A Little Birdie Told me
(Chapter 1-3 put together from my AO3)
Paige is the head writer and editor for a widely popular and well received newsletter and magazine company called Written In Ink. Azzi is three months out of college with a BFA in photography from Northeastern University and a bowl full of something called a "broken heart".
Side note: I'm a slow writer with zero motivation to do anything, so chapters will probably come out every like week or whenever I get motivation. Also this is extremely slow paced so do be wary.
Warnings: Age gap and minor cases of whiplash(for the readers)
WC: 5.8k
Get a grip, Fudd.
Azzi's POV
September 6th, 2025. 07:33 PM
Azzi lay face down on her bed surrounded by a handful of unhelpful friends who seem to be unhealthily interested in her life- or the life Azzi claims to not have anymore after her boyfriend of three and a half years broke up with her an hour ago to be with his "girl best friend". On top of that, she had a job interview scheduled in one day as a photographer for Written In Ink, great.
Azzi groaned as Caroline swiftly pulled off the blanket covering Azzi in one fluid motion, throwing it to the floor.
"Get up, Azzi. Sulking in bed won't do you any good if you have a job interview that determines the rest of your life in"- Caroline checks her phone for the date-"one day." Caroline said as she crossed her arms, standing over Azzis bed like a disappointed mother.
Sarah quietly folded the discarded blanket and placed it on the edge of Azzis bed.
"Ughhhh. Just leave me alone. And where did my blanket go?" Azzi mumbled into her pillow, burying her face deeper in the soft cushion.
Kk rolled her eyes and pounced on Azzi like a cat who just realized it could jump, ripping the pillow out of her tight grasp and pushing her until she rolled onto her back.
"Girl boo this is why you should date women instead. Those types of people are just...disgusting." Kk makes a gagging sound, physically unable to say the word "Men"(ew even I gagged- #lesbian!!!)
Azzi looked at Kk incredulously, as if she had just said that 1+2=93 and not... whatever it did equal. Azzi didn't have time to dwell on what Kk had just said, maybe she'd circle back to that later- or never for all she cared.
All she could think about were the last four words her boyfriend- or ex boyfriend - had said to her before he walked out of Azzi’s apartment with his arm around his girl best friend- or now girlfriend she supposes. Those four words had just been the new kryptonite to her superwoman.
'You'll get over it.'
Those words replayed in her mind thousands of times before Yanna snapped her fingers at Azzi.
"No overthinking muchacho. You've done quite enough of that in the last hour. You need to loosen up a bit. Doesn’t hurt to get back out there when your ex is garbage anyway.” Yanna shrugged
Azzi made a mental note to never let Yanna share her opinion on relationships ever again.
“Now that’s a woman with common sense! See, Azzi? You just need to let go of Ethan! Plenty of fish in the sea.” Kk said with far too much jubilation for a grown woman whose best friend just got their heart broken.
Azzi added Kk to that mental note with Yanna.
“Just leave me alone.” Azzi groaned while trying to grab the pillow back from Kk.
Sarah, Yanna, Kk, and Caroline all shared a knowing look before Sarah finally spoke up after being quiet the entire time.
“Look, we get that you’re hurt, and angry, and sad, and everything else in between. But you have to understand, we’re not letting you hang onto some guy who just broke your heart by cheating on you. You don’t deserve that. You’re Azzi fucking Fudd. The most beautiful, kind, caring, smart, and deserving girl we know. So you’re going to get the fuck out of that bed and come out with us. And yes, I said ‘us’.”
Azzi made a mental note to always go to Sarah first for quite literally anything.
“Damn girl you got Sarah to swear twice in one day and come out with us? That's a win in itself.” Kk said with the most pure of excitement.
“Fine, but I'm not going home with anyone and if I catch any of you plotting to set me up with someone I’m leaving. Got it? Now leave so I can get ready.” Azzi said while swinging out of bed and rolling her eyes so hard they might as well have just gotten stuck.
The group of four immediately scrambled to get out, not pushing further with Caroline yelling back “We’re picking you up at 8:45!”
______________________________________________________________
Azzi had left the shower with just her towel on, wrapping it around her tightly and folding it in at the top so it didn’t fall down and have her accidentally flash the whole of Boston(yes, Boston. Not sorry for being a basic bitch).
