Page 82 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
“I miss you.”
She smiled, getting up and going to the kitchen. He was so silly! Goodness!
“You just saw me!”
“Can never have too much Saphira,” he replied easily. “What are you up to?”
“Just thinking about making dinner,” she said, inspecting the contents of her fridge. “What about you?”
“I made some dinner and was going to eat soon. What are you making?”
“Hm, good question.” She pulled out a loaf of bread and some turkey. “I think a sandwich?”
She put him on speaker and set her phone down, and they chatted while she quickly assembled her sandwich.
“Are you eating now?” he asked.
“Just about to sit down, yes,” she replied. “Did you finish?”
“No, I was waiting for you,” he replied. She received a notification and opened their chat to see he’d sent her a picture of his plate, which was half chicken, and half steamed vegetables, but all untouched. She smiled, sending him a picture of her plate, too.
They both began to eat, continuing to chat as they did. She knew she should probably say goodbye and focus on the littlechores that needed to be done around her apartment, but she couldn’t bring herself to say goodbye just yet. She hadn’t gotten enough of him, and she feared she never would.
“What’s Sparky doing?” she asked.
“Being a menace,” Aiden replied, sending her another picture, in which the baby dragon was being adorable, as usual. “He’s flying around, knocking into things.”
“Aww, he is too cute,” Saphira replied. “He’s getting too big, though. It’s breaking my heart.”
“God, mine, too. He needs to stop growing, actually.”
“I completely agree. We need to come up with some scheme to keep him forever this small.”
“I will start researching.”
They kept talking, and she kept the phone on as she did her dishes and unpacked her bag and did her skincare and got ready for bed, his company a constant through her entire evening.
“Okay, I think we should sleep now,” Saphira said, yawning in bed. She heard sheets rustling and knew he was in bed, too. She turned her lamp off, and then all that was left was the glow of her phone and his voice. “Goodnight, Aiden.”
“Sweet dreams, Saphira,” he said, voice low and warm.
Smiling to herself, she hung up, then released a long sigh. She kicked her feet, feeling fizzy.
She couldn’t wait to see him tomorrow—she could hardly sleep, she was so excited.
She hadn’t been this excited to be alive since the cafe first opened, when an entire expanse of possibilities seemed to spread ahead of her. There were so many ways this could go wrong, but so, so many ways it could also go exactly and perfectly right.
*
The next day, Saphira waited outside the Animal Hospital, waiting for him. He was running a little late, he had messaged her, but he would be there soon.
Saphira was restless, fidgeting. Until she saw him coming down the street. Air entered her lungs, and she met him halfway, throwing her arms around him in a hug. She inhaled the sweet scent of mint.
“Hey, gorgeous.” He kissed her neck, holding onto her tight. She pulled back, and he gave her a smile, dark eyes molten. She played with the ends of his hair as his hands moved up and down her back. She hummed, perfectly content. “Sorry I’m late, I gave Spark some of the medicine the vet had said to give him this morning and he was not happy about it.”
Saphira looked down to where Sparky was grumpily sitting by Aiden’s legs, scratching his face and growling. He was having a little temper tantrum, hissing and glaring.
“Aw, my little baby,” Saphira said, lifting him up into her arms. She gave him a cuddle, but he still fussed, upset and agitated. She made soothing noises, trying to calm him.
