Ready Or Not - CITRUS

Eight

When Mei slid open the door to the Azalea office at seven a.m. the next morning, she was surprised to see three expectant faces blinking back at her from their respective desks. Interesting and creepy.

She checked her watch. Nope, time hadn't stopped.

"You three early again? We don't have a half-day planned."

"What?" Harumi said, shrugging. "We can't all decide to get a jump on the day just because we're driven, hardworking women who want to succeed in life and not live in the gutter?"

Mei inclined her head from side to side, weighing the options. "It's highly improbable." Her gaze drifted from Matsuri to Harumi and landed finally on Himeko, the most likely friend to give up their scheme. "What gives, Himeko?"

"Leave Himeko alone," Harumi said. "She's busy."

"Is not," Mei pointed out. "She's got Candy Crush on her screen. What's going on, Himeko? You can tell me."

Himeko did her best Bambi-in-headlights impression, which told Mei everything she needed to know. She let out a sigh. "So I'm guessing you want to hear the details of my dinner with Yuzu last night."

That did it. All three of them sprang into action like soldiers on a super-important mission.

"I'll get the truffles!" Harumi practically shouted. "Oh! Babe, heat up that banana bread Foster Foods sent over when we wrapped the banana commercial."

Himeko dashed for the door. "Starbucks run. Don't let her say a word without me!"

"I'll throw my body into the flames to prevent it," Harumi shouted back.

"Okay, that seems extreme," Mei said to no one because they were busy in mad preparation for story hour. She relaxed into her chair and let them prep, as she didn't really see a way out of this.

Fifteen minutes later, with coffee, banana bread, and MollyDolly truffles to die for, they snacked around the large oak conference table used for meals and meetings. Himeko adjusted her hair for whatever reason and placed her folded hands on the table. "Okay. I'm ready for a sexy tale now. Let's start with where you ate."

"South Street Seaport."

Harumi nodded. "Oh, you mean at one of those trendy little restaurants along the pier. Super cute."

Mei shook her head. "No. On a bench facing the water."

"Okay." Harumi seemed to marinate on this. "On a bench, you say?"

Mei nodded and swallowed back a smile at the memory. "I do say. We grabbed lobster rolls from a food truck."

"Interesting choice," Himeko said, exchanging a concerned glance with the others. "And how did you do with that?"

"I did fine," Mei said. "You people underestimate my ability to roll with the punches. I'm a skilled punch roller." Another dubious exchange of glances.

Matsuri shrugged. "I think it sounds cool. Unique."

"That's exactly what it was," Mei said, in wholehearted agreement. She shook off the unspoken judgment and wondered why she felt suddenly protective of Yuzu and their short evening together. It wasn't even like she'd gone by choice. She hadn't ended the night by choice either, but that tidbit of information was filed away just for her.

Himeko's eyes sparkled with a newfound discovery. "Aha. So you were on the bench. I see. And did the stars twinkle overhead and the water ripple subtly nearby? Is that what happened?"

"I love it when water ripples," Harumi said dreamily, her chin in her hand.

"Me too," Himeko answered. "Water ripples are big time. Up there with solitary lampposts."

Harumi pointed at Himeko, adding fuel to the romance fire. "Lampposts do rock. As do snow flurries."

"Oh, I love snow flurries! Because then you can come inside and get all cozy, and then hot in other ways. And then there are layers to take off."

"Layers," Harumi said, pointing at Himeko in wholehearted agreement. "Layers provide so many options."

Matsuri met Mei's gaze sympathetically as their two friends continued to analyze the romance value of different types of weather and their contribution to the perfect date night. Harumi and Himeko together could riff off each other for hours, so it was probably best she head this thing off.

"There was water," Mei pointed out, interrupting them in the name of productivity. "But I don't remember it rippling the way you describe."

"You should pay attention to that stuff more, the ripples," Himeko said, which made perfect sense as Himeko treasured the little things in life. Mei, however, was more of a big-picture kind of girl.

"I'll try and work on that," she said. "Put it on the old to-do list. 'Listen for ripples.'"

Harumi leaned in, ready for more. "Okay, so dinner on a bench with a modicum of possible rippling. Maybe a star or two if I remember last night correctly. And then?"

"Then she took me home."

The room fell into a frozen kind of silence. Himeko leaned forward, deflated now. "Wait. That's it? Did you invite her in at least? For a quick drink maybe?" Mei shook her head. "At least say she came inside."

"She did not," Mei said. "I'm sorry to disappoint you."

"No, no. That's okay." Himeko sat back in her chair. "At least you had the bench. That's something."

Mei stood and headed back to her desk. "There was a rather hot kissing session in the hallway," she tossed oh-so-casually over her shoulder, which prompted three excited women to climb over the table and practically tackle her in the middle of the room.

"Kiss #2 is major!" Harumi pointed out.

"It does say something," Matsuri said, sliding atop her desk.

Himeko nodded wholeheartedly, clearly feeling like this was Christmas morning as far as romance went. "It says they're totally going to fall for each other!"

Mei held up a finger. "It doesn't say that, actually. It says we have physical chemistry and it turns out that Yuzu is a decent human being. Anything beyond that is simply not going to happen. Let's be realistic."

Deflated, Himeko walked to her desk. "So you're saying you're hot for her, but that's it."

It sounded so shallow when the words were said out loud, but Mei had to call things as she saw them. She had certain requirements for her happily-ever-after, and Yuzu Okogi, sin-on-a-stick, simply didn't fit what Mei had lined up in her head. She tried her best to explain. "I need someone a bit more ordered and structured. Like me. Someone who keeps regular hours." She shrugged. "We'd make dinners together and watch artsy films and maybe adopt a cat."

"I didn't even know you liked cats," Harumi said.

"I mean, I probably do," Mei answered weakly. "But that's not the point. Yuzu's incredibly good-looking and, as it turns out, not a bad conversationalist, but the practicality of her and I ever working out in the real scheme of things is in the negative zone. Not even on the chart, and you know how important charts are to me."

"You're not going to make a chart right now, are you?" Himeko asked. Mei shot her a look and took a seat in her desk chair.

"But here's the question," Matsuri said quite seriously. "What are the chances of future make-out sessions?"

Mei felt the blush touch her cheeks before she could control it, and that seemed to be all the answer her friends needed to clap and cheer. She shouted over them. "Hey! Wait. I don't know! I didn't say there would be."

"You don't have to," Himeko said, chair dancing as she went to work. "But I have a feeling there's a good, strong whiskey sour in your near future."

"Well, have you seen the bartender?" Mei asked, facing her computer screen. Okay, so maybe this was a little fun.

"And we have liftoff," Matsuri said and popped a piece of banana bread into her mouth. After the laughter subsided, everyone fell into their respective morning routines and the office slipped into quiet. Was it possible that a steamy thought or two crossed Mei's mind as she organized her email?

Well, anything was possible.