Lacuna

Chapter 13

"So, wait. We need to talk about this."

Kahli sighed. She was sitting beside Emily at the Round Table. It was fairly early, but Sonia offered them breakfast before they opened for the day, and she was cleaning the bar absentmindedly as she listened in to their conversation.

"I really don't want to talk about it," Kahli muttered.

"Do you really think they were, like, trying to hide or something?"

Kahli shrugged. She stabbed her fork into her eggs.

"I always suspected Nora had a crush on him," Sonia said. "I guess he does, too?"

Emily frowned. "I dunno," she said slowly. "Nora is the last person I'd picture him with."

"Well, it doesn't really matter, does it?" Kahli sneered, then sighed.

"It does to you," Emily said.

"No. Not really. Whatever, alright? It's just like, a dumb crush. Who really cares? People have crushes all the time. And then they go away."

"Don't tell Antoine," Emil started, "But Dr. Xu is kinda cute."

"Right," Kahli said. "It's not like you want to date him or anything."

Emily put a forkful of eggs in her mouth and spoke. "So, you don't want to date Arlo?"

"No," Kahli said confidently. "I can appreciate good looking men and not want to date them."

"That's not a crush," Sonia pointed out.

Emily swallowed. "What's the difference?"

"Thinking someone is attractive isn't a crush. I can tell you both that I think you're attractive. You are good looking women. But I don't have a crush on you. I don't want to date you."

"So you do want to date Arlo?" Emil said, turning to Kahli.

"No!"

Sonia leaned against the counter and smirked at Kahli. "Do you think about him when you're all alone?"

"Do you imagine what your life would be like together?" Emily chimed in.

"Do you wonder what he's up to throughout the day?"

"Do you want to rip his clothes off?

"Wait a minute," Sonia said, stopping Emily from speaking further. "Now we're getting into lust. Lust and crushes are different, too."

"Sure," Emily said with a shrug. "But couldn't you feel both?"

"I think lust is more physical," Sonia said thoughtfully. "Back on the idea of finding someone attractive, but with the bonus of also, you know, wanting to jump their bones. But you don't really have any real feelings for them other than physical."

Emily turned to Kahli once more and raised a brow. "You did say you needed to get laid."

"It's not like that," Kahli muttered.

"So, you have feelings for him!"

"No!" Kahli sighed and put her head on the counter. "What was wrong with just calling it a crush again?"

"I think we determined a crush means you have feelings for someone," Sonia said.

"The first step to recovery is admitting to the problem," Emily said with a grin.

Kahli thought about this for a moment. "What if I don't want to be cured?"

Emily squealed and Sonia straightened.