Next to the mysterious woman's pristine, brand-name outfit, Cora's well-worn Cool Beans uniform looked shabby at best. In fact, the woman could've been wearing a trash bag, and her silky, voluminous hair would be more than enough to outshine Cora's scruffy state. Still, Cora powered through her self-doubt, summoning the widest smile she could muster.

"Welcome to Cool Beans!" Cora exclaimed, likely loud enough for the majority of the food court to hear. "Would you like to hear about our brews of the day?"

Cora knew it was impossible for her volume to be ignored, and she was more proud than anxious when the woman's raised eyebrows turned to her.

"Oh, no, I'm fine," the woman said, her clenched white teeth gleaming between her dark lipstick.

"Are you sure?" Cora continued as the woman turned back towards Farron. "We just brewed a fresh batch of the house blend, and the iced tea of the day is the aromatic genmaicha. Just one whiff of it and you'll feel invigorated, like you can take on the whole day!"

"Thank you," the woman said, her annoyance barely restrained behind her stiff smile. "But I'm actually headed to Café Cha in a bit. Do you know of it? Not many people have, but I figured even you might, being in the coffee business and all."

Cora faltered. If the woman was telling the truth, then not only was she rich, but she had connections—enough to get into a café with a six-month waiting list, enough to know of a coffee shop that was so high-end, it wasn't even mentioned in the Cool Beans orientation. Sure, Cool Beans was considered the "coffee business," but Café Cha was in an entirely different league. The two couldn't be considered competition when they weren't even playing the same game.

The woman chuckled, as if she knew exactly what Cora was thinking. "Anyway, I'm just here to browse." She turned back to Farron, then took her time looking her over. "Seems like you haven't changed much."

"Natalie," Farron said, her voice soft and clipped. Her eyes darted downwards before returning to the woman's. "Seems like you haven't either."

The woman—Natalie, yuck—quirked an eyebrow before looking down as well. "Oh, these?" She laughed as she held up her shopping bags. "They're not for me. You of all people should know I like the simple life—relatively, of course. Besides, you used to like the gifts I bought you. Case in point..."

When Natalie's eyes trailed down Farron again, Cora's followed—only to stop at the elaborate dragon tattoo curled around Farron's arm. A second later, Farron slid her arm behind her back, and when she glared at Natalie, the woman returned it with a light laugh.

"No need to get so defensive," Natalie said, smiling. "I had said it was a gift, and I meant it. It's not like I expected you to cut off your arm just because we broke up."

If Cora had been holding anything, she would've dropped it just then. Instead, the only thing she dropped was her jaw as she looked between the two with wide eyes.

They had dated? How long had it been since then? Farron was interested in women? And...Natalie was Farron's type? Did Cora have anything in common with—

"So, Farron," Natalie continued. "What are you today?"

Cora's head swiveling paused on Natalie. What kind of question was that? If anything, Cora expected it to be more of a conversation starter with a child on Halloween. Common sense told her that probably wasn't the case here, and being thrown even further out of the conversation stung more than she thought it would.

But when Cora turned to Farron for clarification, her downcast eyes and hunched shoulders filled Cora with a different kind of hurt. If not for the drink in Farron's hand, Cora was sure she would've curled in on herself like a hedgehog in the middle of the store.

The thought made Cora furious enough to forget that she had no idea what was going on. But did it really matter that she didn't have the whole story? Whoever this woman was, she was awful enough to drain Farron's confidence that Cora lo—thought was really cool and admirable, obviously.

As much as Cora tried to convey that rage towards Natalie with a piercing glare, the woman continued to smile at Farron as if she had said nothing wrong at all.

"They, them," someone muttered.

Cora barely heard the whisper amidst her angry internal screaming. Even when she registered the words, she didn't recognize the soft-spoken voice, and it wasn't until she went through the process of elimination did she understand: it was Farron.

Natalie's grin widened. "Should've known. You look like you got out on the they-them side of the bed today. I'm guessing that's how you decide it? Or maybe you stepped out of the door with the they-them foot first."

With Natalie's words and Farron's silence, Cora's eyes darted back and forth—all the head swiveling had been hurting her neck. What were these two talking about? What did they know that they seemed adamant in not sharing with Cora? What did Farron mean by her whispered 'they, them'? How did that answer the question of what she was—oh.

Cora's eyes widened. Farron was nonbinary. Cora had incorrectly assumed her—their gender this entire time. And, if Cora was understanding the situation correctly, disgusting Natalie was making fun of Farron for it.

All it took was one more glance at Farron's lowered head to send Cora spinning towards Natalie, her glare stronger than ever. "What's your problem anyway?"

