Shanai glanced around the interior of the café, before checking her watch. The readout blinked on, showing a cool blue facsimile of an analog clock indicating the time was about twenty minutes past 1PM. Shanai shook her head slightly, cascading locks of her strawberry blonde hair swishing behind her back with the motion.

Wonder what’s tying her up this time…

The woman idly waved a hand over the rapidly-cooling coffee in front of her to test the temperature. Satisfied, she lifted the mug to her lips and inhaled the rich scent, savoring it as she took a test sip. Chocolatey, smooth, and not especially bitter – just the way Shanai liked it.

After a few, increasingly loud slurps, she set the mug down, noticing for the first time a sticker adhered to the side, bearing the name “Shannon”. She rolled her eyes. Suddenly, the bell attached to the front door gave a little chime, and Shanai looked up to see a familiar woman with a glossy, raven-colored bob, a purple cropped tee and dark jeans gripping the door, visibly out of breath.

“Shanai—huff—so sorry—huff—lost track of—huff--time, and—huff—, got stuck in—huff—traffic…” she gulped out.

“Hey, hey, Rina, take a breath! Here, sit down. Did you, uh—did you run here?” Shanai asked, offering the free chair opposite her.

Rina collapsed into it, her breathing steadying as she took a minute to collect herself.

“Yeah…I had to park a few blocks away. I guess this place is really popular?” she looked about, only now noticing a number of heads turned in her direction. Red crept into her face and she turned back to face Shanai, mortified.

“Was I uh…was I too loud again?” she winced.

“Oh, yeah…in fact, I think everyone heard you just now-” Shanai lost the battle to keep a straight face, a snort escaping as she laughed.

“I’m kidding! Rina, girl, it’s fine!” She reached over, patting her friend’s arm reassuringly. “You know I can’t stay annoyed at you, and I kind of expected I’d be early.” She pointed a finger down to her half-finished drink.

Rina smiled back in relief, sinking into the chair. “In that case, the next cup’s on me.”

Over fresh coffee, the two swapped stories from the last few months. Rina warmed up considerably after downing half of hers, and Shanai couldn’t help but grin as the familiar geeky enthusiasm came out in full force. It was amazing how descriptive and interesting Rina seemed able to make otherwise mundane topics sound – a quality her rather blunt friend envied. “So, how’s it been socially since the move?” she asked suddenly.

“Socially?” Rina repeated, puzzled.

“I mean, have you met anyone…interesting?” Shanai flapped her hand in what she hoped was a casual way.

“Oh-Oh! Well….” Rina seemed to stall out on the question. “Not exactly, I’ve been a little…preoccupied. With everything, like, uh–work and stuff…you know?” She added, and flushed inexplicably.

Shanai cocked an eyebrow at her friend.

Wasn’t expecting that…what are you hiding, Rina?

“Sure, it’s a lot getting settled; I remember when I first came back after school – everything felt a little different.” She patted Rina on the arm, a hint of red stealing into her own face at the touch.

Rina ran a finger over the top of her cup.

“There…there is something I wanted to ask you, though, Shanai.” She looked up, her eyes sparkling.

The blonde took a sudden swig of now-lukewarm coffee to hide her surprise, her own imagination going into overdrive at what the tone and timing implied.

“What’s up?” She forced herself to say as casually as possible.

“Okay, so remember how I used to visit my abuela where she works at the big national park in Costa Rica? I definitely showed you a bunch of pictures from the trails, and all the animals she helps take care of.”

“Yeah, the one called…Corco-vado, right?” Shanai recounted, uncertain where the conversation was headed.

“Yep, that’s it! Well, she’s retired now, but I loved the trails and missed trekking through the park so much, I thought…maybe I could take a trip to go see something like that, you know? Somewhere…new.”

“Okay…like where, exactly?”

Rina flashed Shanai a wide grin and pulled her phone from her pocket, opening up a map and handing it to her bewildered friend. The area depicted was a zoomed-in green region with names Shanai had never seen before, dotted sparsely with small towns and villages.

“It’s called the Seoni Jungle, in central India. I’ve already got a trip mapped out, inexpensive flights and staying with friendly locals too! So how about it; you want to come with me?”

Countless questions floated in and out of Shanai’s stunned head, but instead of asking any of them, she found herself impulsively answering:

“Oh, uh, wow; S-sure, let’s do it!”