31st May 2023

A redo at friends and family night. That’s all that Carmy needed. No getting locked in the walk-in, no telling Claire that she’s bullshit (inadvertently, he swears that he didn’t know it was her), and no screaming at Richie.

But the environment in the kitchen is still awfully hostile, and he can feel his chest tightening as Richie sends another glare his way. Fucking Cousin.

One cigarette, just one cigarette. It’s near the end of service anyway, it won’t hurt… surely.

So he slips out into the cold night air of the back alley, a shiver tingling down his back as he slumps down next to a figure on the pavement. It doesn’t register who’s next to him until a tentative hand offers a lighter when he discovers that his own is dead.

Holy fuck.

He’s seen pictures of you, on Sydney’s Instagram. Pictures of movie nights and nights out together. Roommates. Really good friends, seemingly. But he’s never met you in the flesh. Sure, he’s left a few risky comments on your posts and you’re stories, and he was kind of hoping for a better meeting that this. But no, he’s meeting the prettiest person he’s ever seen while he’s in his chef whites and smells of onions.

Perfect.

“Oh, shit, you’re uh…. you live with Syd, right?…. I’m, uh… I’m Carmy, her, uh… business partner…”