Natalie slowly turned to Cora, blinking as if she hadn't expected Cora to speak. "Excuse me? What makes you think I have a problem?" She scoffed. "And what does it matter to you?"

The high-pitched clattering of metal shocked Cora out of her boiling rage, and a muttered "sorry" from Kevin behind her reminded Cora of her situation. As much as she wanted to unleash her wrath right then and there, she was on the clock, and Natalie was technically in the position of a potential customer. For the second time in two days, Cora had a chance to prove her worth, and this time, she wasn't going to mess it up. Because not only was her career on the line, but she couldn't let Farron deal with such an awful woman alone.

So Cora took a deep breath and stood tall, taller than Natalie's long legs and glossy black heels could ever make her.

"It matters because you're clearly making her—" bad Cora, "them uncomfortable. They said what they wanted to be called," good Cora, "so why do you have to be so difficult about it?"

For a few seconds, Natalie's wide, frozen stare almost made Cora surrender, to avoid whatever backlash was about to be thrown her way. But Cora forced herself to stay put, even as Natalie's shock transformed into a sly sneer.

"You just slipped up, didn't you?" She sighed as she slowly shook her head. "It's not that easy, is it? Changing how you address someone on a daily basis, then being made to look like a jerk when you can't remember. So clearly, I'm not the one being difficult."

Natalie clicked her tongue, and when her eyes left Cora, Cora didn't want to see where they would land. Still, she had told herself she wouldn't back down, and when Natalie's gaze fell on Farron, Cora could only watch as Farron's head lowered even more.

Again, Natalie scoffed. "But someone is."

For the second time in two days, Cora felt herself shaking, struggling to contain her emotions. But while the last time had been an effort to hold back a wave of shame, this time, it was anger.

"Well," Cora snapped, her voice wavering ever so slightly. "If you're not going to respect..." Shoot, pronoun incoming. Which one was she supposed to use again? Just to be safe... "Farron, then you need to leave."

Natalie's wide eyes snapped to her. Shortly after, Farron's followed suit. Somewhere behind her, Kevin was probably doing the same, but Cora wasn't about to turn around to find out.

Natalie made a noise that was a mix between a scoff and an incredulous, high-pitched laugh. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me," Cora said, doing her best to sound tougher than she felt. "You... You're harassing a customer. You need to leave." Then, just to emphasize her point, "Right now."

The store was silent. As Natalie continued to stare at her in shock, Cora braced herself for history—or at least the day before—to repeat itself. While Natalie wasn't holding a drink she could throw, her shopping bags would probably hurt, assuming her words didn't finish the job first.

At last, Natalie scoffed, the rough huff like sandpaper to Cora's ears. "Alright. I'll leave. I have better things to be doing anyway. Let's just see how long you can put up with it." She smiled, and the sight filled Cora with dread. "I suppose you have a bit of an advantage, though. You don't have to spend four years getting to know someone, only to find out that everything you know about them is a lie."

With one more short, high-pitched laugh, Natalie turned and left, her glossy heels clicking against the tile floors long after she was out of sight.

The silence that followed her departure was just as welcomed as her presence. While the chatter from the food court was as loud as ever, the inside of Cool Beans only had the low hum of the ice maker and the hissing whirs of the coffee machine. Both were nearly drowned out by the thumping of Cora's heart.

If the others were carrying on with their business as usual, she didn't know. All she knew was that she was frozen in place, her eyes glued to the spot where Natalie disappeared, probably taking whatever portal to the underworld she came through in the first place. Even though Cora knew it was unlikely Natalie would return, popping back around the corner like a horror movie jumpscare, Cora had to be sure. She had to be ready.

"Cora? Are you okay?"

At the sound of the strangely soft but familiar voice, Cora forced herself to move. On the other side of the handoff counter, Farron stared at her with wide eyes. Her—their drink was clutched with two hands. Their cinnamon roll lay forgotten on the table.

It took a moment for Cora to pinpoint the emotion behind Farron's expression, mainly because she hadn't expected it from Farron of all people. But the way their gaze remained on Cora, with their brows furrowed and their lips trembling, made Cora think of only one thing: fear.

"What about you?" Cora said once she finally got her voice to work. "That...person was horrible. Are you okay?"

"I..."

When Farron's voice began to shake with that one word, that one, wavering syllable, Cora's own heart began to shake. And when Farron lowered their head, a small sniff echoing through the quiet store, Cora felt a rage burning through her like never before, as if fresh espresso was being pumped directly into her veins.

"Not really," Farron whispered towards the floor, the sound barely audible over the distant chatter.

Before Cora could respond, Farron was rushing out of the store, leaving Cora with worry and an abandoned pastry, its warmth dissipating into the cool, food court air.