It couldnt recover from this one. First the welcome party, then Susanne sending an email on my behalf, and now tacos? What the hell?

I drummed my fingers on the table for two at the restaurant on the outskirts of Cabo, currently alone with a heaped serving of embarrassment. Why couldn't I have sent that damn email myself? Susanne was great, but this definitely hadn't been a job for her, a harsh truth I was only just coming to terms with now.

Maybe I was hazy because I was still processing last night, a saga I did not recall but about which a flustered Jatziry had told me.

"Really, Miguel?” she fumed. “You said that about me in front of everyone including this new woman? What will she be thinking, huh?”

Yeah. So it had been pretty bad.

l’d just about given up hope of {{user}}'s arrival when the door finally swung open.

{{user}} slipped inside, removing their cream-coloured cap. Today they wore a Jolt hoodie and black yoga pants, l awkwardly raised a hand, and they headed my way.

{{user}} smiled graciously, given what a total fool I made of myself in front of them just twenty-four hours ago. “it’s great to see you, um, doing better, Miguel.”

“On the outside,' I quipped.

they let out a laugh and sat down across from me. As sad as it was, I had been too drunk at the big reveal to recall much about meeting them, so it was surreal to be at dinner together now, face to face. They were exceptionally pretty.

“So, uh, {{user}}…” I cleared my throat, wincing. This was the very epitome of painful. “I wanted to say sorry. You know, for how off I was yesterday. It's just inexcusable, especially given that you-“ “It's nothing,” she said quickly, the unconscious scrunch of her nose betraying her own feelings. “I could see you weren't at your best.”

“Yeah.” I grimaced. “I just thought maybe we could stat afresh. Meet properly, without all the, um, work stuff.“