Janis did, in fact, agree to meet up with us. We got to the ice cream parlor a couple of minutes early, and found her already waiting for us, at a table.

“Hey girls,” she said, when we walked up to her. “I’m glad you invited me.”

“And I’m glad you accepted,” said Lydia, sitting down. She pulled my arm, to make me sit down as well. I wondered about that. Weren’t we gonna get ice cream?

“So...” Janis began to say, “...what’s the issue?”

“Hannah needs love advice,” Lydia declared, without hesitation.

I almost fell off the chair. “What I need...” I said, “...is ice cream.”

“Help yourself,” said Lydia. “Could you get me a diet coke too? What about you, Janis. It’s on me.”

Janis shook her head. “Nothing for me, thanks. I’m good.”

I furrowed my brow. “Aren’t you going to get ice cream, too? I thought that’s what we’d come here for.”

Lydia snickered, and Janis covered her mouth with one hand, to hide a smile.

“Getting ice cream is our code for needing help with personal problems,” Lydia explained. “You would have known that if you’d been out with us more.”

I frowned, embarrassed, and went to get Lydia’s drink. I ended up not getting ice cream for myself, either. I was ridiculously nervous about the whole situation with Amelia, and about asking Janis for help, I didn’t feel like eating anything.

When I came back and sat down, the two girls interrupted their conversation about college, and waited, expectantly, for me to explain what was going on. I frowned, then stuttered, sighed, and asked Lydia to explain things on my behalf.

“It’s really simple,” said my friend. Then she spoke the next bit with such haste that I found it hard to follow. “Hannah likes Amelia, and it seemed yesterday that Amelia was into Hannah as well, but at some point they flirted with each other, then Amelia said she’d be willing to kiss Hannah, and Hannah kind of rejected her, then, saying it was all a ‘weird joke’, and after that Amelia stopped flirting, so now we don’t know if Amelia actually likes Hannah back at all, or if Hannah hurt her in some irredeemable way, and I really can’t help because I don’t know the first thing about gay relationships, and I just thought ‘hey, Janis can help’, so we came to you, hoping you’d be better at offering us some insight into this, since you’re both gay and Amelia’s friend.”

There was a moment of silence. I shifted in my seat, uneasily. I wasn’t even sure if Janis had understood everything Lydia told her, then. My childhood friend could be rather incomprehensible at times, when she got too anxious and excited about stuff.

Fortunately, it seemed Janis was able to grasp at least some of it.

“Well, Hannah... what did you tell Amelia, exactly?”

“Just what you heard,” I said, shrugging. I found myself telling the exact same story twice that day. “I mentioned it would be hard to find someone who would want to kiss me, then she said that wasn’t true. Then I asked her if she would kiss me, and she said she would. But I turned away after that, and told her I was sorry, and that I had made a weird joke.”

Silence again.

“That’s it?” Janis asked.

I pursed my lips, and nodded.

Janis smiled. “Well, if that’s the case, I don’t think you have anything to worry about, Hannah. I spoke to Mel on the phone yesterday, she said she was glad to have met you, but she was worried you were straight and might have gotten uncomfortable with the way she acted. She gets a little flirty around girls her type.”

“Girls her type!” I exclaimed, dumbstruck. Janis laughed.

“Yeah, you’re totally Mel’s type,” she said, making me blush. “Anything else you wanna ask?” said the girl, smiling. “Her phone number, maybe?”

I secretly hoped the earth beneath my feet would open up and swallow me.

“Okay, Janis, you’re overstimulating her,” said Lydia, intervening. “Let’s just leave them be, for the time being.”

Janis giggled. “Sure thing. One last word, though. Hannah, I know we may not have spoken to each other much, at uni, but if you ever need my help with... well, anything at all, don’t hesitate to ask.”

I nodded, and thanked her for the help.

“Also...” Janis took a paper napkin from the counter, and scribbled an address on in. “Here,” she said, handing it to me. “Mel works there most days from 7 to midnight. In case you’d like to see her again.” She winked.

---

What was I doing?

I couldn’t believe I was just about to go spy on Amelia at her workplace.

I walked the street at night, feeling like a stalker — which I was. The address Janis had written on the paper napkin led me to a small pub built inside the basement of a liquor store. I almost turned away and left. The people who were standing outside all looked to be in their thirties, and were dressed rather finely. How shameless would a nineteen-year-old like me have to be to enter a place like that alone?

I shook my head. Be brave, Hannah, I told myself. You’re not doing anything wrong. Apart from stalking this girl you only met once before, that is.

The crowd outside the pub dispersed, and I saw that as my opportunity to walk in. I went down the stairs that led to the front door. There, a tall girl in a blazer asked me if I had a reservation. She was holding a clipboard and ticking off names when people walked in.