She crossed the room to her armoire and pulled out the bottom drawers. She dug through her endless pile of clothes before settling on a black leather mini skirt with a small two-inch slit at the left thigh. She then opened her top cabinet of the armoire and pulled aside hangers of clothes before her hand found the familiar feel of the soft cotton brown long-sleeve top she had. Azzi also pulled out her black leather jacket and her leather boots(I’m in a leather mood ig) that rode to a few inches under her knee.
Azzi had let her towel drop and pulled on a pair of underwear along with the rest of her outfit. She let her hair be left out, knowing it would look fine being untouched, and grabbed her favorite pair of sunglasses. She glanced at the clock, 8:43, perfect.
Moments later, she heard the unmistakable sound of Kk’s hushed yelling, followed by the sound of a knock at her door. Azzi walked over to open her apartment door and was immediately met with the sound of gasps and jaws halfway to Australia.
“Holy shit.” Sarah muttered
“You just got a third swear out of Sarah, Azzi. Three. In one day.” Yanna said, barely getting the words out of her mouth.
“Azzi, you look like… like a princess. No, a fucking queen.” Caroline gushed
Kk hadn’t said a damn word. Maybe the first time in her life she had stayed quiet for more than thirty seconds.
Azzi held her car keys up in her hand, jingling them. “Let's go?”
The five made their way down to the garage under Azzi’s apartment where her car was kept. The group kept squealing about how good Azzi looked and how she’d find a new man in no time, which earned them a stern look in the rearview mirror.
They arrive at a bar downtown just twenty minutes from where Azzi lives, the four already unbuckling before Azzi can even park the car properly. After Azzi parks, the five hop out of the car and make their way into the bar via the back entrance(fancy ik).
“Woah, this place looks… insane.” Yanna raved as they entered after the security guard checked their ID’s.
The interior was complex to say the least. Having the old fashioned polished wood type of finish that was lined with blue and red LED lights, yet it still held an expensive sort of modern luxury. A look that said ‘We’re expensive, but we still love to party and do crazy shit.’
Which is exactly what the group was met with. Rich frat boys in one corner of the bar at a table hyping two guys up as they threw back seven shots of tequila at once trying to race each other in who could finish them faster. The other corner held a group of girls in tight dresses who looked all too judgy sipping on their radioactive looking cocktails while laughing loudly at anything one of the girls said. Azzi immediately knew they all secretly hated one another.
They took their spot in the corner of the bar and Azzi offered to take everyone's order, offering to pay for drinks as well.
“I’ll have whatever Caroline's having.” Kk prompted
“Same here.” Yanna added
“I’ll take a gin and tonic.” Caroline shrugged
“Get me something fruity, k?” Sarah said, which earned many groans from the group.
“You’re no fuuuuuuuuuun.” Kk groaned which received an eye-roll from Sarah
“Okay so, three gin and tonics, one fruity drink, and I'll get a rum and Coke?” Azzi clarified, earning her a nod back from the four.
Azzi left the table and started weaving through the crowd to get to the bar. She started to notice men eyeing her from across the bar- which for the first time in her life, actually felt gross. She pushed the unfamiliar thought aside and focused on the task at hand. Three gin and tonics, one fruity drink, and a rum and Coke.
Three gin and tonics, one fruity drink, and a rum and Coke.
Three gin and tonics, one fruity drink, and a rum and Coke.
Three gin and tonics, one fruity drink, and a rum and… Coke?
Why Coke? Why not Pepsi? Not like Coke did anything special. Fuck it, I’m asking for Pepsi instead.
Three gin and tonics, one fruity drink, and a rum and Pepsi.
Azzi waves the bartender down and starts her order. She also chose to make Sarah drink something a bit stronger(heh, strong. Ik im funny haha).
“Three gin and tonics, a gin and juice, and a rum and Pepsi.”
“Pepsi, you sure? Not an order we usually get.” The bartender replied with a kind smile only a father could make.
“Just thought I'd switch it up, y’know? Not like it's illegal.” Azzi shrugged.
“You’re a funny kid, y’know that?”
“Ive been told.” Azzi laughs out.
“Three gin and tonics, a dry gin and juice, and a totally legal rum and Pepsi coming right up, ma’am.”
Azzi nods back politely and sits at a stool waiting for her drinks. She pulls her phone out to check any updates about her interview the following day and sees it's been rescheduled to 5:30 PM instead of the original 3:30 PM time, which helped loosen her shoulders knowing she had extra time to prepare.
