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“Nice to meet you.” Megan held up her mask. “You sure you don’t mind…?”

“No, of course not. It’s actually nice to see someone’s entire face in here, you know?”

Megan nodded as she sipped her Americano. “Mmm...I know what you mean. Although, I think that maybe this pandemic is, like, reawakening some long-buried instincts we humans forgot we had.”

Oh God, did I wake up today and decide to be Super Nerd?

But, surprisingly, Vanessa seemed interested. She even leaned forward a bit.

“Ooh, say more,” she said.

Blushing at having revealed her nerdy super powers, Megan ploughed on.

“Um...I just mean that...well, for example, even though I just met you and even though I know nothing about you, I just knew somehow that I’d be perfectly safe sitting here without our masks on. That we—you and I—don’t need masks to sit and talk. So, it’s like this pandemic is causing a sense we didn’t even know we had to reawaken. It’s like—”

“It’s like we’re the zombies in World War Z!” Vanessa interrupted. “Able to sniff out a healthy host.”

Megan’s eyes went wide, totally getting the reference.

“Oh my God, I love that movie!”

“Me too! It’s one of my comfort-food films,” Vanessa said. Then, adorably, her cheeks flushed pink. “Jesus, was that, like, a super nerdy thing to say?”

Megan laughed. “Probably, yes. But I love sci-fi so you’re lucky, you couldn’t have a better audience.”

Vanessa grinned. “Well, I figured I might be safe once you used Fortress of Solitude in a sentence.”

Now it was Megan’s turn to blush. “The funny part is, I don’t even like superhero movies. I mean, the 1978 Superman is cool in a totally retro way. And Michael Keaton’s Batman from eighty-nine was awesome, but all of these new ones...” She shook her head.

“I know what you mean. An ex-girlfriend of mine took me to one of the Avengers movies back when it came out. I didn’t want to go because I hadn’t seen any of the previous movies and so I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to follow the plot, right? Turns out I shouldn’t have worried. All you need is a fourth-grade education, so I was good.”

Megan found herself laughing again. Vanessa had a great sense of humor.

And thanks for confirming my gaydar still works.

“Thanks for joining me,” she told Vanessa. “I was totally prepared to spend the evening on my own, just me and my art, but I don’t know, once we started talking, I guess I realized I wanted some kind of interaction. Anyway, I appreciate your company.”

There was a moment which passed between them after Megan said that, she was sure of it. Vanessa’s eyebrow had arched so imperceptibly that Megan at first thought she imagined it but no, she was sure it had happened. A flush that was nowhere near her face bloomed and spread. Suddenly feeling obvious, Megan looked around the coffeeshop while crossing her legs again.

“Are you sure your boss won’t mind you sitting here? With me? A potentially contaminated customer?” she asked.

She noticed Vanessa’s face color that adorable pink again as she smiled shyly.

“As it turns out, I’m the boss.”

“No way!” Megan exclaimed. “Wait...like, manager or…?”

“Owner.” The pink got deeper.

Oh my, she’s modest. Could she get any hotter?

Vanessa shrugged and waved her arm, indicating the vacant shop.

“Yep, this is my bustling coffeeshop,” she said. “Nice, huh?”

Without thinking, acting solely on instinct, Megan reached forward and placed her hand on top of the one Vanessa had draped on the back of the sofa. She gave the hand she was now covering a gentle squeeze. And though she had made the gesture to comfort Vanessa, Megan couldn’t deny that the sensation of touching her sent thrilling shivers which quickened her pulse.

Chapter 4