52.5 degrees…that’s as good as it’s going to get. Now, how the hell does Lily do that pour?

Allison stared absentmindedly at her reflection in a beautifully polished glacette as she considered the wine bottle it held, feeling as if she was about to enter a duel with it. She’d watched Lily serve tea countless times with a flair that she’d never seen from anyone else in person, lifting teapots as high as her face and pouring into cups on tables below her waist without as much as a drop spilled. For a long time, Lily insisted on white table linens just to prove it. Expertise in showmanship was one of many reasons that the café had earned its reputation for its excellent service. As Allison stared at the glacette and remembered all of her disastrous attempts to replicate the pour over the last several days, she could no longer deny that she’d sent herself on a fool’s errand. She’d held onto hope that she’d manage it in time for the date but, with everything else that had to be done that she’d reluctantly admitted was far more important, there simply wasn’t time to pick up a skill that Lily had likely spent years mastering. She scowled at the wine bottle, feeling as though it had somehow defeated her.

It’s just as well. Even if I could do it, that can’t be good for the wine.

“You’re doing it again, aren’t you?”

Jumping in surprise, Allison looked up at the sound of Remy’s voice. She was smiling kindly, but she couldn’t entirely hide the worry behind her gaze. Allison felt a pang of guilt, having momentarily forgotten that Remy was sitting there with an empty glass and patiently waiting for her to check the temperature of the wine bottle. Worse than keeping her waiting was the fact that it was only because of something she’d already resolved to put behind her.

“Sorry, sorry…I guess I’ve still got some bad habits to break.”

“Apologizing for who you are is the first one.”

Briefly unable to meet Remy’s gaze, Allison was looking down at the wine bottle again before quickly turning her eyes upward. She was about to insist that she had a personal failing to correct, but seeing Remy still smiling at her somehow made it easier to accept the kindness rather than reject it out of habit. Feeling warm inside, she finally returned Remy’s smile with one of her own.

“Alright, fine…I guess you might have a point.”

“I should think so. You’ve rubbed my nose raw tonight making the same one.”

Allison laughed cheerfully as she remembered the one of the most recent of the many excuses she’d found to touch Remy. “That’s different.”

“It’s the exact same.”

“No, definitely completely different.”

“How?”

“We were talking about you, not me.”

Turning her nose upward and huffing proudly as if Remy’s lack of reaction was acceptance rather than stunned silence, Allison did her best to keep a straight face as she lifted the wine bottle from the glacette. Judging by Remy’s frustrated expression that was slowly fading into a reluctant smile, Allison could only conclude that she wasn’t particularly convincing. Placing her left hand behind her back, she tilted the bottle toward the glass and began to slowly pour. Seeing Remy’s eyes go wide as her expression shifted from amusement to awe, the feeling of warmth grew from a glowing ember into a crackling fire. The moment was soured slightly when Allison noticed a tiny drop of red on the taupe linen tablecloth she’d spread over the picnic table but, just as she was about to apologize for it, Remy interrupted the thought.

“I thought you weren’t going to push yourself so hard.”

Allison stared in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“That was…fancy.”

“Fancy?”

“I’ve only seen people do that on food shows about expensive restaurants.”

“That…that was…normal. It’s just how it’s done.” Even as she tried to deny that there was anything special about the pour, Allison could feel the heat rising to her face.

“That was normal?” Remy chuckled, looking incredulous. “Are you sure you’re not wasting your time with me? Even I think you could do better.”

Allison scoffed playfully as she began filling her own glass in the same manner, though her irritation with the question wasn’t entirely for show. “Like I’d take your word for it. You’re lucky my hands are full; you’d better either keep your nose covered or hope I forget that I owe you one.” Setting the feeling aside, she gave a quick glance at Remy from the corner of her eye and saw the same look of amazement return as she completed the second pour. The crackling fire was threatening to become an open blaze.

Yeah, no. I don’t see anyone ever doing better than you.

