Page 49 of Nine-Tenths

Somehow the influencer got a candid shot of Dav that I am totally saving to my spank bank. He's standing in the doorway, leaning one shoulder against the jamb, head cocked as he laughs. Dav's started wearing an apron over his nice clothes (he accidentally scorched his pants the other day) and it pullsjust soacross his chest and hips.

3. The Coffee

Our drip pots, elegantly framed by the clean sleek black of the machines.

4. The Sustainable, Local, Organic Model and Female Ownership

Hadi, though she clearly posed for this one because she's giving the viewer a cheeky grin. Her hijab is a bright blue that contrasts gorgeously with the black and burnt orange decor of the café itself. Hadi looks cool and confident—a queen in charge of her empire.

5. The Coffee

This shot is of my hands, making the honey cardamom latte. I'm in the middle of pouring the milk foam in the little honeycomb pattern that took me months of practice to get right. Shit, I need to do something about my bitten-up nails.

6. The Cute Barista

Oh lord, it's me. I suppose my ears don't looktoobig in this picture. And she caught my face at an angle where it actually gives me a jaw. Moving on.

7. The Coffee

I don't remember making her companion's drink, but this shot is obviously of somebody's drip-coffee from above, on one of our café tables.

8. The Romance!

And there's the kiss. Oh god, Mum's gonna print this out and put it on her fridge.

It's a flattering, well-shot feature, for all that my consent wasn’t asked for the pictures. Irksome.

"That looks good." Hadi appears over my other shoulder, and tucks in close to sandwich me between her and Dav.

On one hand—aww, my two favorite people. On the other—invasion of personal space much? Just to cement the violation, she touches my screen to zoom in on the kiss.

"Could you not?" I say.

"It's cute."

"It'severywhere. Bee-are-bee, gonna go throw myself off the back deck."

"Do a flip," Hadi says, deadpan.

"Please don't, actually," Dav says, strained. He sounds like he's talking through a wired jaw, but it's not my potential nosedive that has him spooked. "How many people have seen this?"

"I dunno," I confess. "There's over four hundred comments on it already."

"Shit." Hadi whips her head around to stare at the wall that separates us from the front, as if she can hear the thunderous footfalls of the approaching mob of thirsty coffee nerds. "More beans!"

"Yes, ma'am," Dav says without any trace of irony, offers her a perfectly crisp salute, and gets cracking.

By nightfall, three other major social media feeds have featured the article, and Hadi has fielded half a dozen calls from industry publications.The St. Catharines Standardand the BrockUniversity Alumni Association have sent around reporters and photographers. Mauli and Dikembe stopped by to congratulate us and wheedle freebies, and Mum and Auntie Pattie have both sent me embarrassing GenX memes masquerading as congratulations.

We stay open late to manage the evening interest. Hadi heads home at nine, shooing Min-soo out in front of her and locking the door when she goes. I've agreed to stay a few more hours to prep for the morning, and suddenly Dav and I are alone in the kitchen. He's working on the last of the beans, and I'm trudging through dishes and dough prep. I'm desperate to open the back door for some cooler air, but Dav is paranoid, as if other dragons are hanging around the bottom of the slope behind the street with long lenses, just waiting for him to fuck up.

Who knows, maybe they are.

"I'm not keen on this article," he says while we lock up, just before midnight.

Christ, I am not looking forward to being in for six, but Min-Soo's got morning summer classes, and Hadi's reluctant to hire someone to share my shift with in case this burst in popularity is a blip.

Dav looks wiped, and I feel the same. We had plans for take out and hangs tonight. Instead we're both slumping back to my place, feet aching, backs sore, limp from the heat of the kitchen. I'd been hoping I could convince him to sleep over, but I think the only kind of sleeping that might actually happen issleeping.