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The fact that Rachel’s best friend Parvati was the lead barista on Saturdays helped Rachel could have her ith free refill tea Every Saturday
Parvati was the first one to greet Rachel as she walked through the door The café was eranted her friend a warrimace when she saw Rachel’s sorry state
“Date didn’t go well, huh?”
Rachel dropped her bag and sluin”
Parvati lowered her voice “Was the sex at least good?”
“Not good enough to put up with some of the other shit”
“That bad, huh?”
“Hon…” Rachel pinched the bridge of her nose “Smallest dick I’ve ever seen Not sure what he was so proud of the whole time”
“My God”
“Anyway” Rachel stood back up “Gonna put that one behindme down, and I’m only halfway done”
“But this is like… your seventh shitty date in a row”
Rachel grunted “It’s not that bad”
“Wait Scratch that” Parvati pointed her nose toward the ceiling “It’s your eighth one I forgot that guy you hooked up with in the back of a bar”
“So, not a date?”
“Girl” Rachel didn’t have to order her usual She ister while her friend went to work brewing her the sa for a while Or at least hooking up with guys the et desperate”
“So within the first five minutes?”
Parvati brought the teacup over, careful to lower it without spilling a precious drop “You’re never going to find a boyfriend that way”
“Howfor a boyfriend?” Rachel popped open her wallet and pulled out her loyalty card “Or a girlfriend, for that matter”
“Wasn’t going to say anything” Parvati punched her friend’s card “That’ll be 245”
Rachel was still shaking her head by the end of the transaction “You’re right, though I need to stop going out with every seuy who flirts with me For a while, anyway”
“Make it to the end of the summer?”
“Hmph” Rachel snatched her teacup off the counter “I’ll think about it”
She took up her favorite little table by the wall, far froh room to unpack her office supplies Notebook Dictionary Folder full of print-outs Laptop Enough pens, pencils, and erasers to stock a classroolasses Kinda hard to read small-print Japanese without them
Rachel had beenas a freelance translator for over three years It wasn’t the dreae, but there were only a few careers a wo, teaching was her only feasible option She had put in her ti abroad Now she subjected herself to picky clients who didn’t pay her enough for some of the shit she was forced to translate
Like legal docu clients was a laorked with different offices around the world For soal systeet to get hih” translations He hadn’t complained yet, anyway Only when she was a wee bit late because she spent etting work done Iine that I’d rather pump myself up with promises of sex than translate Japanese fa that sucked the romance out of life
Daht Rachel was on a crash course to burn out How ether? Besides,her da her rent in any way They barely paid for dinner half the time!
Rachel opened her day planner What day was it? Right June 11th Da?