Looking around, Allison repressed an urge to sigh as she took in the sight of plastic bins spread across a nearby table. There was a full service to complete, and the circumstances weren’t entirely ideal. Though she had a number of ideas for how to add to the presentation of an outdoor meal that would bring the aesthetic in line with expectations of the café, there simply hadn’t been time to implement many of them. It wasn’t for lack of trying. She’d spent several hours researching everything from portable glass front refrigerators to weatherproof seat cushions to tea trolleys with sturdier wheels that could be pushed across grass, but the overwhelming majority of what she needed simply didn’t exist, in the exact form she needed if at all. While she’d managed to come up with some creative solutions, most would involve minor but time-consuming modifications to existing hardware at best and, at worst, custom fabrication. While she’d started the process and expected to have everything she needed by the debut of her menu during the Parade of Violets, she could find no way to make it happen in time for her date. It felt like a failure on her part, and it was difficult to focus on the service when it felt as if it had already crashed and burned before leaving the ground.

Glancing up, she noticed that Remy hadn’t touched her wine glass. She wondered for a moment if there was anything wrong with it before she saw Remy staring blankly at the glass across the table from her rather than her own. More fuel was added to the fire within her when she realized that, true to her word, Remy wasn’t worrying about the service at all. She was just politely waiting to be joined. Placing the wine bottle back into the glacette, Allison sighed with content as her smile widened.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Remy looked up from Allison’s glass, turning the attention toward her with a note of concern. “What?”

“You.”

“Me?”

Allison laughed softly as she grabbed the stem of her glass. “Yes, you. Isn’t that enough of a reason to be happy?” Looking into Remy’s eyes and seeing the gears turning, she quickly added, “Choose your words carefully. The skin on your nose must be getting pretty thin by now.”

Remy tried in vain to hide her smile with an irritated groan as she reached for her glass. “Fine, you win. I’m…a reason to…be happy. I guess.”

“I’m glad you finally decided to see reason…I guess.”

Allison restrained a sigh of relief when she heard Remy’s quiet laughter. She was fully aware of the hypocrisy in her demands, so she was grateful that Remy was willing to let it slide. Still, she made a mental note to not abuse the privilege she’d been granted. It wasn’t that she didn’t intend to make good on her own promise of being more reasonable in judging herself, but rather that she couldn’t help seeing Remy’s doing so as being a more pressing matter. Though she admitted that there were some flaws in her logic, Allison couldn’t entirely set aside the feeling that it really was different somehow. Her own shortcomings weren’t a matter of debate as she was acutely aware of the fact they existed; at the same time, she was equally certain of Remy’s lack of them.

Seeing that Remy was still waiting for her, Allison took the next step forward by taking a sip from her glass. She watched intently as she waited for Remy to follow suit, holding her breath in anticipation as another worry returned to the front of her thoughts. Remy took a short sip that was followed by a look of surprise and a significantly longer drink before she set the glass back on the table, looking quite pleased. Allison couldn’t entirely suppress her sigh of relief this time, drawing a curious glance her way. Feeling some embarrassment but recognizing that it was too late to hide it, Allison began what felt strangely like a confession.

“I…wasn’t entirely sure about the wine.”

Remy raised an eyebrow. “Why? It’s good…not that I’m surprised.”

Allison smiled, her embarrassment being drowned out by roaring fire. “I wasn’t sure what kind of wine you’d like. Actually, I didn’t even know if you drink wine or not, so I had to guess. I just went with what seemed like the best of my options.”

With an uncharacteristically mischievous smirk, Remy lifted her glass and peered at Allison over the top of it. “So, what I’m hearing is that you did what you thought was best and it worked. Weird…it’s almost like you’re good at what you do or something.”

Doing her best to ignore the heat rising to her face, Allison smiled down at her own glass. “Well…I mean…I really didn’t know what you’d like and I couldn’t really bring more than a few bottles, so I just looked at the list of what I had in mind for the menu and went with the middle-of-the-road option in terms of balance and versatility. I was thinking that an oaked chardonnay would likely be the most popular choice since I’m expecting poultry to be the main draw, but a red Côtes du Rhône seemed like a better choice for trying a little of everything, especially since I didn’t know what your preferences were. I thought that something a little sweeter might work out a bit better on its own but still pair reasonably well across the board, and it would really shine with some of the slightly spicy dishes. Then, there’s the fact that…”

Allison looked up to see that Remy, in the middle of tasting the wine again, was watching her with intense focus. It was disarming, but also alarming in that it made Allison realize just how long she’d been speaking without pause. Initially, it made her remorseful over having somehow slipped into monopolizing the conversation again but, remembering how it started, she was reminded of what Remy said to her earlier about preferring to listen—and enjoying listening to her especially. It brought to mind the many times they’d spoken in the past and all of the times that Allison had seen her wear a similar expression that she’d come to adore, showing the same intense focus that made it clear she was actually listening. It was such a rarity, it had taken some time for Allison to understand exactly what she was seeing. Finding herself the center of that kind of attention even as she spoke about nothing in particular, she felt as if she was Remy’s only concern in the world.

