“No, not really.” She looked between them both again. She’d never been to a conference as large and well-attended as this one was anticipated to be.
Rowan clarified, “It’s like all sense of reality suspends when you go to a conference. People say and do things after hours that they wouldn’t do in the light of day in the ‘real world.’ People get together that haven’t seen each other in a while. People gettogether.”
“Did she ever tell you about the time we made a bet to see how many women from different countries we could numbers from?”
“Ah, Manny,” Rowan sighed and rubbed her forehead.
Juniper, intrigued, leaned her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand. “She did not. Please, do tell.”
“I’m going to get in trouble for this–”
“Yeah, you already are.”
“It was one of our first times traveling internationally to go to a conference.”
Rowan interrupted, “To be fair, we were like 25, okay, so just…”
Juniper cut her eyes at her and smiled at the pleading look at them, then looked back at Manny.
“Rowan had finally gotten out of her awkward stage and had been hit on enough to realize she wasn’t awkward anymore.”
“Manny,” Rowan groaned as she sunk her face into her hands.
Interrupting his own story, Manny added, “When I first got to know her, she had a really unfortunate utilitarian shorthaircut since she was eighteen, but then her girlfriend–” he looked at Rowan “in 3L?”
“Yes, third year,” she sighed.
“She convinced her to grow it out some to get this 90s Johnny Depp panty dropper thing she has going on now.”
“I do not slick my hair back, Manny,” she scoffed.
“Oh no,” he gasped, “it’s too ‘just fucked’ for that.”
Juniper laughed at his hilarious characterization and Rowan’s subsequent cringing. But then she briefly narrowed her eyes in confusion before schooling her face again. She skimmed right over the girlfriend comment and right to wondering when she’d cut her hair the first time – obviously sometime before undergrad? Rowan had told her the significant importance she’d felt about cutting it, but she’d never known the timeline.
“Anyway, without getting her further in trouble, we racked up a lot of passport stamps before we turned 30.”
Rowan threw her napkin at him.
They finished their meal and parted ways, promising to meet up over the next couple of days. Juniper and Rowan walked side by side down the rest of the block.
“I don’t think Runapewaks have a passport stamp, but I can sign your passport if you want.”
“I’m going to kill Manny.” Rowan snatched Juniper’s body closer. “We should get you a passport though, if you don’t have one.”
“Yes, we should.”
Rowan stopped them in front of a Sicilian bakery. “I was thinking dessert?”
“Dessert appetizer. Then dessert again later.”
The bell rang as Rowan opened it and backed against the door to let Juniper through. “Mmm, second dessert is my favorite.”
“Rowan! Are you back?” The man in an apron behind the counter asked.
“Visiting,” she corrected. She looked over at Juniper andsmiled as they reached the counter. “With my girlfriend, Juniper.”
“Nice to meet you.” He winked at Juniper and leaned his hands on the counter. “Your usual?”