She suddenly feels more aware of her surroundings as a woman sits down a few stools from her, giving her a slight side-eye before she sits. The woman looks to be late twenties to early thirties, blonde hair up in a slick-back bun tied neatly at the middle-back of her head and hands that looked far too good to be anything other than gay. The woman appears to be wearing purple rimmed glasses that rested neatly on the bridge of her nose along with a white button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and black suit pants with dress shoes.
Azzi Fudd had never felt more confused in her life. But also never more certain.
______________________________________________________________
Paige’s POV
September 6th, 2025. 09:05 PM
Paige had just left work after staying four hours overtime doing paperwork for having to fire her chief editor after she had a plethora of complaints about him from women around the office saying he ‘always looked too long’ and ‘didn’t know what personal space was’. Which Paige had zero tolerance for, no matter how well the employee performed.
Before she left though, she had informed her secretary, Aubrey, who was also one of her close friends, to postpone the job interview she had for the new photographer position. Aubrey set it to 5:30 instead of 3:30, which also meant Paige could have a little time to herself before the interview to collect herself.
Paige had gone straight to her friend's bar downtown, walking in the door and immediately feeling lighter. She walked over to the bar and saw that a girl she hadn’t recognized was sitting at her usual stool, she didn’t mind though, just sat at one three stools down.
Paige could feel the girl looking at her, but she kept a straight face until the bartender had handed the girl a tray of drinks, which she assumed had been for the girl's friends. Paige waited until the brunette left before she opened conversation with the bartender, Abe, who had known Paige as a regular and already had her usual drink in front of her.
“Who was that?” Paige inquired as she took a sip of her whiskey.
“I dunno, wish I did though. The girl ordered a rum and Pepsi, though. Said she thought she'd switch it up, since it's not illegal. Funny gal.” Abe replied as he cleaned a mug.
“Rum and Pepsi? Maybe you outa give me a try.” Paige grinned.
“I’ll let you nurse that whiskey for a little bit like you always do before that.” Abe said knowingly.
“You got me this time, Abe.”
“Don’t I always?” Abe smirked before being waved down by a separate group.
Paige took this time to think about the girl from before. Tall, almost as tall as her, curls that framed her face perfectly, her face looking structured but not fully grown into yet, definitely muscular yet seemed more feminine. Paige could once again feel the eyes of the girl burning into the back of her head. But she felt… uncertainty? As if the brunette was trying to figure something out and she couldn’t.
She didn’t dare to look back, keeping her eyes on the drink in front of her and the polished wood it sat on. She only looked back up when Abe walked back to her after serving the other group.
“Something on your mind, kiddo?” Abe asked.
“I… I think that girl from earlier at the table back there is staring at me.” Paige responded with uncertainty.
“You’re right, she’s been lookin’ at ya for quite a bit.” Abe said knowingly without looking up.
“How long?”
“Only the last few minutes. Barely had any of her rum and Pepsi. Rude.”
“Yeah… right…”
She takes a final sip of her whiskey, downing it in one go. The taste burned in her throat, but she needed it after her hectic day at the office.
“Slow down there, kiddo. Ain’t you got work tomorrow?”
“Yeah, interviewing a new hire for a photographer position. But fuck it.”
“You sure you wanna be drinking this much then?”
“Aubs hasn’t told me the girl's name yet though, never does. Always says she wants to keep it a secret so I can't do any research on the hire. But I’ll probably just hire the girl anyway. We need the position filled.”
“Lucky you.”
“Lucky me.”
Abe leaves to make rounds across the bar again, not before leaving Paige with a knowing wink. Once Paige thinks that the girl isn’t looking anymore, she turns her head back to look at her. Boy was she wrong.
They held eye contact for what felt like centuries, the sky blue eyes against the leather brown ones. Neither one could look away, too captured by one another's presence.
The brunette girl finally snaps her attention back to her friends, but she was clearly still in a trance at the connection. After watching for a few more seconds, Paige watches the girl tell something to her friends before her view is blocked as the crowd in the bar gets larger. She finally turns her attention back to the empty glass in front of her, thinking deeply about the moment shared between her and the very, very, pretty girl in the corner of the bar.
Moments later, she feels a tap on her shoulder. Paige turns and is stunned to see the brunette behind her. The girl's smile splits her face in half as she reaches her hand out for Paige to shake.
