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“Oh my god, that would be so awesome!” she said to Chloë. “It would make me feel like a celebrity! Oh, Vanessa told me you guys are opening another shop!”

Chloë beamed.

“We are! In fact, I’m going to be part-owner of it.”

“No way! Congratulations!”

Amy stood up to hug her friend, genuinely happy for her.

They remained standing for a few minutes, chatting, Chloë telling Amy about the new coffeeshop, which was not going to be in Carlsbad but in Encinitas. Eventually, though, Chloë had to go tend to something behind the counter and Amy sat back down.

Checking her smartwatch, her heart plummeted.

During her pleasant chat with Chloë, Amy had lost sense of the passage of time and she now discovered that it was five minutes past four o’clock! And Jillian wasn’t here yet!

Fuck!

She told herself to calm down. Her date was late, no big deal. Happens all the time. Right now, she reasoned, there were countless women around the world whose dates were late. It didn’t mean anything and it certainly didn’t mean that she had been stood up.

Her phone! Her phone was still in her bag and maybe she had missed a notification!

Rescuing the device from the depths of the purse, Amy’s face fell when the phone’s screen merely showed her the time, nothing else. Still not a big deal, she reassured herself, wishing that such thoughts could magically calm her nerves. But with each passing second, she grew more fearful, certain that she’d been stood up. Worse still, she had told Chloë that she was waiting for someone, which meant that Chloë could be, right this very second, stealing glances over at her, feeling sorry for her for being stood up!

But wait…Amy hadn’t told Chloë that she was meeting a date here, just someone. She also hadn’t told Chloë what time she was supposed to be meeting this person.

Amy rolled her eyes.

Of course Chloë would know she was waiting for a date! It was Friday evening. And of course Chloë would think she had been stood up! People don’t say, “Hey, let’s meet up at 4:07!” or “Great! See you there at 4:12!” Any idiot would know that Amy’s date was supposed to show up at the top of the hour and not…Amy checked her watch again…

Fuck! 4:09!

She sighed.

So, now, she was the freak sitting in a coffeeshop without any coffee and no date! Fabulous!

Podcast idea: Lesbian dating protocols. How late is too late?

Oh well. She started consoling herself with the fact that she had at least gotten to interview Jillian on her podcast, which was something of a major coup in the lesfic world. And just because Jillian hadn’t showed up for their date, that wasn’t something to hold against her. Jillian was literally one of the top three lesfic authors in the world, even after only four books so far! Perfectly understandable, then, why she would find it a less than stimulating use of her time to meet a local blogger/podcaster for coffee on a primo date night.

Just then, though, the bell over the door to La Vida Mocha tinkled as the door was opened and a woman rushed in.

Amy gasped.

Jillian.

And suddenly, Amy felt a lot of the blood in her body flowing south and settling between her legs.

Jillian on video was gorgeous.

Jillian in real life was spectacularly gorgeous.

The first thing Amy noticed was how tall she was! Like, model tall. With legs that seemed interminable, making Amy subconsciously lick her lips. Her lean figure was dressed remarkably like her own: skinny jeans and a tee, though Jillian’s tee was tan and sleeveless, showing off toned arms that weren’t too toned.

Amy had to swallow when Jillian finally located her and those green eyes locked with hers.

“I am soooooo sorry!” Jillian said when she reached the table. Amy stood and was delighted beyond description when Jillian embraced her. Being several inches shorter than Jillian, Amy found her face nestled against where Jillian’s long neck met her shoulders and Amy surreptitiously inhaled Jillian’s fragrances of cherry blossoms, citrus and, most enigmatic of all, patchouli.

“Don’t worry about it,” Amy said with her best smile when they separated.