Page 58 of November

India leaned over and kissed Maisie on the cheek.

“Thirty minutes?!”

“Want that latte now?” India asked with a smile.

“Yes, damn it,” Maisie said through laughter.

“Okay. Well, let me show you the kitchen.”

India took her hand again and walked them down a halland into the kitchen, which was a wide-open space that was possibly, just on its own, bigger than Maisie’s apartment.

“The espresso machine is pretty easy,” India said. “Milk is in the fridge. Just grind the beans with the grinder here.” She pointed to a small grinder. “I didn’t want the machine that does it for you because this grinder is way better. Anyway… Grind, put it in the machine, and press this.” India pointed to a button. “Then, this and that one.” She pointed to two more buttons. “Here’s the steamer cup for the milk. Just add how much you want in there and use the steamer wand. It’ll shut off on its own when it’s done. Syrups are here.” India pulled open a cabinet, and there were at least ten different coffee syrups on the shelf. “Caramel is up front because I like it, too, but use whatever you want. I’ll be right back, okay?”

India kissed Maisie’s cheek again and hurried off, leaving her in the kitchen to try to figure out what had just happened. It seemed simple enough, but this machine looked like it cost more than Maisie’s car. She tried to remember the order of everything and started by grinding the beans she saw in the glass container on the counter. Once done with that, she put the now-ground beans into the machine and pressed the buttons, but she’d not put a cup under the nozzle first because India hadn’t mentioned that part.

“Oh, shit,” she said as espresso began running down into the drain.

She quickly opened cabinet after cabinet until she found a coffee cup and put it under the nozzle, managing to catch at least half of the espresso. Then, she got the milk out of the fridge, added some to the stainless-steel container, put it under the steamer wand, and pressed the button. It turned out, the wand hadn’t been fully in the milk, though, so the pressurized air aimed down at the milk shot a bunch of it into the air and all over her face and shirt.

“Shit!” Maisie said, pushing the wand into the milk to let it steam.

“What’s wrong?” India asked, running into the kitchen,wearing a pair of jeans and a bra, but she at least had a shirt in her hands, covering her chest.

“I–”

“You didn’t check that the wand was all the way in, did you?” India laughed a little.

“Why is your coffee machine so complicated?”

“I work for a coffee company. I like good coffee,” India said and reached for a rag on the counter. “Here, babe.” She wiped Maisie’s face. “You look cute with milk all over your face.”

“That’s a weird thing to say on a first date,” Maisie replied. “And my shirt is going to smell like milk all night.”

India finished with Maisie’s face and dropped the rag to the counter. She was still holding a shirt to her chest, but she reached for Maisie’s with her free hand.

“Off,” she said.

“At least buy me dinner first,” Maisie joked.

“Take the shirt off,” India said, laughing.

Maisie had to remove one of the nicest shirts she owned, which wasn’t saying much, and India held out the shirt she was holding.

“Wear this. I’ll grab something else.”

Maisie swallowed as she looked down at her date’s full breasts that were held only in a black lace bra.

“Yes, I just put this on. It’s my date bra. What do you think?”

“You have a date bra?” she asked, putting India’s shirt on quickly to cover her very non-date bra.

“I have a few. Maybe you’ll see all of them one day,” India teased.

“I own, like, three bras, just so you know.”

India laughed and asked, “Do you want me to get you a sweater or something?”

“No, I have one in the car.”