For a few moments after Hriva said his name, the café felt too small.
The clatter of a spoon against a ceramic saucer at a nearby table. The soft whoosh of the espresso machine. The hum of jazz above it all. But none of it reached the four of them the same way.
Because Jake's name had landed like a pebble in the middle of calm water, sending ripples outward through the space between them.
Mira blinked once. Slowly.
Zara leaned back like she needed to physically adjust to this new version of reality.
Niyah just stared.
Hriva kept her hands wrapped around her cup, fingers warm against the ceramic, as if grounding herself in its heat would help steady the flood she'd just let loose.
"You've been seeing someone," Zara repeated softly, but her tone carried more weight than surprise. "And you didn't tell us?"
Hriva looked down. "I didn't mean to keep it from you. It just... happened fast. And then it started feeling serious before I knew how to explain it."
Mira finally exhaled. "Serious? As in, you're not just messing around?"
Hriva shook her head. "No. I'm not."
The air around the table shifted. Like all three of them leaned in emotionally even if their bodies hadn't moved yet.
Niyah nudged her glass away slightly and folded her arms. "You? Quiet Hriva? The slow-burn, long-game, 'I don't even like first dates' girl? You've been in a relationship this whole time?"
"I wasn't looking for it," Hriva murmured, her voice quieter now. "It just… found me."
Zara rested her chin on her hand, studying her. "Okay. Start from the beginning. Not the fairytale version. We want the full story. Who is Jake?"
Hriva hesitated. She hadn't said his name out loud like this, not to anyone outside his world. Not to anyone who didn't already see them together.
Even saying it now felt like peeling back something private. Something warm and sacred.
But they were waiting. Eyes open. Hearts cracked just enough to let her in again.
She drew a breath.
"He's... patient. But he doesn't feel slow. He listens in this way that makes you want to say more, even when you weren't planning to. He writes music. Not for fame. Just because it's how he breathes."
Zara's expression softened. "You've got that tone in your voice."
"What tone?"
"The one people use when they don't realize they're already in love."
Hriva blinked, startled.
"I'm not saying it's a bad thing," Zara added. "It just means it's real."
Niyah tapped the table slowly. "Where'd you meet him?"
Hriva's lips curled slightly. "At a party."
Zara gasped. "You? At a party? This story is already unbelievable."
"I wasn't supposed to be there. It was a music event. I was just passing through. And then... we talked. For hours. It was like... like we already knew each other. Like picking up a conversation that had started somewhere else."
Mira leaned forward now, fully engaged. "And you kissed him that night?"
"No. Not that night. But he asked to see me again. And I said yes."
She paused, thinking back to that first moment in the crowded room. The way his eyes had found hers. The quiet gravity of it. The way everything had tilted slightly without feeling rushed.
Zara stirred her drink absentmindedly, gaze unreadable. "So how long has this been going on?"
"A while," Hriva admitted. "Weeks. Maybe more. I stopped counting days when it started to feel like I wasn't keeping time anymore."
"And you just… disappeared into him?" Niyah asked, her voice softer now. Less teasing. "That's why we didn't hear from you?"
Hriva nodded once. "I didn't mean to drift. I just... I was falling. And it felt too new to explain."
Mira rested her hand over Hriva's on the table. "We get it. We just wish you'd let us in sooner."
"I'm trying to now," Hriva said. Her voice caught a little at the end.
And for a long pause, they were all just still. Four women in a familiar café. But something had changed between them. Not in a bad way. Just... shifted.
Then Zara spoke again.
"All right," she said, the sparkle creeping back into her eyes. "We need details. All of them. How's the chemistry? What's he like when it's just the two of you? Is he spicy?"
Mira laughed. "Zara. Let her breathe."
"No, no," Niyah chimed in. "I want to know too. You can't drop a full relationship on us and not expect questions."
Hriva flushed, but she smiled. A real one this time. "He's... different. In the best way. And yeah, the chemistry is very much there."
Zara leaned closer. "Spicy?"
Hriva took a sip from her drink to buy a few seconds.
Then, with a slightly wicked smile that surprised even her, she said, "Let's just say... I've stopped being afraid of mornings."
All three girls screamed in unison.
Several people turned. One barista actually ducked behind the espresso machine with a grin.
Mira covered her mouth. "No way. No way."
Zara fanned herself. "You're kidding. You? You said that?"
Niyah squealed. "I need a drink. Someone get me vodka."
And just like that, the energy shifted again. Louder. Brighter. Hriva's tension slowly unwound, replaced by the soft high of being seen, and not just seen, but accepted.
Her world had grown bigger. Her love deeper.
And now, for the first time in weeks, it felt like her past and present were no longer in conflict.
They were sitting at the same table.