Her heart fluttering, Allison stood and began making her way to one of the plastic bins. “Well…anyway, I’m glad you like it.”

“I do. I’m more of a fan of sweet things, anyway.”

Opening one of the bins and removing a covered dish, Allison was setting aside her surprise that Remy would prefer sweetness and making a mental note of it when she felt something heavy hanging in the air. She looked up to see Remy staring back at her, a mischievous smirk once again taking shape. Having a sneaking suspicion as to what was coming, Allison narrowed her eyes as she forced her smile to remain neutral.

“Don’t. You. Dare.”

Remy took another sip of her wine, her smile widening. “Well, I do have a weakness for them.”

Allison placed the covered dish on the table and slowly stepped closer to her. “Remy…”

“I’m just saying…”

“Remy Dauphine, I’m warning you!”

“I did say yes to tonight, didn’t I?”

Giggling, Allison leaned forward and draped her arms over Remy’s shoulders, coming close enough for their noses to nearly touch. “I most certainly am not—”

“Boop.”

As Remy gave Allison one of her own touches to the tip of her nose, Allison gave Remy one of her own frustrated sighs. No matter her feelings on the matter, there was no arguing with the logic. “Fine, you win. I’m…sweet. I guess.”

“I’m glad you finally decided to see reason…I guess.”

Allison looked into Remy’s eyes, the intense gaze all that she could see…for a moment. Before she realized it, her eyes drifted from the deep chocolate of her eyes to the dark ruby of her lip gloss, once again bringing a desire to mind that she was having an increasingly difficult time denying. She’d resisted the urge twice already, doubt clouding her mind and causing her to hesitate long enough to feel that the opportunity had passed. Nearly ready to throw caution to the wind, Allison stared at Remy’s parted lips and became vaguely aware that no breath was passing by them. Determination to put fears aside and half of a glass of wine for good measure seemed to have finally broken down some of the barriers between them, but there was a fear that pushing too hard and too quickly could undo the effort. For the second time, Allison settled for allowing her lips to brush Remy’s cheek instead.

No…not yet. Soon, though. I can only go so long without you.

Pulling herself away from Remy with no small amount of effort, Allison returned to the dish and removed its cover. Underneath was a sectioned plastic container filled with the makings of an elaborate charcuterie board, a vast array of meats, cheeses and fruits that Allison began removing and arranging on a stone slab that she’d placed nearby. Remy, looking slightly dazed, finally took notice of what she was doing and began watching carefully, looking as if she was taking notes. Once the work was done, Allison once again pulled the wine bottle from the glacette and filled Remy’s glass before replacing it and beginning to make her way back to her seat. Feeling a soft touch trying to hold her in place, she turned to see that Remy, suddenly blushing fiercely and looking away, had taken her by the hand.

“You…you said you wanted to show me a good time, right? Well…this is what I want.”

Still gently tugging at Allison’s arm, Remy led her to the bench seat next to her. As much as Allison wanted to protest in favor of her carefully laid plans, it occurred to her that those plans were for the sake of giving Remy what she thought she would want. Hearing Remy voice a desire outweighed all of it, even if it wasn’t following her original plan. It reminded her of the conversation she’d had with Mari and the realization that what Remy most likely appreciated about her was her willingness to give her what she truly wanted instead of what it was assumed she would expect. Again grateful to Mari for preventing her from making a terrible mistake, she redoubled her effort to set her fears aside sat down on the bench. Eyeing the cheeses, she sliced away some of the Ossau-Iraty and lifted it to Remy’s lips before carefully watching her and anxiously waiting. Seeing surprise one again fading into satisfaction, Allison smiled as she leaned against Remy’s shoulder and took a bite, herself.

This is what I want, too.