“Hi,” The girl starts. “I’m Azzi.”
“Hey there, I’m Paige.” Paige says as she takes the girl's hand to shake.
______________________________________________________________
(Continuation from chapter 1)
Lucky me.
“I noticed you looking earlier.” Azzi said.
“You looked first.” Paige retorted
The girl's face held a slight blush before she started again.
“Do you come here often?”
“Oh yeah, all the time. My friend owns the place and I’ve known the bartender since I was like ten ‘cause he and my father are old pals. Abe practically raised me. What about you?”
“Never been before, but it’s been on my radar for a while after my boyfr-”-Azzi stops herself-” ex boyfriend mentioned it one time.”
“Ex boyfriend huh?”
“Long story, well not really.”
“Tell me.” Paige said while resting her chin on her knuckles and her elbow on the bar counter. The way Paige said it would’ve folded Azzi in half(it did).
Azzi takes a seat next to Paige on the open barstool and sets her half drank rum and pepsi down onto the wood, which Paige doesn’t seem to mind at all.
“He broke up with me just about…” - Azzi checks the time on her phone, it reads 9:27-”...three hours ago.”
“How long were you two together for?” Paige asks. She’s unsure why she asks when people don’t really talk about exes on first meetings, but she’s too curious as to why someone would break up with a gorgeous girl such as the one in front of her.
“About three… and a half years?” Azzi thinks. “Yeah, three and a half.”
“Wow. What for?”
“So he had this girl best friend, right?”
“I already don’t like where this is going.” Paige rolls her eyes, which earns a laugh from both of them.
“I mean I always knew something was wrong, but I didn't want to be that paranoid and jealous girlfriend. So I let it slide. And it felt innocent enough because they’d been ‘friends’ since like third grade.” Azzi exhales. “Guess I was the dumb one all along.”
Paige’s face softens. “Hey, don’t say that. It wasn’t your fault.”
“I mean good riddance I guess. Just wish I hadn’t wasted so much time on him just for him to cheat. Or maybe I was the side piece all along?”
Paige felt a surge of anger at the last statement, but she keeps it in check. “Anyone who’s stupid enough to have you as a side piece doesn’t deserve to be around you.”
“Thanks.”
“What? It’s true.”
“You don’t even know me.”
Paige shrugs “Show me who you are then.”
Azzi blushes. “I haven’t been asked that in a long time.”
“Lucky me.” Paige pauses, searching for something in Azzi's eyes. “What was his name?”
“Ethan.”
Paige’s eyes widened. “Last name?”
“Clifford.”
“Wait wait wait wait wait, blonde? Brown eyes? Like a bit shorter than me?”
“Yeah…?”
“Holy shit.”
“What?”
“That’s my younger cousin on my mom’s side.”
“Oh…”
“It’s okay. I always knew he was a bad kid. Called me a dyke when I was like twenty.”
“Oh my god I can’t believe I dated that piece of shit.” Azzi laughs out.
“Me neither… Anyways, tell me more about you. Enough about… him.”
“Well, I graduated college just about four months ago from Northeastern. Got a degree in communication studies and…”
Paige was barely paying attention, too focused on the way Azzi lit up at every subject and how animated she was. She was too captivated by the way her lips moved and the way her hands motioned when she was describing something.
Paige was only snapped out of her trance when Azzi snapped her fingers in her face.
“Still with me, superstar?”
“Yeah, sorry. Just spaced out for a minute.”
“Sounds like a problem, you might need to get that checked.” Azzi joked, though it held an undertone of concern.
Paige chuckles, scratching the back of her neck where her baby hairs rested just under her bun. “Nah I just… got distracted. Anyways, tell me about your family.” Paige smiled.
“Let's see…” Azzi thought for a little bit. “Well, my mom got remarried to my step-dad when I was like two. But to be honest, it doesn’t feel like that at all. We’ve always been incredibly close and to me, he’s my real dad. I mean, I don’t even know my biological dad.”
“Wow. But it must be nice though, not having to have that awkwardness with him. Since you’ve known him your whole life, I mean.”
“Yeah, I hardly think of him as anything other than my real dad.”
“Do you ever wonder who your real dad is? And what he’s doing now?”
“Sometimes. But then I remember I’m lucky to have the one I have now, and that's all that matters to me right now. Maybe someday I’ll try to find him.”
