Allison hummed cheerfully as she worked in the kitchen, dancing between pans on gas burners and the table where various ingredients and spices were carefully arranged. Her movements were as fluid and graceful as ever, but her usual actions performed almost entirely through muscle memory were regularly interrupted as she stopped to evaluate her next move before committing to it. Quickly glancing around to be certain that she couldn’t be seen, Mari allowed herself to smile as she quietly watched. It had become a routine for the both of them; with the end of the regular rush of customers during the peak hours of lunch service, Allison would become noticeably more lighthearted than usual as she began preparing something special and Mari would watch through stolen glances while pretending to not notice anything out of the ordinary. A silent agreement between them had been reached to politely act as though neither of them knew the significance of what had been happening nearly every day for the past two months.
Lily, however, had made a habit of making it clear that she’d agreed to no such terms as she burst into the kitchen, looking every bit as cheerful but far more mischievous. With a noticeable bounce in her step, she made her way across the kitchen floor and stopped just behind Allison, stretching to stand as tall as she could to try to look over her shoulder.
“Croque madame?”
Having long since gotten used to Lily’s interest in her new lunch routine, Allison wasn’t especially surprised to hear the musical voice coming from behind her while she was in the midst of preparing it. “I’m going with something a little lighter today. Remy’s been getting sleepy before she can get home from work. I’ll just make up the difference at dinner tonight.”
Lily seemed to perk up even more at the response, something that briefly made Allison wonder just how much energy she truly had to spare.
“Dinner again? What is this, four times this week now?”
Allison repressed the urge to sigh as it became apparent where Lily’s energy was about to be directed. “Only three that I’ve made myself. She’s cooked the other two.”
“Remy can cook?”
Both Allison and Lily looked up with mild surprise just in time to see Mari staring intently at the beginnings of the Quiche Lorraine she’d started making. Between understanding the surprise and seeing how hard Mari was trying to ignore the deep shade of red that was already flooding her face, Allison got the feeling that the kind thing to do was move past the moment.
“It’s a little hard to imagine, I know…especially if you see how she is when I’m not around. Normally, everything she eats comes out of a can or through a window. She’s been trying lately, though. She’s getting better fast, too—not that it’s much of a surprise. I’ve never seen her do anything she hasn’t ended up mastering at some point.”
Preoccupied with thinking about Remy, Allison didn’t notice how wide her smile had gotten until she caught sight of Lily’s and realized that she’d just added fuel to that particular fire. As if unable to hold it back, Lily seized the opportunity to ramp up her teasing. “Oh? Is that so? I wonder what inspired that?”
Allison huffed as she fixed her face into what she hoped was a convincing portrayal of disinterest. “No idea. Remy does what she wants to do. Half of the time, even she doesn’t know why things catch her attention.”
Lily’s eyes narrowed, making it immediately apparent that Allison’s efforts had been in vain. “Honestly, mon chou, you’re going to have to get over that little habit of yours one of these days.”
“What habit?”
“The one where you keep pretending that the two of you are just good friends and your absolute infatuation with each other is a complete mystery.”
“Don’t you think you’re reading too mu—?”
The futile denial was cut off by Lily, silenced as Lily flicked some parsley at her and hit her between the eyes. “Non. Neither do you, for that matter. I don’t believe for a moment that you’re unaware that you two can’t even stand to be away from each other. You’re spending nearly every day together now and at each other’s apartments almost every night. You practically live together.”
Allison’s heart skipped a beat. She certainly wasn’t unaware, but she hadn’t given the matter any more conscious thought than she absolutely had to, either. There was something peaceful about not thinking about things too much and simply allowing them to develop, but that made it hit just that much harder to be reminded of how far they’d come. It was true that they’d been devoting the majority of their free time to each other, their new lives settling into a comfortable orbit around each other. The mention of such a significant milestone, however, caused Allison to stop and question herself purely as a reflex.
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“Th—that’s skipping a few steps, don’t you think? I mean, it’s only been two months—”
“So you say.” Lily dismissed Allison with an impatient wave of her hand before beginning to help put the finishing touches on the croque madame. “The fact remains that things are moving forward, whether you acknowledge them or not. You seemed happy enough with that before I brought it up, so why are you worried about it now?”
Though she sounded slightly irritated, Allison didn’t miss the note of concern creeping into Lily’s voice that made it clear why she was really asking. It wasn’t a rhetorical question. “I…I don’t know. I guess I just haven’t really been thinking about it. I’ve just been…doing it. It all felt natural, so I didn’t see any reason to worry. I never had to think about it.”
