Food Courting

Chapter 16: Sour Grapes

Next to the mysterious woman's pristine, brand-name outfit, Cora's well-worn Cool Beans uniform looked shabby at best. In fact, the woman could've been wearing a trash bag, and her silky, voluminous hair would be more than enough to outshine Cora's scruffy state. Still, Cora powered through her self-doubt, summoning the widest smile she could muster.

"Welcome to Cool Beans!" Cora exclaimed, likely loud enough for the majority of the food court to hear. "Would you like to hear about our brews of the day?"

Cora knew it was impossible for her volume to be ignored, and she was more proud than anxious when the woman's raised eyebrows turned to her.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," the woman said, her clenched white teeth gleaming between her dark lipstick.

"Are you sure?" Cora continued as the woman turned back towards Farron. "We just brewed a fresh batch of the house blend, and the iced tea of the day is the aromatic genmaicha. Just one whiff of it and you'll feel invigorated, like you can take on the whole day!"

"Thank you," the woman said, her annoyance barely restrained behind her stiff smile. "But I'm actually headed to Café Cha in a bit. Do you know of it? Not many people have, but I figured even you might, being in the coffee business and all."

Cora faltered. If the woman was telling the truth, then not only was she rich, but she had connections—enough to get into a café with a six-month waiting list, enough to know of a coffee shop that was so high-end, it wasn't even mentioned in the Cool Beans orientation. Sure, Cool Beans was considered the "coffee business," but Café Cha was in an entirely different league. The two couldn't be considered competition when they weren't even playing the same game.

The woman chuckled, as if she knew exactly what Cora was thinking. "Anyway, I'm just here to browse." She turned back to Farron, then took her time looking her over. "Seems like you haven't changed much."

"Natalie," Farron said, her voice soft and clipped. Her eyes darted downwards before returning to the woman's. "Seems like you haven't either."

The woman—Natalie, yuck—quirked an eyebrow before looking down as well. "Oh, these?" She laughed as she held up her shopping bags. "They're not for me. You of all people should know I like the simple life—relatively, of course. Besides, you used to like the gifts I bought you. Case in point..."

When Natalie's eyes trailed down Farron again, Cora's followed—only to stop at the elaborate dragon tattoo curled around Farron's arm. A second later, Farron slid her arm behind her back, and when she glared at Natalie, the woman returned it with a light laugh.

"No need to get so defensive," Natalie said, smiling. "I had said it was a gift, and I meant it. It's not like I expected you to cut off your arm just because we broke up."

If Cora had been holding anything, she would've dropped it just then. Instead, the only thing she dropped was her jaw as she looked between the two with wide eyes.

They had dated? How long had it been since then? Farron was interested in women? And...Natalie was Farron's type? Did Cora have anything in common with—

"So, Farron," Natalie continued. "What are you today?"

Cora's head swiveling paused on Natalie. What kind of question was that? If anything, Cora expected it to be more of a conversation starter with a child on Halloween. Common sense told her that probably wasn't the case here, and being thrown even further out of the conversation stung more than she thought it would.

But when Cora turned to Farron for clarification, her downcast eyes and hunched shoulders filled Cora with a different kind of hurt. If not for the drink in Farron's hand, Cora was sure she would've curled in on herself like a hedgehog in the middle of the store.