Queen of Love

“No. Genevieve made the mess. She comes to you. I think that is the best way to do it.”

“See? You’re on to something.”

Nyla grinned. “Because I know Genevieve. She learns nothing if you go to her. She wants her love? She wants her forever after? She comes and gets it!”

Aya held up her glass. “I can kanpai to that.”

After their toast, Nyla leaned in and asked, “What is the meaning of the name ‘Mango’s,’ anyway? Genevieve is embarrassed to tell me. Must be good.”

Aya told her. Nyla immediately doubled over in laughter.

“It’s too good!” She grabbed her phone and started typing. A slew of amused Mandarin flew from her mouth until she finally said, “I have to tell Terry. She will think it is funny.”

Aya ended up not ordering another drink. She wanted to get home, where she would send a goodnight text to Genevieve and not hear a thing until the morning.

“I hope you have a lovely day,” Genevieve wrote the moment Aya woke up. “I miss you, Ms. Aya. I’m so sorry I am not communicating well. Please forgive me.”

A half-asleep Aya stared at those words, letting her eyes focus and her brain remember how to speak in English. “I miss your smile. Promise me I will kiss you soon.”

She got up to get ready for work. As she brewed herself some coffee and sliced an apple to eat with her plain leftover rice, she received a response.

“You can kiss me wherever you want.”

Aya snapped her apple slice in two.

“Prove it.”

While riding the train to work, she received the kind of picture a bunch of teenage hackers would love to get their hands on.