Page 36 of Cups of You

Amber smiled when she came upon the bookstore. It wasn’t large, but there were books displayed in the windows and the windowed door was painted a bright and welcoming yellow. She opened it and instantly relaxed at the scent of pages. Amber would never get tired of that smell. She had an eReader like most people, but there was still something to be said for feeling the weight of a book in your hands and indulging in the sounds of pages turning.

“Your salvation has arrived.”

Willie was behind the counter her dark head buried in a book. She looked up brow furrowed until she saw Amber. “Hey girl. What are you doing here?”

“Well, I seem to remember you telling me to stop by whenever I had the time, and since I am currently unemployed, I have the time,” Amber said walking over to the counter. She held up the second coffee cup. “Also, I brought you some liquid crack, courtesy of our friendly neighborhood barista.”

Willie dropped her book on the counter and made grabby hands at the cup. “Gimme.”

Amber giggled and handed over the cup. She shook her head as she watched Willie take a deep sniff.

“My precious.”

“You have issues.”

Willie looked up. “And I always will.” She took a sip and then moaned. “Gosh, he always has the good stuff.”

Amber agreed with that. “Wait until you try some of his new muffins. I’m pretty sure they were delicious.”

Willie cocked an eyebrow up at her. “Pretty sure? What muffins are you referring to exactly?”

“The ones he brought over for Jackie and me to try.” Amber paused and stared at Willie’s expression in confusion. “Why is your face looking like that?”

“You know why my face is looking like that.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Amber,” Willie said. “Seriously girl, come on. The way the two of you were eyeing each other up the in the grocery aisle was enough to melt the food in the freezers.”

Amber took a sip of her latte trying frantically to come up with something to say that would throw Willie off the scent. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I always look at Benjamin like that.”

“Then you must be thinking about sex constantly.”

Amber jerked almost spitting her drink out. She swallowed quickly before glaring at Willie. “What the hell.”

“What?” Willie shrugged not looking the least bit repentant for almost making Amber choke on her latte. “You weren’t the only one. Benji looked like he was ready to show you some muffins alright, but not the kind you bake.”

“You’re ridiculous. The man is a father.”

“Which means he knows how to insert shaft ‘a’ into slot ‘b’.”

Amber’s mind started to think about Benjamin’s shaft, but she quickly put a halt to that. “We are not talking about Benjamin’s shaft.”

“Fine,” Willy said with a little pout. “But at least tell me you guys are going out again.”

“What are you talking about? We’re just friends.” Amber shook her head and looked away. “And up until a few days ago, I was in a relationship with someone else.”

Willie frowned. “Seriously? But you and Benjamin seemed to have so much chemistry, awkward chemistry, but chemistry, nonetheless. Wait,” she said pausing for a moment. “What do you mean youwerein a relationship? What happened?”

“Girl,” Amber started shaking her head. “I got a text on Sunday afternoon from a girlfriend of mine who lives in our neighborhood. She thought I was back in Chicago, but it turned out to be another girl on a date with my now ex-boyfriend.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“Well, how did she know it was a date?” Willie asked. “Maybe it was a work lunch or—”

“She sent a picture of them kissing. And Tasha has the newest iPhone, so the picture was crystal clear.”

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