♡

Monique loved the bakery and wanted to come back with her friends. That week, they did just that after school. 

"Hey, how's my favorite customer doing today?"

"You really shouldn't say that out loud, ya' know, someone might get jealous of how much I tip you," Mina remembered the small exchange that happened just a few days ago.

"You're right. My coworkers are great and all but a girl's gotta make a living."

Later that evening, Jean-Noel invited her to dinner at Amelia's Pizzeria. He showed up with his sporty bicycle again. "I owe you for the ride last week, remember?"

"Okay, I can do pizza," she smiled at him while surveying his casual look. 

"Leave your bike here, I know where that is, and I love their pizza."

They sped off to the pizzeria and got a booth in the back for privacy. It didn't seem to be awkward anymore, guessing from the general time they spent together when Jean-Noel was in the hospital, they had gotten over that stage. He used to be at his most vulnerable, and she was a part of his literal healing process. So she felt a little need to know what had happened to stick him in the hospital for such a long time. She got the courage, and it paid off. He explained the tragic accident on the road, with less detail than she wanted, though. The two cars, his motorcycle, and the four people in all that were more or less left with injuries. Some that he knew of anyway. Added to the multiple insurance debacle. Others would think it was just something that would happen in a TV series.

'I guess that's part of the reason he wants to go back to France. I can't blame him.' She thought to herself when things went silent.

The conversation trailed onto their past mistakes and then to a lighter matter.

"You're a very interesting person, Romina. I like you." He smiled at her, a real and first-time smile. Her heart fluttered like never before. It took her by surprise. 

She drove them back to the bakery for his bicycle, and just as they were saying their goodbyes, he leaned in so close to her face they almost touched foreheads. He grabbed her cheek ever so gently and showed her the eyelash he found. It was as if they linked their minds at that moment. They both blew the eyelash away. Attentive to themselves and each other's lips in a split-second decision, their lips connected.

♥️

♠️

♥️

Walking into her apartment, she immediately threw her jacket and keys on the couch. A big breath escaped her, feeling like she ran home instead of driving.

It was then she noticed her best friend in the room,  eating potato chips and staring straight at her.

"I was at Amelia's for pizza, and I told you that the key is for emergencies only." She pointed to the key on the coffee table and gave Heidi a stern look.

Heidi had come home from the work trip, it seemed. 

"Okay, mom." Heidi rolled her eyes. "I just missed you."

"Please don't start calling me that again," She playfully smacked Heidi with a throw pillow beside her.

Mina didn't know why she was the 'mom' of the group in every group of friends they associate with on occasion. Only a couple of things come to mind; like the time Mina took away Heidi's laptop and stopped the online stalking of her first college crush, or the time Heidi almost spent too much money on a trip to Disney World after finals, and let's not forget the drunk nights and hangovers Mina had taken care of her constantly. It's not her fault she couldn't fight the need for motherly instincts to kick in.

"I won't if you promise to take me to Amelia's next time." She licked the salt off her fingers after walking off to the kitchen.

Mina told her about Barbara's arrival and the current situation with Elijah.

"So is that it? You're not going to demand an answer from him?" Heidi asked with an eyebrow raised.

"What am I supposed to do? I can't control him. If he's going to help her, then who am I to say he can't." Mina shrugged, not knowing what else to say.

"His girlfriend. Did he even think to ask you how you felt about him playing the role of her baby's daddy?"

"He's not taking that role. Besides, it's his decision, and I'm okay with it."

"Really?" Heidi asked more concerned than Mina was at the time.

Mina nodded in assurance, "Really."

"You're too chill about this, I thought you liked Elijah...well like more." She took a pause, trying to analyze Mina's face. "What's up with you?"

Mina proceeded to, kind of, paraphrase the things that had happened while she was away at work for those two weeks.

"I can't believe this..." Heidi frowned, looking more upset than before the pizzeria was mentioned. "I'm gone for a few days, and I miss a whole season of my sweet best friend's love life."

Mina giggled at Heidi's dramatic display. She did not feel like adding on to the other aspects that happened recently with a completely different person. Especially if she didn't know exactly what she was feeling towards him.

Sometime after Elijah had gone awol, probably in another city with a pregnant ex-girlfriend; Mina was doubting every bit of the work she'd been putting into their relationship. This was just everything going on in her mind above the surface.

Now that her family's catering business was actually up and running, there was a lot more work to be done than ever before. Thankfully, they had more hands on deck these days. It did make her miss the simplicity that her life held previously. And that of her submission to the magazine's article contest felt more like a fantasy. A busy bee's work is never-ending.

Although it wasn't all bad, she had a stable friendship with a French man who was rather unique. A very hot French guy whose name was on her mind more and more. They had been texting often and what some people would call light flirtation. It was a surprise to her when the former  Mr. Grumpy had turned into a total flirt. Now, she had to fight off the idea of this turning into something real. She wasn't sure what was happening with him in her life after what was supposed to be pizza and conversation. She had a pit at the bottom of her stomach, though. That kiss, her feelings, there was trouble coming that was for sure.