#interaction.maya

The spring market always kept Emmy on the tip of her toes, especially since it's the place she ran into Verda one year, after years of not seeing each other, and also the place that eventually led to their impulsive decision to get married the previous year. Part of her couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen this year and the other part of her was happy to distract herself by meeting up with Maya, two iced teas in hand as she made her way toward the woman in the crowd, holding one out once she closed the distance. "One for my second favorite person in the world," Emmy greeted with a smile, handing the iced tea to the other. "It's some kind of special spring flavor. Lavender, maybe? Or rose? Hibiscus?" Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember what flavor was advertised when she purchased them, but gave up after a moment when it didn't immediately come to her. "Anyway, please tell me you've got some juicy gossip with your lover boy to fill me in on."

"Okay, so you have to be one-hundred percent completely honest, okay? Give it to me straight," Emmy insisted as she pushed the plate across the table she'd seated Maya at, inviting the woman to the restaurant during the day so she'd be able to get some honest feedback about a new Creole bread pudding she was thinking about putting on the list. It was an odd undertaking for her, playing around with desserts, but something about being married to a baker made her want to try a little harder at grasping the science of it all. "I know the first try isn't going to be great, so if you say it is, I'll know you're lying."

She was sure she hadn't stopped smiling for the last twenty-four hours. At least, that's what she was blaming her aching jaw on that morning as she tried to settle at the gathering of wedding guests they'd invited to brunch, knowing that even though it was hosted at Amelie's and she felt like she should be doing something to help out, her staff had absolutely everything under control. Surely if they could handle a Saturday night dinner rush, they could handle a small post-wedding brunch gathering, right? Emmy found herself approaching the woman at the table which held a pile of croissants in varying flavors, sliding her arm around her friend's waist as she pulled her close into a side hug of greeting, resting her temple on Maya's shoulder as she crooned, "I'm glad you made it, even if you're going to be forever disappointed that I'm officially off the market and unavailable for our future wedding."

She'd told her wife over text that she was planning on working late at the restaurant and crashing at her apartment that night. Most of which was true. She was at the restaurant late that night and she did, for the most part, do some work. However, that work ended up slightly intermingled with a red wine bottle she'd found in the back of a supply room, dusty and forgotten, and when there was usually red wine involved, there were usually questionable decisions to follow soon after. Nothing made Emeline Cormier a sloppy drunk like a dry dark red. Thankfully, there were no voicemails with declarations of love only for her to take back this time, just a late-night Uber and a trip to Bighorn Hills to interrupt what was probably a relaxing night for her friend. With her ride gone, she let her fist wrap against the door in two muffled knocks before leaning against the frame and taking a deep breath, the evening forest creaking around her as she waited for the door to open and, when it did, she burst into an explanation. "I know you weren't expecting me to show up until our little spa night tomorrow and I know I'm a little early, but I may have had a bottle of red wine when I was closing tonight and if I didn't come here, I would have done something stupid and I just... don't think I can handle more stupid decisions right now."

"Okay," Emmy started as they walked along the bustling street full of festival goers and vender shoppers and everyone out just enjoying a nice spring day with their dog, "This might be the most lowkey thing I've done in forever." A soft chuckle left her lips teasingly as she motioned her voting paper toward the first window display of a local soap shop they came across. "Not saying it's a bad thing. Lowkey is nice." She paused, glancing at the display again and then down at the paper in her hands. "So, what would you say the most redeeming qualities about this display are? Personally, I think the blue flower bubbles are a nice touch."

Emmy sidled up to the woman she felt like she hadn’t seen in forever, but in truth that was mostly because she missed the other’s candor in the few weeks it’d been since they saw one another. “You know, I can’t say this beats having a drink and greasy pizza in the middle of nowhere, but it comes pretty damn close.” The atmosphere was warm and cozy and the reception hall was buzzing with activity and conversation and for something that was pulled together in such little time and was filled with people she might not know, it still kind of felt like home in a way. “Now, are you going to fill me in on what you’ve been up to, or do I have to guess?”

Emmy recognized the woman she was supposed to be meeting almost instantly, despite never even seeing her face in the crowd that surrounded them at the ever-popular holiday market. A grin pulled on her lips, genuinely happy to have the chance to see her friend and cheerfully, she sidled up to the woman, placing her hands over the other's eyes from behind as she sang, "Guess who!" An amused chuckle fell from her lips, buried beneath the holiday instrumentals playing from not far away and she took a step around Maya as she turned to face her. "Okay, not a difficult guess, but I am really happy to see you and I happen to be in a fantastic holiday mood. Where should we start?"

“Why do malls always see so... drab after the holidays are over?” Emmy questioned as the two made their way up the escalator to the second story, in search of nothing and everything all at once. “It’s like, why can’t we have twinkling lights and shiny decorations all year around, in a non-holiday specific way? I think it’d really brighten the place up. Post-holiday malls are just like... a pit of despair that people drag themselves into to return whatever lame gift they got and leave because they’re broke from spending everything during the season.” It became clear, halfway through her rant about the despair found in the loss of a couple strings of lights may not have been related to post-holiday seasonal depression at all and more so about the argument she’d had with Verda just two weeks prior. It was still lingering on her mind, driving her up a wall thinking about how it had gone so wrong when she thought they were doing so well. “Anyway, enough about my seasonal depression, what’s been up with you?”