Celeste got off work and hurried home. It was Jacob’s first day of 1st grade and she had asked another teacher to take her afternoon class so she would be there when he got home. A glance at the clock on her dash told her that she enough time to stop and grab a cup of coffee on the way. She pulled up to Beautiful Coffee and got out. Celeste stood outside in the afternoon sun and cleaned the store windows. She smiled when she saw Charlotte’s reflection in the window and turned to greet her. Charlotte gave her a big smile and skipped over the curb and walked fast to meet her. They looked at each other and Charlotte gave her a slight nod. Celeste’s face broke into a huge smile and they hugged in the middle of the sidewalk.

“I knew you would make the right decision”, she whispered and felt Charlotte chuckle.

“I knew what I was going to do before I even got to that fan meet…. granted I panicked for a moment. And I’m glad you were there to stop me”, Charlotte said and pulled away.

“I was dying to call you because no one would tell me what happened last night”, Celeste said and slipped her arm through Charlotte’s and they walked into the cafe. There were a few customers scattered around the cafe and Celeste led her to the counter.

“Really? I figured the news had already worked its way down the Shinhwa grape vine”, Charlotte let out a giggle and glanced at the menu.

“I’m probably not even supposed to know right now”, Celeste said and pulled out an empty cup and waited for Charlotte to make her choice.

“How about an iced Americano? Just a small one, I had coffee before I left work but something cold sounded really good”, Charlotte said as she eyed the cookies in the display.

“Got it”, Celeste got the shots ready to pull and added ice to the cup. She also added a free shot of caramel syrup to the cup when Charlotte wasn’t looking.

“So are you done for the day?”, Celeste said as she handed Charlotte her finished drink, “or is this just a break?”

“I’m done for the day. It’s Jacobs first day of 1st grade and I wanted to be home when he got there”, Charlotte said and decided that she would get a few cookies for Jacob’s snack after school.

“Oh it’s his first day?”, Celeste said excited and grinned, “I hope he had a great day.”

Charlotte laughed, “I just hope he didn’t talk his teacher to death. It was that way when he started kindergarten.” Celeste reached into the display and pulled out the tray of chocolate chip cookies Charlotte had looked at.

“Here”, she said as she pulled out half a dozen and tucked them into a little bag with a handle, “tell him I said I hope his day was good”, she handed her the cookies, “on the house of course.” Her pretty face split as she grinned.

“You spoil him”, Charlotte said and paid for the coffee, “but I’m sure he will love them.”

“No problem, he is a sweet kid”, Celeste said as she handed her a receipt.

“I better get home, he will be there soon”, Charlotte grabbed her coffee and the cookies and headed out with a wave. She got in her car and headed home. She hadn’t been there more than five minutes when Jacob and Tiffany bounced through the door.

“Hi mom!” Jacob said and ran to Charlotte. She squatted down and caught him in her arms.

“How was your day, baby?”, she asked him as he hugged her tight around her neck.

“Some of the kids were nice and some weren’t”, he said as he spied the cookies on the table and wiggled away to grab one.

“What do you mean some weren’t nice?”, Charlotte said as she stood up and went over to ruffle his hair gently.

“They made fun of the way I speak Korean still and I told them that I’m still learning. But they didn’t listen and teased me more”, he said through a mouth full of cookie.

“Do you want to start the classes like we talked about? It’s on the weekends and it will help you get caught up”, Charlotte said and used her thumb to wipe away a crumb from his cheek.

“The teacher said the same thing and sent me home with some papers”, he said and slipped his backpack off and pulled them out of an outside pocket and handed them to her.

“I’ll look at them later. I thought we could go out for dinner tonight”, she said as she went to set them on the coffee table.

“Anywhere!”, he said excitedly and went to grab another cookie. Charlotte smiled and nodded, “Anywhere you want.”

“Grilled meat! Grilled meat!”, he started to chant and dance around the kitchen. Tiffany and Charlotte started to crack up.

“Yes, grilled meat”, Charlotte said as she tried to catch her breath. Her purse on the table started to chirp and she went to take her phone out. She unlocked the screen and answered it.

“Hello?”, she said breathlessly as she went to lean against the kitchen counter.

“It’s tomorrow”, Jinnie said on the other end of the line. She smiled and moved the phone closer to .

“It is…. you are good at keeping tracking of time”, she said teasingly. She heard him chuckle.

“You said tomorrow”, Jinnie leaned against the wall of the dance studio, “I just finished dancing and I was going to come by, if you are at home that is.”