Page 51 of A Barista's Guide to Love & Larceny
“Okay, okay,” Katya said, holding up a hand. “It was just an idea.”
“Don’t you know anyone from when you worked there? Someone you could hit up and ask to get us in?”
At that, Katya looked away, squinting into the rain. “I never really got to know anyone that well,” she said, and the thinnest vine of melancholy wisteria unfurled across Dani’s mind. The girl didn’t seem to notice that she’d said anything out of the ordinary.
Not good at making friends, Dani thought.Got it.
“Okay,” she said slowly. “Should we get in touch with Silva? See if she has any ideas?”
Katya shook her head. “Let’s keep thinking. I don’t want her to think we can’t handle this.”
What does it matter if she thinks we can’t?Dani was strongly considering pushing back on Katya’s reticence when she saw two people hurrying down the sidewalk toward The Sand Bar.
“Hey,” she said, tilting her head in their direction. “I’ve got an idea. Follow my lead, okay?”
Dani didn’t know where her initiative came from—a desire notto stand here with Katya any longer, maybe, or an unwillingness to prolong the task—but she sprang into action. She looped her arm through Katya’s like she would with McKenna and started walking toward the bar’s front door, fake laughing as if Katya had just said something wickedly funny.
“Stop. That’sridiculous,” she said, slowing them down as they came to the door—conveniently, at the exact same moment as the two strangers were approaching it. She could see them more clearly now, two young people in business-casual clothes with OneiroLabs badges hanging from around their necks. They couldn’t have been more than two or three years out of college, if that, and they gave Dani and Katya friendly if cautious looks as their paths collided in front of The Sand Bar.
“Please,” Dani said, gesturing to the door. “After you.”
“You’re going in there?” one of the OneiroLabs employees asked.
“Yup,” Dani said, adding a little giggle for authenticity. “It’s our first time. We’re new OLabs interns. I’m D-Dahlia, and this is Kathryn, both she/her.” Better to give fake names, since Dani had used her real one on the OneiroLabs tour. “We just started a few days ago!”
“Interns?” the other person said. “You do know interns aren’t really supposed to—”
The first employee cut in. “What’ll it hurt if they sneak in for one night? I’m Frank, he/him,” he said to Dani and Katya. “This is Sage, they/them. It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too,” Dani said, but she was keeping an eye on Sage, whose lips twisted in obvious disapproval. After a few seconds, they lifted their shoulders in a shrug.
“Fine,” Sage said, “but it’s your responsibility if they get caught.” They strode toward the door, opened it, and went inside, leaving Frank out in the rain with Dani and Katya.
He gave them an apologetic smile. “Don’t take it personally. Sageis always like that. I’m guessing you tried to get in and didn’t know the password?”
“Guilty as charged,” Katya said, finally tuning in to what they were doing here. “Is it really that big of a deal if we go in?”
“Nah. I snuck in as an intern all the time. Which wasn’t all that long ago, to be honest. I’m still pretty green, if you ask my coworkers in the legal department.”
“Legal? Okay, if you say it’s all right, then I believe you,” Dani said.
“I’ll vouch for you,” Frank assured them. “Come on, let’s get out of this rain.”
Dani and Katya exchanged a glance as Frank opened the door, holding it for them so they could shuffle in. The Sand Bar was every bit as unassuming on the inside as it had looked on the exterior: booths fringed with fake grass and coconut shells, colored lanterns hanging above the bar, and generically upbeat music playing in the background. It seemed like a random choice to be the official OneiroLabs after-hours spot, but it very evidently was: Almost everyone in here was dressed in their work clothes, and the energy level was more subdued than it would be in a bar stocked with bachelorette parties, students with fake IDs, and people looking for trouble. Dani kept her arm linked with Katya’s as Frank spoke to the bouncer, the password inaudible over the sounds of conversation and music, then ushered them into the crowd.
“You don’t have to stick with me,” Frank said as they drifted toward the bar. “I won’t be offended. But I’m meeting some friends here if you want to join us. What department did you say you were interning in?”
“Security,” Katya said. “But we don’t know anyone yet—we just onboarded.”
“Oh, cool. One of my friends is in security, if you’d like to meet her.”
“That would beamazing!” Dani said brightly. “We definitely want to meet more people in the department.”
“Sweet,” Frank said. “I’ll grab us some drinks.”
Some drinksturned out to be cheap beers, which Dani forced herself to accept without complaint before Frank guided them to a corner booth where several people were already sitting. The array of unfamiliar faces—plus Sage from before—sent a sparkle of anxiety through her body. Fooling Frank had felt simple enough, but this was bigger and riskier. Luckily, she didn’t recognize anyone from her tour of the company. She and Katya squished into the booth as Frank introduced all of them.
“Lily over here is the only one of us in security,” he finished, gesturing to a woman who looked to be in her late twenties with dark red hair.
