The photoshoot didn’t take longer than an hour thanks the the efficient work of the crew, and the girls wanted to go someplace easier to talk. Hugo’s normal cafe stop was across town, so he took them to get ice cream instead. The group didn’t notice at first, but they all opted for sugar-free vanilla cones. Hanna bit into her cone pragmatically, like the cold treat was any other food. Amy quietly twirled her long hair around her fingers as she used her other hand to eat the ice cream. Hugo zones out and nursed at his ice cream while occasionally letting out a happy grin at whatever he was thinking.
Hanna noticed Hugo’s come and started talking between her occasional bites. “You know Hugo, Amy and I thought our friendship was fated when we found out we had the same favorite ice-cream. We both like the classic option instead of fancy new flavours.”
Amy smiled shyly. “And I reminded you that Vanilla is still more popular than them all.”
“Right, right.” Hanna continued the story. “You always tell me it was instead fate from when we first met~!”
Hugo became curious. “How did you meet?”
“Don’t laugh Hugo!” Hanna pleaded. Amy joined in to say the rest of the answer simultaneously, with a note of aggravation in both of their voices, ““Fast Food part-timers.””
“That bad?”
Hanna explained. “Male customers would kind of swarm Amy, and I ended up spending most of my job as a bodyguard. The manager had an, ‘it’s her own problem’ attidude. It was like she assumed Amy wanted the attention at times. It was frustrating. If being well-endowed had anything to do with Amy’s personality, it was to make her more bashful and reserved.”
Amy was starting to relax at the familiar story, and she straightforwardly cut in. “She still fired you for, ‘not doing your job!”
They both laughed. “And so, now we’re friends for life.”
“That’s really sweet. You know, Hanna was like that back in high school too Amy. For her other friends at least.”
“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean?!” Hanna cried out indignately.
Hugo’s response was suggestive and playful. “You know what it means.”
“She bullied you too Hugo??” Amy seemed to find their exchange amusing. “I’m pretty sure that’s just how she communicates she likes people~.”
Hanna blushed. “You shut up traitor. You weren’t like this before.”
“I learned it from the best~! You!” Amy stuck out her tongue at Hanna.
Hugo decided to egg on their antics. “So, would Hanna’s theory mean I’m fated to meet you both as well?” Hanna blushed harder, making Hugo feel like their roles from high school had been reversed. He suddenly started to understand why she enjoyed teasing so much back then.
Amy answered this time. “Actually... maybe it was. I’m one of your followers. I had to show someone the chill-raising singing while killing, and Hanna recognized you. It was a fun stream.”
Hugo almost facepalmed. “Thank you... for the compliment. Were you BeautyStrikesEnemiesFall?”
“No actually, it was my first time watching your stream. My username is actually HighRoller. I spent a solid night binging your videos after that stream. You could really go viral one day!”
“Ooooh, thanks for your follow then HighRoller!” Hugo gave Amy a cheeky smile and imitated the song that played on his channel for a new subscriber.
Amy laughed. “Anyways, Hanna was inspired by your videos too, specifically the one where you briefly talked about your occasional modelling.”
Hanna’s ice cream was long gone and she had fully hidden her face by this point and was pretending to not hear them at all. Hugo thought to himself that maybe only Amy could get her to show her shy side like this.
“I just hope you both had fun today. A paycheck is a paycheck is a paycheck, but it doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable.”
Amy suddenly showed some exasperation. “She is in between jobs again I don’t know how she convinced me to try it out with her.”
“Hanna’s a very convincing person!! It’s one of her better features though.”
Hanna jumped up like a fierce wildcat. “Which features are bad?!”
Hugo replied without pause, “Maybe the narcissism~?”
“N-nar... I’m just a suave woman out on the town. Being perfect doesn’t make me a narcissist.”
“...” Both Hugo and Amy looked at Hanna blankly.
“You two! You’re my best friend Amy! I was never this bad to you in high school Hugo! ‘With friends like these indeed!’” Hanna must have been trying to give a victory ‘hmph’ at the end, but it wasn’t her usual style. She messed up and made a large snorting sound instead.
Everyone froze for a few seconds before Hugo and Amy burst out in laughter, ice cream now forgotten. Hanna’s face turned suspiciously ruddy. She literally turned and took a few steps to run out of the building until she turned back to grab Amy by the wrist. She loudly threatened Hugo to restablish her dominance. “I won’t forget this Byron!” This attempt was undermined by her again running out, this time with the still laughing Amy in tow.
Hugo’s main regret before he went to sleep that night was forgetting to give Hanna his number.
