When Nina woke up the next morning, the relentless sun rays were already flooding half of the room's parquet floor. She immediately felt a piercing headache. Then she looked at the empty, indented space beside her and wondered whether she had really convinced Bo to stay the night or if she had just dreamed it. 

Since she was still fully clothed, she realized that she had indeed passed out without her usual routine of brushing her teeth and putting on pajamas. A strong sense of shame overcame her when she realized how unprofessionally she had acted. 

The mocking voice of her sister made its way into her head, You can't own a business, you're not smart enough. No one will ever take you seriously.

And indeed, what had she done with the first client she had gotten since she started freelancing? She got drunk and tried to hammer him to lie in bed with her.

I'm a walking cliché, she thought. Well not walking. It's worse, I'm a lying face down cliché!

But why had she tried to get him to stay overnight? Her negative thoughts continued in a downward spiral. 

'Well, this is simply a disaster,' she said aloud, glancing at her phone. There were two unread messages. First she read the one from Chompoo:

Whoa, great party last night! Girl, you can dance! But you really can't hold your liquor LOL. No forgetting I won the bet!

Nina wondered who had won between Chompoo and Stephan. The other message was from Bo, sent at seven am.

Nina, I assume you'll take the day off. See you tomorrow at 9 as usual.

Reading the message felt like a cold shower, and the unpleasant feeling in her stomach only intensified. She wondered what had gotten into her to behave like she did. True, Bo was attractive, but he wasn't her type at all. In the past, she had always fallen for nerds. What was it about him that made her practically throw herself at him the moment her inhibitions slightly slipped? Could it be that she liked Bo? She couldn't imagine herself becoming part of his world at all. 

But more importantly, how would she look him in the eye tomorrow?

The past can't be changed, she concluded. Shower, coffee, then everything else. From experience, she knew reality wouldn't seem as gloomy once she was holding a steaming cup of her beloved black liquid. She sent a message to Emmi.

Emergency. Can you meet for coffee at Z in 1 hour?

The response came in less than a minute. Ja! See you there.

Finally, she could breathe. Emmi would have a solution or at least offer some words of comfort. Maybe there was a way to laugh it off?

She showered, performed her four-step beauty routine which she only had time for on weekends, and slipped into her most comfortable wide-leg soft denim trousers and a light blue T-shirt. After a moment's thought, she added a black baseball cap and dark sunglasses to the ensemble. After drinking a large glass of water, she rushed out of the apartment.

The sun was at its zenith and made it scorchingly, piteously hot outside. She met with Emmi at the entrance of the café.

"Hey girl!" It was obvious from Emmi's tone that she had gotten a good night's sleep. "Good party last night? I'm sorry I didn't show up, I'll explain. But, err, why do you look like death?"

Nina had just taken off her sunglasses, but after Emmi's words, she pushed them back onto her nose with a trembling hand.

"I had a wild night. Eventful."

"Eventful good or eventful bad?" Emmi asked.

"Mostly bad," Nina replied, after which Emmi gave her a gentle hug. "Nothing that a double espresso and a good dose of Emmi can't fix," she said as they approached the counter.

"I've got this." Emmi said. "Go sit down in the comfy armchairs upstairs. I'll get us sandwiches as well, did you have breakfast?" 

Nina shook her head.

"Egg salad, please."

"Sure, your highness. Maybe something sweet for dessert?"

Nina looked at her pleadingly and nodded twice, craning her neck to check if there was any chocolate cake in the display cabinet.

"Chocolate cake it is, now run upstairs because that's about all I can carry."

The upper floor of the café was almost empty. Nina sank into a large purple armchair in the corner of the air-conditioned room and waited impatiently, tapping her foot until Emmi appeared a few minutes later with a huge tray full of delicacies. She managed to help her place it on the table without spilling anything. Emmi grabbed a sandwich before sitting opposite her.

"I'm listening," she said, unwrapping the sandwich.

