Skye       April "Skye, when can I read the next chapter?” Skye West paused, looking away from the screen of her cash register and over at Liz, her coworker, who was busying herself with stocking the bar.   “Liz,” she began. “We’ve been working the same shifts for the past nine years. You’ve asked me this same question for the past nine years, and what do I always tell you?” Liz sighed, rolling her big hazel eyes.   “I can read when it’s published,” she said in a monotone.   “Okay then.”   “But…technically you are published, right? Doesn’t that count?”   “Kire Na is published; C r u s h is not published.”   “But it will be!” Liz countered earnestly.   “It doesn’t count, Liz.”   “It’s so fascinating, though,” Liz said wistfully. “Your relationship with Kaito is so beautiful.”   “It’s loosely based.”   “I don’t need the manga to show me that much.” Skye rolled her eyes, shaking her head.   “When it’s been published, feel free to read,” she told her. “But until then, I don’t know what to tell you.”   “Fine, fine; whatever.” Skye laughed. There was a pause in their conversation as they stopped to take care of a customer and then they went back to what they were doing.   “So, have you and Dave set a date yet?” Liz and her longtime boyfriend Dave had gotten engaged on Valentine’s Day of that year, and she wore a Claddagh ring, given to her by Dave (on her left hand, heart pointed outward), to represent it.   “Probably August.”   “’Probably’?” Skye repeated. “Liz, August is four months away; there shouldn’t be any ‘probably’ about it.”   “It’s no big deal,” Liz said with a shrug. “We’re just gonna go down to Santa Cruz and do it on the beach with, like, 25 people. Then we’ll go to that Italian place on Seabright Ave that I told you about; it’s not gonna be some big, over the top ceremony.”   “Have you thought about the honeymoon?” Liz’s face lit up.   “Island hopping and surfing in Hawaii,” she answered. “Two weeks of fun in the sun.” Skye laughed.   “That sounds about right.”   “I don’t really care about a ceremony,” Liz admitted. “I would’ve been fine just going to City Hall and IHOP, but Dave wanted to do a little something, at least, so we could have the pictures and ‘show them to our grandkids’.”   “That’s really thoughtful of him.”   “Yeah,” Liz said with a shrug, smiling. “I just can’t wait until we get to Hawaii.” Skye smirked, shaking her head. She was four hours into her five hour shift when a young woman entered the Coffee Bar, of an average height with brown, violet streaked hair and gray green eyes, framed by tortoiseshell glasses; she was dressed simply in a Kingdom Hearts T-shirt, jeans and black Vans, a messenger bag draped across her chest.   “Welcome to the Coffee Bar,” Skye called out to her. “What can I get for you?”   “Hi,” the girl greeted her, walking up to the counter. “I’m here looking for Sora Nakamura, the mangaka? I have an interview to do with her; has she come in?”   “Oh,” Skye said with a smile. “Well…you’re looking at her.” The girl’s eyebrows rose in surprise.   “Really?” Skye nodded, and her face lit up. “I’m Natalie, with USAnime magazine; it’s so ni