grandma’s name,” she said proudly. “So, I went by Maisie, even though Mae isn’t associated with corn.”
“I think you’re overthinking this,” India replied. “How many people actually still know that corn and maize are the same thing?”
“That’s true,” she said.
