She lets out a deep breath and then reaches under the counter. She brings up two empty wineglasses. They look the same as the ones from the photo. I had noticed the slightly angular bowl and very thin stem. “I think it’s time for some wine training at the cruvinet. We don’t usually drink at work—not much, anyway—but if this doesn’t call for it, I don’t know what does.”

She comes over and starts on the far-left end with a pinot gris.

“This one has notes of lemon cream, a bit of rosemary, goes well with delicate fish, blah blah blah.” She hands me my glass and then we clink.

“Cheers,” I say.

“Cheers indeed. Okay, so, Cillian. God, this is so odd that you don’t know. I feel like I’m recapping an entire television series so you can jump in and watch when I remember seeing every episode with you and you deny it ever happened. All right, okay. So.”

I sip from my small pour of wine. It’s very good. “Mm. That’s delicious.”

“You and Cillian first met when you were in school. You got here, and you didn’t know anyone yet, and you used to go read at the coffee shop. He passed by you all the time, and thought you were pretty. Then one Friday night, you went to the pub when the café was closed, and you started reading there instead.”

“Sounds like I had a real wild college experience.”

“Oh, you did, some, but you were a bit of an introvert before Aimee got here. And before you met me, of course, and I helped pull you out of your shell.” She twirls her hair and then says, “You’re welcome for it, by the way. Let’s move on to the Torrontés. A bit dryer, notes of chili pepper and lime.”

I’ve never been called an introvert in my life. But when I picture what I was afraid of when I stayed home in Florida instead of coming, it was that I would be too shy. That I am only confident in my comfort zone, but unlikely to thrive in a bigger pond.

As I often do, I tried to do things the easy way and found myself doing them the nearly impossible way. Don’t get off the couch to fetch the glass of water on the table five feet away; bend inelegantly over the arm of the couch instead, tugging on the coaster beneath the glass and catching it before it falls. I could have gone to Avalon, instead I went to LA.

I take my sip. It’s even better than the first. “Okay, so I was at the pub.”