She had said we this time, Anja realized. It made her feel better but only a little bit. Her tongue seemed to stick to the roof of her dry mouth, so she pierced the seal of her juice container with the straw and took a big sip of orange juice. Change everything. She hated that word: change. “W-what does that mean?”

“No more school supplies. No more staplers and printer paper and stuff like that.”

“But we sell a lot of them, especially in summer.”

“Yeah. But we hardly make any profit from cheap items like that because the competition forces us to sell them barely above cost. We can’t compete with department stores and big chains like Staples and McPaper.”

She was right. They could sell pencils and paper clips all day and still never earn enough to make a living. But it was still hard to let go of products they had sold for so long.

Deep in thought, Anja rubbed an apple clean on her skirt. “You want us to specialize in BMWs.” She glanced at Susanne, who stared at the apple…or maybe at her legs. Tingles spread through her body, reminding her of the way she had felt pressed against Susanne this morning. Are you out of your mind? This isn’t the time for thoughts like that.

Hastily, Susanne looked back up into her eyes. “Basically, yes. We should focus on high-end stuff and specialty items that no one else has. Maybe tie our products to our location by working with little local companies.”

Anja’s mind went in a hundred different directions at once and finally came up with a few ideas that might be useful. “Greeting cards made by artists from the region, vegan notebook covers, and eco-friendly items like pens made out of recycled plastic bottles.”

“Yes. Something like that.”

Anja pulled out her notebook and started to scribble down more ideas but then paused. “Is there a big enough market for that?”

Susanne shook her head. “Not in Freiburg alone. If we want to reach enough people to make a living, we need to do business online as well.”

Online. Oh shit. She’d been afraid Susanne would say that. “But that goes against everything we’ve been trying to do with the store.”

“Plunging it into ruin?” Susanne squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed her lips as if trying to wipe out those words.

“Ouch.” Stung, Anja leaned back against the wall, away from Susanne, who now peeked over at her.

“Sorry. That was harsh. I’m just frustrated.” She slid closer on the bench until Anja felt the warmth of her knee against her leg. “Listen. Nowadays no company can survive without a strong online presence. I don’t get why you didn’t at least set up a website with a webstore years ago.”

“Because it lacks the kind of personal touch that our customers prefer.”

“Then find a way to provide that personal touch online.”