“That’s sweet…” There's a beat of silence between them before Paige starts again. “Any siblings?”
Azzi beams. “Yeah, actually. My parents adopted two boys, Jon and Jose, after their grandmother had sadly passed. I want to say they adopted the boys maybe… eight years ago at this point? Ugh and they’re the sweetest little fuckers in the world i just love them so much. It’s been such a gift to have them all this time.”
“Wow. You really must love them if you light up like that.”
“I really do.”
There’s another beat of silence before Paige speaks again.
“I have a weird question."
“Shoot.”
“Are you named after-”
Azzi cuts Paige off. “Yes, Jeniffer Azzi. You have no idea how many people have asked me that.” Azzi chuckles.
“Was your mom a basketball fan?”
“Oh yeah, huge. My mom actually played for Georgetown in college.”
“Wow, that’s cool. Did you ever play?”
“Yeah, all in high school. I always thought I’d play in the W one day. But it always felt like something was missing, so I didn’t try to pursue it. You know UConn tried to recruit me for college? I said no, though.”
“Wait, that's insane. I played for UConn my freshman like… a decade ago at this point.”
“Why’d you stop?” Azzi asked, more intrigued than before.
“Blew the fuck out of my knee my sophomore year, couldn’t play ever again.”
“Oh god, that sounds horrible.”
“It really was. In eighth grade, I got put on the high school varsity team. First to do it.”
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah, right.” Paige paused. “All in the past now though.”
“Im sorry.”
“Don’t be. You weren’t even in high school when I was at UConn.” Paige joked, but it came out sounding slightly wrong.
Azzi decided to fill the silence with more family questions. “Oh my god, how rude of me. Tell me about your family.”
“Everthying except Ethan?” Paige jokes.
“Everything but.”
So Paige does, and they talk for what feels like hours just about family and family dynamics. Truthfully, it's only about thirty minutes, but Azzi couldn’t care less. All Azzi is thinking about is how the woman singlehandedly changed her sexuality in less than an hour.
“So, tell me about the rum and Pepsi.” Paige grins.
Azzi rolls her eyes. “Oh my god.” Azzi blushes and covers her face in her hands. “Don’t even.”
“What?” Paige teases further. “It’s cute.”
Azzi turns even redder and opens her fingers to look at Paige through her hands.
“What? Can’t handle a little teasing?”
Azzi’s hands drop from her face but she’s still grinning from ear to ear. “I thought Coke was so basic. And what’s wrong with a little change? Like you know that Smashmouth lyric from All Star?”
“Do I know that Smashmouth lyric?” Paige looks at Azzi in disbelief. “I’m like seven years older than you at least.”
“Okay grandma.”
“Don’t remind me…” Paige grumbled
Somebody once asked, "Could I spare some change for gas?
I need to get myself away from this place"
I said, "Yep, what a concept
I could use a little fuel myself and we could all use a little change"
Paige suddenly leaned into Azzi's ear, which prompted Azzi’s brain to fully stop working.
“Look,” Paige whispered. “your friends back there are looking at us.” Paige grinned.
And she was right, all four of them have been looking at Paige and Azzi flirt for the past forty-five minutes. Most of their faces held some form of shock while Kk leaned over to whisper something in Caroline’s ear, her gaze still fixed on the two, who just shrugged in disbelief.
Paige gently takes Azzi’s chin in her fingers to stop her from looking directly at them, which sent Azzi’s heart flying past the speed of light. “Don’t look, okay?”
Azzi just nods, keeping her eyes on the woman in front of her and the grip she has on her own chin. Paige lifts her eyes and they make eye contact, the brown and blue clashing against one another for the second time that night- which was already two more times than Azzi’s straight(no more hehe) little heart could take.
______________________________________________________________
(Continuation from chapter 3)
Hey there, old pal.
Azzi's POV
10:07 PM
Azzi looks down briefly and suddenly remembers how close the older woman is to her. She’s breathing heavy now, and Paige can feel it. The blonde drops her fingers and pulls back from her ear, which leaves Azzi disappointed more than anything. “Shit- I'm sorry.” Paige apologizes quickly, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks as she scratches the back of her head.
“No, you’re good. They’re just being nosy, like always.” Azzi rolls her eyes in amusement to cover the fact that she’s 100% going to die from her heart exploding out of her chest.
Paige laughs awkwardly and then they both remember the four are still looking at them. “Do you want to… get out of here?”
