“Ecuador! Wow. Did you love it?” Thankfully, Lace changes the subject for me. “I really want to go everywhere one day. Wait, how did you speak to people? Do you know Spanish?” In eager anticipation of my answer, her eyes widen and her mouth stays open slightly.
I take another sip of the syrupy sweet drink and state, in Spanish, that I do know the language, having learned the basics before the mission, but that I got a lot better at it while there.
She has no idea what I am saying, of course, but seeing her eyes light up is totally worth it.
“Shut the front door!” She laughs. “Funny, though, seeing you speak the language so fluently and not expecting it with your genetic makeup. Not that there is a specific type of look that has to come with Spanish, necessarily, but it still processes in my head as quirky. You could have cursed me, and I would have no idea.”
“I promise nothing bad came out of my mouth.” I give her extra reassurance by drawing a cross over my heart just to make it as cliché as possible.
She takes another sip, smiling behind the rim of her glass, then throws my words from earlier right back at me: “Hmm. I don’t know you well enough to know whether or not you are good on your promises.”
“Understandable. How about we start with this drink and go from there?” I toss back at her.
Lace taps her fingers on the bartop, pretending to really give it some thought for a bit, just like I did, before responding. “Fair enough.”
She then places her glass down and leans forward, propping her elbows on the counter between us.
I was fine with the small separation between us, but my nerves spike having her close enough to where I can smell the faint sweetness of her drink and her warm breath as she quietly wishes me, “Happy birthday.”