Sunflower Café

26

Play song at the party

***

...A los hombres los tiene de hobby,
Una malcriá' como Nairobi,
Y tú la ves bebiendo de la botella
Los nenes y las nenas quieren con ella...

–H

Amaya wasn't there for their picnic.

     Monday evening, as planned, Harry had driven to her house with a bag full of snacks, chocolates, and wine. But upon arrival, his heart dropped when he noticed her Jeep wasn't parked in its usual spot. He sat in his car for a while and contemplated knocking on the door.

     Maybe her car's in the garage?

     It was a naïve thought, he knew. Yet, he couldn't help threading excuses as he made his way up the stone steps. He knocked.

     No one answered.

     The house was dead silent, not even Nala's barks could be heard through the door. The husky's absence threatened to prove his fear.

     Amaya must have left her at the Pet Ranch again.

     He'd left her house with a heavy heart, constantly trying to convince himself she was safe wherever she was, even if he hadn't the slightest clue where it was she would disappear to.

     Kurt confirmed his already-made-obvious suspicion: she'd left.

     Harry had been eating at the café as usual, intensely observing the door as if it would fabricate Amaya if he glared at it just right, when Kurt had burst through it with his snobbish posture and a bored expression.

Harry hesitated before making the impulsive decision to call his name. He almost shied away when Kurt glared his way and confusedly studied him. The blue-eyed boy reached his table and crossed his arms, waiting.

"Horton, is it?"

Harry fought the urge to roll his eyes. "No, it's Harry."

Kurt waved his hand dismissively. "Same shit, different toilet. What do you want?"

"Uh..." He cleared his throat awkwardly as he desperately tried to search for the words to enunciate his question without sounding like a complete stalker. "Do you know where Amaya is?"

"I'm sorry, how does that concern you?" Kurt's gaze continued to pierce his, making Harry shift uncomfortably.

"We were supposed to see each other two days ago but she never showed up."

"Oh honey," his voice was mockingly sweet. Though his face still held a harsh expression, his eyes softened slightly. "You'll learn sooner or later she'll only show up two percent of the time you make plans. Let's hope it's sooner, yeah?"

Harry shook his head in denial. "But she showed up-"

"The first time? Yeah hun, she was testing the waters. Now that she's dipped her toe, she'll dip on you." Upon seeing the curly lad's poor attempt to hide his disappointment he sighed and pulled out a chair to sit before him. "Listen, you're probably a nice guy and all, but that still doesn't guarantee you she'll stick around. Amaya's a great friend once you have her, she just lacks the word commitment in her vocabulary. Don't feel bad if she doesn't show up most times, she'll eventually come around when you least expect it. You'll realize planning with her is setting yourself up for disappointment. If you wanna see her, you gotta corner her."