After a few more encounters, some might even count them as dates, with Greg, Esme asks him out.

To no one’s surprise, Greg says yes and the two set a date for the upcoming weekend.

It’s the morning of the date and Esme is standing in front of her full body mirror. Today’s fit, wide leg blue jeans, black turtleneck layered with a ivory bubble fit crewneck. Inspired by the 90s fashion that is Friends. Hair clipped up, brows shaded, lip sticked, because gloss isn’t Esme’s thing. There. Presentable. Way better than post wine night, that’s for sure.

Checking her watch, Esme decides to forgo her morning coffee and heads out the front door. In this moment, Greg is making his way to The, not so little, Little Bookshop. During their many talks, one commonality they shared was their love for books, novels specifically.

Their talk of literary worlds that provide what the real world cannot sped up time like a unwinding wind up toy. The conversation came to a halt only when one of them had to get to their next real life schedule.

On the way, Greg decides to pick up some coffee since it was still pretty early and because that was another thing he learned about Esme.

When she turned the corner, Esme could see Greg with two hot cups in his hands, standing in front of The Little Bookshop. She smiled a small smile for more reasons than one.

One, it was ten minutes before their agreed time.

Two, coffee.

And three, Greg, himself.

When she realized reason number three, she felt feelings. There was joy, anxiety, and fear to name a few. Unsure which emotion was driving the ship, she took a deep breath and walked on over.