“I think that’d be wise of us.” Azzi agrees. “But I… I'll leave my keys with them since I drove them here.” To which Paige nods in agreement, prompting Azzi to throw back the rest of her rum and Pepsi(im still stuck on it im sorry) and walk back to her friends with her car keys in hand.
Azzi reaches the back corner once again and is immediately bombarded with questions before she can even open her mouth.
“Azzi Jazlyn Fudd, you dirty little freak.” Caroline gawks. And Kk obviously has to have her piece.
“Since when do you like women?”
“Since now, apparently.”
“I can’t believe it, you sneaky little-” Yanna butts in, which is then cut off by the sound of Azzi dropping her car keys on the table, earning a surprise jump from all four.
“I’m giving you guys my keys since I drove you all here. I expect my car back before my interview tomorrow, got it? And have Sarah drive. I trust her the most.”
“Yes ma’am.” Sarah says mock responsibly as she takes the keys.
“She’s hot, and way out of your age range.” Kk observes suspiciously. “And didn’t you say earlier that you didn’t want us setting you up with someone?”
“Changed my mind.” Azzi shrugs. “And she's only like thirty.” She adds with a sly grin.
“Girl boo you can’t just change- WAIT DID YOU SAY THIRTY?!” Kk yelps. Which cues Sarah to cover her mouth to stop her from attracting attention, which is impossible since the bar is loud enough.
“No biggie. Anyways- love yall!” Azzi uses it as her quick escape.
“Wait where are you going!?” Caroline yells back, but Azzi’s too far gone to see anymore as she disappears into the crowd.
Azzi finds Paige waiting near the entrance on her phone leaning against the wall near the back door, holding Azzi’s brown leather jacket from earlier she momentarily forgot existed.
“Hey,” Azzi said as she approached Paige. “I’m going to go pay my tab and then I'll be back, ‘kay?”
“No worries,” Paige started. “I already paid for it.”
Azzi’s eyes widened in shock. “You didn’t have to do that…”
“It was nothing, don’t worry about it.” Paige said, handing Azzi her coat and putting her phone away.
“Thank you. I promise ill pay you ba-”
“Really,” Paige cut the younger girl off. “don’t worry about it.”
“Okay.”
Azzi shoots a quick text to Yanna. Paige paid the tab. Then put away her phone. “Where are we going?”.
“Follow me.”
And Azzi does. She probably shouldn’t follow a stranger blindly through the streets of Boston, but she thinks Paige is the exception. Maybe just this one time, for the rest of forever. She’d go forever with Paige. She’d follow anywhere those strong ha-
The younger girl’s thoughts were interrupted by the sudden motion of Paige stopping in front of what resembled an ice cream parlor. “We’re here.” Paige said. She sensed the confusement on Azzi’s face and continued. “Trust me. Once you have this, you’ll never want to go anywhere else for ice cream.” The blonde reassured.
Azzi felt her shoulders loosen as a warm feeling spread through her body. That warmth quickly morphed into a burning heat as Paige took her hand to lead her into the shop, which Azzi immediately folded into(simp alert).
Azzi was immediately captivated by the cutesy interior of the place, a black and white checkered tile stripe wrapping around the place with a pastel baby blue paint caging it in all around. There was a wood sign on the wall behind the counter that had “Est. 1954” carved into it. Behind the counter, there was an old looking man, who looked around mid fifties, who held a kind smile and a girl next to him who looked to be about fourteen, she was on her phone. The girl looked slightly less enthusiastic than the old man, which Azzi assumed was teenage angst, but when she looked up and saw Paige, her whole face lit up in surprise. “Paige!” The girl jumps up from her stool.
Paige walked up to the man, only letting go of Azzi’s hand once they got to the counter, leaving Azzi with a pang of disappointment. “Hey there, old pal.” Paige smiled as she rested her left palm on the cool marble counter and held out her right hand for the man to shake, which he did gladly.
“Well welcome back here Paigey. It’s been a while, hasn't it?” The man smiled.
“Yeah, sorry. I’ve been so busy lately.” Then Paige’s attention shifts to the girl next to the man, holding her fist out to the girl. “And you. How ya been, kiddo?”
The girl excitedly bumps her fist with Paige’s. “I’ve been good. But I haven’t seen you in so long.”
