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Andi gave her a sly look. “I don’t know, Ms. Gets-Her-Coffee-Hand-Delivered. You may be smoother than you think.”
Hollyn scoffed. “Not hardly.”
“We’ll see.” Andi waggled her fingers in a little wave. “I’ll let you recover from my full frontal attack for now, but we’ll chat soon.”
Hollyn nodded. “Sounds great.”
Andi walked out of the office, shutting the door behind her and leaving Hollyn with a smile and her hand-delivered coffee. She looked down at Jasper’s drawing again, a warmth having nothing to do with the decaf moving through her.
Maybe it was finally happening. She’d put herself out there like Mary Leigh and Cal had been encouraging her to do, and the world hadn’t crumbled. Andi hadn’t laughed in her face when she’d admitted she was nervous talking to people. And Jasper hadn’t held it against her that she’d been rude yesterday.
This wasn’t middle school. People weren’t here to be cruel or to make fun of her or to hurt her. They weren’t here to exploit her weak spots. She needed to start giving people the benefit of the doubt and stop assuming the worst.
She grabbed her phone out of her pocket and typed.
Hollyn: Thanks again for the curbside service. Mr. Handsome Decaf was delicious. I only felt slightly guilty drinking anthropomorphic coffee.
As soon as she hit Send, she groaned at her use of the wordanthropomorphic.Who used that kind of word, especially in a text? She might as well have followed up with #WordNerd.
Jasper: That’s going to be the name of my new coffee shop. Anthropomorphic Coffee. I’ll attach little paper arms to the cups and draw faces on them. Hipsters will love it. Vegans will feel guilty for drinking it.
Hollyn: HA
Jasper: Will I see u in the morning or should I watch for another text?
A little flutter went through Hollyn, and she chewed her lip. Did she want to risk face-to-face when this was going so well? She was so much better in writing than real life. She could rock Jasper’s world in writing. Her thumbs hovered over the screen. She took a breath.
Hollyn: See u in the morning.
Jasper: :) Mr. Handsome Decaf looks forward to it.
The smiley face was everything. Hollyn walked over to her desk chair and collapsed into it.
Holy. Shit.
She’d flirted. And hadn’t died.
She didn’t know who this version of herself was, but she wanted to find out more. Maybe tonight when she went out for her Miz Poppy assignment, she’d try to talk to someone at the bar. She didn’t want to lose this momentum or overthink it.
With that plan in mind, she went to her desk, set Jasper’s coffee-cup drawing in her line of sight, and worked for the rest of the afternoon with a smile on her face.
