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For now I was grabbing a spot with my best friend to catch up. “You were international last week. I didn’t know when to call.”
“You can call anytime and you should have called. A man kidnapped you…”
“He didn’t kidnap me and you were a nine-hour flight away. What could you have done?”
“Something.” She took a huge bite of the danish and pointed it at me. “And he did kidnap you. He had a gun, made you go with him, and put your date in his trunk after he beat him up. Friend, you were in a whole hood movie.”
“Please don’t remind me.”
“Are you okay though? You sure he didn’t do anything…”
“No, he didn’t. He drove me home and that was it. It’s been a week and I haven’t seen him at all so I don’t think it was about me. He was weirdly nice.”
“You said he punched Chris in the face.”
“Weirdly nice tome. And the guy’s name wasn’t Chris. It was Derrick and I blame you for all of this. Do the dating apps, meet in a public place. You’ll be safe. Safe, I was not.”
“You said he didn’t do anything to you.” She smiled smugly, taking another bite of her danish. Only Dreeya would use an armed stranger’s willingness not to murder and rape me to her advantage. I shot her a dark look and she grinned wider.
“Okay fine, but you are safe and I’m sorry that things went so terribly wrong. You forgive me?”
“I just gave you free coffee and a danish. What do you think?”
“I think you want me to continue being a loyal customer. That’s what this is.” She tipped the danish my way.
“Loyal customers patronize establishments. You don’t pay, Dree.Customeris a stretch but yes, I forgive you.”
“Good and no more online dating. We’ll find another way to connect you to the man of your dreams.”
“No, we will not. I’m done for a while. Last week was a lot. It’s probably best if I focus on BookNook right now.”
“Business is good, friend. You can stand to spend some time on your personal life.”
“It’sdecentbut could be better. I was thinking about not bringing back one of the students after fall break and taking the hours myself.”
“No, you will not. The goal was not to work yourself to death with this place. It was to build something that allows you money and freedom to live. Have you forgotten the business plan?”
This was the shitty part of including your best friend in all of your dreams.
“No, I haven’t,” I huffed. “Quality of life.”
“Exactly! You work thirty hours a week. That’s enough. The plan was not to punch anyone else’s clock so you could enjoy life more. If you don’t want to search for a man, fine, I’ll pull back. But just in case one falls in your lap, you will have the available time to enjoy him.” She narrowed her eyes at me and I rolled mine.
“Okay. When do you leave again?”
“Tomorrow morning. I’ll be gone for four days. When I get back, we’re hanging out.”
“No clubs.”
“No clubs but we’re doing something.”
“I’ll agree when I know what thatsomethingis.”
“Don’t be a bad best friend, Keiris.” She grinned.
“I won’t if you won’t.” Just as I sank into the comfy bean bean bag sofa with my bestie, a crowd of about ten college students came bustling through the door. Before I moved, I listened to what they were ordering and relaxed knowing the first few only wanted coffee. The next group also wanted food which meant Logan would need help. Being near Crescent Falls University kept a constant flow of business. I was grateful for selecting the location above all the others I’d looked into.
“I…”
