Anja groaned. “No Facebook. You know I’m not on any of that social media stuff. If I decide to ask a woman out, I’ll do it face-to-face.”

“Talk about the Stone Age,” Miri muttered.

Anja ignored the comment. “Besides, maybe you’ve spoiled me for other women.”

“Oh, please. We kissed exactly once, and that was enough to nearly convince you that you’re not bi after all.”

Anja chuckled. “It wasn’t that bad.”

After a beat of silence, they said at the same time, “Yes, it was.”

Their laughter rang through the darkness.

They had met a year after Anja had left the tiny little town where she had grown up and moved to Freiburg. She had been curious to explore that part of her sexuality, but she hadn’t worked up the courage to go to one of the few gay bars or parties in the area, and joining the queer sports club hadn’t been her thing either. She and Miri had finally met at the Lesbian Film Festival.

They had instantly hit it off. After the third date, Miri had kissed her. Nothing. No fireworks, no butterflies. It had been like kissing her sister, and that had confused Anja for a while. She had needed some time to figure out that just because she was attracted to women didn’t mean she was attracted to all women.

And she definitely wasn’t attracted to Susanne Wolff.

They paused when they reached the fork in the path where Anja had to go right, while Miri and Gino would head left.

“So are you sure you don’t want me to come by tomorrow?” Miri asked. “Not to check her out or anything like that. Just for moral support. I could pose as a customer so you can impress her with your amazing sales skills.”

Anja laughed but shook her head. “No, thanks. I don’t even want to impress her. She’s just here to help out for a while, not to take over.”

“Are you sure about that? Nobby is what…? Sixty-two? Sixty-three?”

The veggie Yufka they had eaten before their walk suddenly sat like a slab of mud in Anja’s stomach. “You think…?” She clamped her mouth shut, not wanting to say the words, as if that would make them more likely to happen.

Miri shrugged. “Maybe his niece is sniffing out the store to see if she wants to take over once he retires.”

Anja had been dreading the day Nobby would retire for years, but he had repeatedly assured her that she would always have a job at Paper Love, even if that happened. But with his niece at the helm, Anja wasn’t so sure about that—and neither was she sure that she’d want to work for Susanne Wolff.

For the first time ever, she was not looking forward to going to work in the morning.

Chapter 4

Chapter 4