I take four pictures of the group and then take one of just Mark while he smiles and talks to the mayor. I stand here as everyone mingles and then start to walk to the sidewalk, and he calls my name. “Vivienne.” I walk to him, and he smiles, taking my hand.

“This is the mayor,” he says, introducing us. “He speaks French,” he says, smiling, and now he puts his hand on the small of my back. I speak French to him, and he actually answers me. I joke with him for thirty minutes until he excuses himself to leave. “Are you having fun?” he asks me, pushing the hair over my shoulder and tucking it behind my ear.

“It’s been nice,” I tell him, and then Tracy comes back, and I swear she is worse than a fruit fly. Her fake niceness when she smiles at me irritates me.

“If I could just steal him,” she says with a smile, and I wonder how it would be to throat punch someone. I’m assuming it would hurt.

“Have at it,” I tell her, smiling, and then turn to Mark. “I’ll be here,” I tell him, and he kisses my cheek and walks away with her. I take out my phone and text Karrie.

Me: Does it hurt when you throat punch a person?

Karrie: Um, I’ve never been throat punched before, but I’m assuming it would, why?

Me: Nothing. Just asking for a friend.

Karrie: I’m heading into the arena for Cooper’s game, and the service is spotty.

Me: I’ll be back home on Sunday night.

I put my phone away and look at the pink and green shop with knickknacks in the store window next to Mark’s. I walk over to the next store that has candles in the window, and I open the door, walking in. The woman stands up from behind the cash register counter. I smile at her and look at the two round tables when you walk in. Different baskets with different colored crystals. My hands reach for a pretty rose-colored one.

“You picked the one that holds the strongest love energy.” The woman smiles, and I see her close up. Her eyes are crystal blue almost like mine. She walks over to another table and comes back with a bracelet that is the same as the crystal I picked up. She grabs my hand and puts it on me. “Don’t take it off,” she tells me, and I look down at it.

I look back at the baskets and pick up another one that is pink and black, and she laughs. “You have to pull down the walls if you want love to come in.”

“Is this table just about love?” I ask her, and she laughs and then turns to walk away.