Catching the room’s attention again with a deep breath, Mari looked as if she was bracing herself against the wind before speaking. “If…if that’s the case, then it sounds like there’s nothing to worry about. If everything has felt right up to this point when you weren’t thinking about it, then the only way it would be a problem is if you see one now. Do you?”
Allison’s thoughts came to a dead stop as she considered the question. Thinking back over the time she’d spent with Remy since their first date, she couldn’t think of a single example of what she would call a red flag. Despite the small voice in her head screaming its insistence that there was one to be found, all she could recall was a long and uninterrupted series of peaceful moments blissfully blending together.
“No, I…no. Nothing.”
Lily clapped her hands together excitedly, unable to completely mask her relief. “In that case, it sounds like nerves. All the more reason to keep things moving as they have been—before you find an excuse to sabotage yourself. Again.” She seemed to notice Allison’s slow build toward a counterargument and pressed on before it could take shape. “I agree that it’s too early to talk about taking that big of a step, but maybe we can find something in between.”
Trapped between gratitude and frustration, Allison defaulted to the latter for the sake of saving face. “I take it that means you have an idea?”
“More often than not.” Lily smiled widely as she turned to face both Allison and Mari, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “Harvest season will be here soon, and that gives me an idea for a new promotion. I’ve been in touch with some of the Willamette Valley wineries up north, and several have expressed interest in a bit of a collaboration. We promote their wines, and they promote us in return. Part of the arrangement is that you two have been invited to attend their annual harvests. You’ll mingle with their guests, talk about how much you love the wine and—most important—talk about exactly how you intend to make use of them here.”
As much as Allison loved the sound of the idea, she couldn’t escape the feeling that she was missing something. “What does that have to do with—?”
“It will be a vacation!” Lily jumped as she shouted the words, clearly unable to contain herself any longer. “Your first vacation with Remy! You and Mari will take turns visiting wineries and, when you go…well, there’s no reason you can’t take a plus one, is there? It’s not quite moving in together, but it’s a nice compromise, don’t you think?”
Allison couldn’t think of many things she’d rather be doing with her free time than touring wineries during the autumn harvest, but she couldn’t honestly say what Remy would think about it. At the same time, though, any time she could convince Remy to spend doing anything outside of more work was typically a benefit for both of them.
“Well, it does sound like fun. What do you think—?”
Turning to ask for Mari’s opinion, Allison was alarmed to see her going pale and looking as if she was about to be sick. It wasn’t until that moment that she remembered that interacting with strangers was her idea of hell even under normal circumstances, let alone with a business arrangement hanging in the balance.
“Listen…this sounds more like Allison’s kind of thing. Besides, I just got back into town, and…”
Mari’s voice trailed off as she caught sight of Lily’s rapidly darkening expression. It was a look that everyone in the café knew well, the look of a disapproving mother who had already done all of the negotiating she intended to do on the matter. Not even Mari was immune to it. Allison knew that there was context she was missing, so it was difficult to know if this exchange between them was more about the upcoming trip or Mari’s recent one. The only thing that Allison knew was that Mari had some personal business to attend to in California and, though Mari seemed a bit more peaceful since returning, it didn’t sound at all pleasant. Both she and Mari seemed to be searching for the words to move the conversation past its standstill, but it was Lily who broke the silence.
“Don’t worry. You won’t be going alone, either, so there’s going to be someone to help with the talking.”
Mari’s unease slowly shifted into suspicion. “You don’t mean…?”
“I’ve talked to her about it. She’s already deciding what to wear.”
The suspicion in Mari’s expression rapidly shifted to anger. “You. Didn’t.”
Lily merely shrugged and began packaging the croque madame for transport. “I did, and it will be fine. She’ll need some coaching and background information, but stop worrying. She knows enough about wine that it won’t take long to get her up to speed.” Glancing up at Mari again, Lily’s expression and voice both softened. “Really…stop worrying. Jade knows what she’s doing.”
Beginning to feel out of place, Allison quietly turned her attention to the salad she’d started preparing. There was much that she didn’t understand, and seeing the whirlwind of emotions Mari seemed to be experiencing that was culminating in her looking fearful and exhausted only gave Allison the impression that this was the wrong time to inquire further. She instead turned her thoughts toward her own business, an excitement beginning to build as she considered the next step she was about to take with Remy.