A small hint of guilt flashes across Paige’s face, only noticed by Azzi, before she responds. “Yeah, looks like you’ve grown quite a bit since then.” Paige laughs off.
“It’s only been three months.” The girl rolls her eyes, but a bit of hurt hides behind them.
“Three months too long. But I promise to come more often from now on, ‘kay?” Paige holds her pinky out to the girl, who took it gladly.
“Anyways, what can I get for ya?” The man, Charles, his name tag read, said as he looked between the two.
Paige looked at Azzi, a warm smile spread across her face, which did unimaginable things to Azzi. “What would you like?”
“What do you recommend?”
Paige thought for a few seconds with a hard thinking expression on her face, looking absolutely adorable. “Hmm… I think you’d like their Everything Berry. I’m more of a vanilla person myself, though.”
“Everything Berry it is then.”
Paige turned back to Charlie and the girl, Gia, her name tag read, with that charming smile “One scoop vanilla and one scoop of Everything Berry, thanks.”
“Here or to go?” Charlie asked as Gia got to work.
“To go.”
“Gotcha.”
And before Azzi could even blink, Paige had already tapped her card on the reader and paid, being handed the two cups of Ice cream, hanging the berry one to Azzi with a spoon.
They walked out of the parlor with the ghost of Paige's hand on Azzi’s lower back and Gia yelling “Come back soon!” to Paige.
“You just know everyone, don’t you?” Azzi teased once they left the shop.
Paige rolled her eyes and a small smile cracked through her lips. “Charles’ father founded that Ice cream shop with my grandfather in like the fifties or something. My father didn’t want to continue the shop's legacy, so he gave all his ownership of it to Charles when my grandfather passed. The girl is Charles’ niece, by the way.”
Azzi’s expression turned a little less teasing and more empathetic. “Sorry to hear about your grandfather.”
“Don’t be, he was an old man when he passed anyway. Ninety-two I think.”
“Still, I get that. My grandad died when I was like seventeen. It wasn’t the easiest since he and I were always close.”
Paige nodded in respect, clearly softening at the similarity. They walked in comfortable silence for a couple minutes, eating their ice cream scoops and silently observing small things about one another. Azzi noticed how Paige was clearly a faster walker, but holding back to walk with Azzi even though it clearly agitated her. She also noticed how Paige’s eyes looked a little dimmed. How even the bright sky blue looked suppressed with the weight of Paige's unfinished and unshared story. The weight of someone who was pushed far too hard for far too long and is only just re-learning how to rebuild what was smashed into pieces from that pressure of being pushed.
Finally, Azzi broke the silence after her long observation. “You didn’t need to pay.” Azzi muttered
Paige just shrugged “What’s the point of having money if you can’t spend it?” then grinned.
“Next time I'm paying though. Okay?”
“Bold of you to assume there will be a next time.” Paige smirked
Azzi flushed red and tried to keep it cool, failing miserably. “I mean- I just meant that-” god Azzi get it together “I’m just saying I’d like it if we saw each other again.” Azzi managed to pull out before she embarrassed herself further.
Paige grinned once again(God is that all she does?) with a spoonful of ice cream on the way to her mouth “I would like that too.”
“Shit.” Azzi mumbled.
“What?” Paige asked curiously.
Azzi checked the time on her phone, 10:29. Shit, I need to get home soon. Ethan’s coming by to get his stuff. Then she turned and looked at Paige. “How would you like to come to my apartment and watch my ex move out?” Azzi asked slightly nervously, but she was too confident to back down.
Paige was taken aback for a moment at the bluntness, then she lit up and smirked mischievously. “And watch my baby cousin realize how badly he fucked up? Hell yeah!”
God she’s so hot when she swears Azzi thought, already feeling slightly too much for a woman she met just an hour ago. “Come on, he should be at my apartment in like thirty minutes.” Azzi challenged.
“Let’s get walking then.” Paige said, boldly holding her arm out for Azzi to loop hers through- which caused Azzi’s heart to do a few somersaults and backflips, the usual, before she looped her arm through Paige’s gently. Azzi knew she was making obvious heart eyes at the blonde, but she couldn’t give two shits about how she looked. She also couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched, but she pushed it off as being nervous for her first somewhat "date" in three and a half years.
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K I'm done with this for a few. Feedback is much appreciated for the next chapters cuz I'm not putting my 100% effort into this, even though I should. Mostly just started this for shits & giggles.