"I think I made a complete fool of myself last night," Nina said, reaching for the other sandwich from the tray. Then she changed her mind, put the sandwich back, and grabbed the plate with chocolate cake. She broke off a large piece with her fork and greedily stuffed it into her mouth while Emmi chewed on her sandwich and waited.

"Chompoo makes damn good Daiquiris, it's all her fault. I guess I felt kind of uncomfortable among that hip crowd so I kept chugging them down to relax."

"What are you talking about, you're hip! You don't need tattoos, crazy piercings or a shaved head to be cool."

"I know, but compared to them, I felt a bit basic. And then Chompoo wanted to dance, and I really needed a sip of alcohol before that. And those daiquiris tasted like fruit juice!! I didn't even realize how much alcohol was in them."

"I understand," Emmi said, taking a sip of her tea. "But I haven't heard anything bad yet. You got a bit drunk, so what, who hasn't done that a million times!?"

"That's not even the start of it," Nina put down the empty cake plate and picked up her coffee. "Bo drove me home on his motorcycle. Honestly, I don't even know how that happened. Maybe he realized I was drunk and offered me a ride. All I remember is sitting behind him and squeezing his waist like there's no tomorrow."

Emmi laughed. "So what?! You said he rides a wild bike, who wouldn't hold on for dear life? Tell me that's not the whole story. You've announced a crisis, I want to hear some drama."

"Hold your horses. We got to my apartment –"

"Now we're getting somewhere. Did you invite him in?"

"Well, I wasn't exactly in walking condition if you know  what I mean," Nina said, embarrassed. "Basically, one thing led to another and I'm pretty sure after he helped me to bed I didn't let him leave. The last thing I remember is demanding he be the little spoon," Nina said, and as if wanting to put a final point to the story, dropped the saucer with the empty coffee cup on the table with a loud cling.

"Well and?"

"What do you mean 'and'? Isn't that enough? He's my client! I acted like a lovesick high schooler."

"That's not what I'm asking. And.. Did he comply with your demand?"

"I think he did but maybe I dreamed it. He wasn't there in the morning. All I got is a WhatsApp message. And a pretty cold one at that."

"Oh boy. Let's see the message."

Nina pulled out her cell phone and held it out for Emmi to read. 

After briefly considering it, Emmi concluded, "It's not that bad. You're reading too much into two sentences. That's so typical for men, totally typical. It hasn't even crossed his mind that you might be in some kind of turmoil. To him, it's all just business as usual. You said he's attractive. I'm sure it wasn't the first time a girl has thrown themselves at his feet."

"I didn't throw myself at his feet, no need to exaggerate."

Emmi tossed her a mischievous grin "Sorry, I have to, just a bit. But I don't think you need to worry too much. Tomorrow when you see him, apologize. Tell him you haven't had any alcohol for weeks, which is true, because you've been slaving off for his website, and that's that. You'll see from his reaction what he really thinks. But wait," Emmi paused and looked at her in a serious manner. "Don't tell me you like this guy?"

Nina wasn't sure how to respond to that.

"No. I don't know. At first, I was a bit afraid of him. He seemed a bit.. unstable. But when you get to know him better, he's kind of a cotton ball on the inside. And when I worked with him, I realized how quickly his mind works. You know I'm attracted by intelligence. It doesn't matter! He's my client! So no, I don't like him."

"Interesting. OK. Just be professional tomorrow. Impress him with your web design skills. Are you ready for that?"

"You're right. That's exactly –" she said, grabbing a sandwich from the table, " – what I'm going to do." At that moment, the phone on the table lit up, and she put the sandwich down with  lightning speed to grab it.

"Do we have a new development?" Emmi asked.

Nina let out a disappointed sigh. "It's just Noah, a guy I met at the digital nomads meeting," she replied, slowly putting the phone back on the table. "He wants to hang out."

"Well someone's in high demand these days."