“I... didn’t realize I needed one,” I told her.

She checked the spreadsheets on her clipboard. “Nah, we’re not full today, so you’re good. Table for how many?”

Would it be weird to ask for a table for just one? Besides, I wasn’t planning on spending any money that night. Maybe I should just come out with the truth.

“Actually, I just came to see if I could find a friend of mine. I think she works here. Her name’s Amelia.”

The attendant stared at me, eyebrows raised, probably wondering what kind of lunatic I was. She gave a once-over, and smirked contemptuously.

“Amelia never said she’d be expecting a friend tonight,” said the woman. “Are you even really her friend? Where do you know her from?”

I hesitated. “F– from a party.”

The woman scoffed. “You met her at a party, and now you’re coming to her workplace? Do you have any idea how bad that sounds? You’re basically a stalker.”

And you’re basically a jerk, I wanted to say.

“Are you really not gonna let me in?”

“I—”

She was interrupted when a redhead wearing a similar blazer came to the door to ask her if there was a table for four available. My jaw dropped.

Amelia looked absolutely dazzling in a blazer.

It took her a moment to notice I was there. When she did, her lips parted in a beautiful smile.

“Hannah!” she said, beaming. “I didn’t expect to see you.”

“She was stalking you,” said the girl with the clipboard, in monotone.

Amelia giggled. “Wait, what?”

I felt my cheeks grow hot again. “I... err... Janis gave me this address.”

The other woman scoffed. “Oh, for Christ’s sake, not another of Janis’ friends.”

Amelia shook her head. “Don’t mind her,” she told me, “come in, come in,” she motioned for me to follow her, and I did.

The pub was a rather interesting place. Its walls were stone, and probably as old as the city itself. There were lots of people in fancy-ish clothes chatting over wine and spirits. The staff all wore the same uniform: black blazer plus white shirt and jeans, a blend of formal and casual. It looked good in both men and women.

Particularly in women.

Especially in Amelia.

Holy shit, was I glad to have gone there that night...

“Can you wait a while?” she asked me. “I’ll ask someone to take over my shift so we can have some time for ourselves.”

“Oh, you don’t have to,” I said, hurriedly. “I mean... I don’t want to be a bother.”

Amelia tilted her head and smiled at me, and my heart melted.

“I’ve been meaning to talk to you,” she said. “Didn’t you say you wanted to go on adventures? Let me take you on one, tonight.”

“I... all right...” I replied, dazed.

She led me to a two-seat table in the corner, which was a nice gesture, since I would have been rather uncomfortable to sit somewhere more exposed. Then I sat down and watched as Amelia carried on with her job.

This, I realized, was pretty nice. I could watch her all I wanted, and nobody would judge me for it. At most, they’d think I wanted to ask the waitress for something.

A few minutes later, one of the other waitresses came to my table. I assumed she was going to take my order... which would be a problem, because I hadn’t even looked at the menu yet. But rather than that, she simply placed a glass of black tea on my table, as well as a small tray with bread slices and cheese.

“I didn’t order this,” I argued.

The waitress winked at me. “It’s on the house, honey. Courtesy of your friend over there,” she pointed over her shoulder. I leaned sideways to look, and saw Amelia waving at me.

The waitress leaned in, and whispered. “If you don’t mind me asking... are you her girlfriend?”

I stared back at her, wide-eyed. Do her coworkers all know that she’s gay?

“N– no,” I said, stuttering. “We’re just friends. We only just met, the other day.”

“Ah,” said the waitress, simply. “Well, excuse me for the indiscretion, then.”

She turned around, and left.

I took a tentative sip of the black tea, and was pleasantly surprised. It was cranberry-flavored, and I loved cranberries. I did wonder, thought, whether this had just been a coincidence or if Lydia hadn’t been involved in spilling all my secrets to my crush.

It wasn’t long until Amelia returned to my table. Unfortunately, however, she wasn’t wearing the blazer anymore. Her regular clothes didn’t flatter her as much as that uniform did.

“Okay, I’m done,” she said. “Tally will cover this shift for me, she’s on her way here already.”

“Is it really okay for you to leave?” I said, hesitantly.

“Eh? Of course,” said the girl, surprised. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

I shrugged. “Sorry, I just don’t know how these things work.”

Amelia smiled at me again. She had a way of smiling that made me feel all giddy and cheerful. I caught myself thinking that wanted to see her smile that way a lot more.

“Don’t worry about it,” said Amelia. “So, ready for our adventure?”

I nodded, and followed her as she led me outside. On my way through the door, I could feel clipboard-lady glaring daggers at me, and I hurried up the stairs before she could say anything to me again.