Page 23 of Angel of Thursdays

May was beginning to get a picture of what this dynamic was. He smiled.

“Well, fine by me.”

Cassiel nodded at the counter. “Did you order?”

“Not yet,” he said. He saw it for the distraction tactic it was and decided not to call it out. “I wanted to sit down first. Speedrun strats.”

Cassiel offered a hm and for a second looked like he might actually have something to add about something, which could have been speedrunning (unlikely), more on the subject of Lauren (also unlikely), or a comment on May’s time management skills (probable). But then he simply stood up, moving out from behind the table so May was basically forced to look at his legs again, and headed to the counter. May followed.

He’d been working through Sparrow’s specials each week, written on a cute blackboard framed in natural wood that matched the flower box outside, because Cassiel paid for the drinks, meaning May could try things he’d never order on his own budget. Today he wanted real caffeine, so he ordered a rose cardamom dirty chai latte and hoped the dirty would do the trick.

Cassiel ordered his second latte, paid, and they both moved back to their spot.

“Has Auntie confirmed when the dinner is?” May asked. Miss Mary’s Mandu Dinner was pending a firm date.

“Thursday evening. You’d come straight from work?”

“No way. I’d want to go home first. Wash the Lau Kee off me before Fremont.”

“From Outer Richmond that’s⁠—”

“I’ll figure it out,” May said. The STDY payment would cover the fare, and anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.

He looked down at his phone, saw a notification from a game reminding him that his energy had replenished, glanced back up. The door hadn’t opened yet. Cassiel’s posture shifted. He did that sometimes, carefully rearranging his limbs when something was Wrong, but this wasn’t that. It was more a… bracing for impact. His eyes moved to the door, and a moment later, the latch caught, and May followed his gaze.

Lauren was not what he expected. He realized immediately that the problem was his. Cassiel had given him nothing, so his brain had generated a composite from ‘friend,’ ‘Lauren,’ and ‘Berkeley.’ In his head she was a blob of generic Bay Area girl of ambiguous ethnicity, and the composite bore no relationship to the woman currently crossing the threshold of Sparrow.

Lauren was model tall, skinny, white, slightly sunburnt, with alarmingly straight blonde hair in a blunt bob that ended exactly at her jaw. She was wearing stripey green and white shorts and a faded Japanese Star Wars tee. A pair of espadrilles and an orange handbag finished off the fit. Her eyes were obscured by aviators.

She found Cassiel instantly, dramatically lifting her sunglasses to smirk at him as she sauntered over to their spot.

“Hi, I’m Lauren.” She stuck her hand out to May. “You’re May.”

“May-be,” May said, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. “Hi, Lauren. He’s told me nothing about you.”

“Uh huh, because he gets off on being withholding.” Lauren claimed a stool from the adjacent table. She sat down, crossed her legs, and gave Cassiel an accusatory squint. “I’ve been trying to get him to send a pic or tell me anything about you for two weeks and he gave like, one adjective.”

“Which one?” May tried to think of some he’d like. Cute? Not likely. Funny? Also not likely. Interesting? That had potential.

Lauren looked at Cassiel.

“Personable,” said Cassiel, which was the second thing he’d said since Lauren arrived.

“Woooow,” said May. “I think I got that on a school report once. ‘May is personable and talkative, which can be distracting for his classmates.’”

“Personable is good,” Lauren said airily. “Coming from him, personable is basically⁠—”

“Don’t,” Cassiel said.

May grinned. He was watching somebody else orbit Cassiel and come back with the same sparkly feeling that had been building in his own chest for weeks, and Lauren had been doing this since college. She had stories. She had details. May knew now, with a pang of something, that this was Cassiel’s person. The one whose calls he took.

Lauren must have noticed the grin, because she leaned back on her stool and gave May a look that was something like appraisal but more than that. She glanced between him and Cassiel and took the pivot.

“Okay, how did you two meet?” Lauren asked.

May wrinkled his nose.

“Uh, STDY. The app. But I thought you knew that already?” He looked over at Cassiel, who was mid-sip.