The whole group of girls began singing a J-Pop song. It didn’t appear to be anything that was choreographed. Rather, each girl was simply taking a turn up front while the others harmonized. When it was Emily’s turn, rather than facing the rest of the audience, she specifically walked toward me, singing earnestly, with a huge smile on her face. But they were all having a lot of fun and dancing with their own unique spin. I noticed that Emily was using some of the dance moves I had taught her from the night we first met which made me grin like an idiot. I’ll be honest. These boxer briefs were not doing the best job with maintaining my tuck. Like, at all. Especially with the current situation.

After the song completed, the group of maids took a bow and proceeded to flounce off stage left. The café lights came back up and the maids made their way back out to the floor. However, instead of Minako, my food and drink were brought to me by Emily, who proceeded to spin around and blow a kiss on my BLT before sliding into the booth across from me.

“Did I surprise you?”

I shook my head in wonder. “Yes, yes you did. I was very surprised,” I replied. “How did you even get permission to do that?”

“Secret time!” Emily said with a laugh. She leaned forward, a conspiratorial smile on her face, and snuck a sip of my daiquiri. “So, ‘Miyuki’ is actually my cousin. She told me back when she got this job and wanted me to apply here, but Dad wouldn’t let me. It’s for the best, I couldn’t dance for shit when I wanted to apply, anyway, and it’s not like I actually need the income – I just wanted something to do where I could make friends. Anyway, I texted my cousin the other day about my idea to surprise you and she was all on board! I just had to give the password when I got here so whoever got our table would know I was the person she was talking about!”

She leaned on one arm to assess my reaction. I was certainly flustered. I mean, Emily was already really cute to begin with and the maid uniform (yes, a cosplay uniform, but it was still a maid!) with its heavy implications of service and subservience had a lot of fetishistic connotations. I took a long drink from my daiquiri, the sweet and tart strawberry flavor providing a short reprieve from the pressure of the adorability singularity in front of me. My BLT was all but forgotten as Minako brought Emily’s order to the table, a burger and a tall juice concoction. I noticed the costume knife lying on the tray with a bit of strawberry jam on the blade. Minako proceeded to stare me in the eyes while picking up the knife and licking the jam off the blade. I was actually grateful for the performance because it killed the blood flow that had resulted in a bit of straining in my underwear. Minako leaned in close and gave a sinister smile. “Master’s eyes are for Minako, only.”

Determined to regain some psychological footing, I gave what I thought was my most dashing smirk to Minako. “Thank you, Minako. Master is proud of Minako’s hard work.” I then proceeded to reach my hand out to pat the shorter girl on the head, resulting in the most tooth-decaying cry of “Uwu!” mortal man had ever heard. 

“I have an idea,” Emily said suddenly. It was then I realized she was recording everything I was doing with her cell phone. “I wonder if Lauren would like a chance to be a maid? After all, I went through a lot of effort for this surprise, and here she is paying attention to another maid.” There was something scary in her eyes.

Minako clapped suddenly in response and exclaimed, “Yes! Master would look adorable as a maid!”

“No, no no no! I’m way too tall. It would look awful on me. I’m too boyish, anyway. Lacy, frilly things don’t suit me,” I replied, suddenly quite focused on my sandwich. “And I came here to eat and spend time with my friend! So I should eat! And spend time with my friend! And not wear clothing that would look terrible on me!”

And then I smashed that BLT into my face as if it were ambrosia and I was on the verge of mythic death. There was no way I was going to be coerced into wearing one of these outfits, and that was that. Even if I had to make a mess of my face to prevent it.

Emily and Minako burst out laughing and I got the strong impression that any illusion of having the upper hand, no matter how briefly, was lost. Oh well. I’m kind of an idiot, and this was surprisingly fun. To the cafe’s credit, the BLT was really well-made. The bacon was crispy with just a hint of chewy tenderness and complemented the fresh-cut lettuce and tomato really well. The crunchy buttered toast provided the perfect texture contrast to the ingredients, resulting in a flavorful umami that was much appreciated.

I didn’t bother to wipe the crumbs off my face as I smiled at Emily. “Aw, gee, I’m far too uncultured and messy to be a maid!”

Without missing a beat, Emily picked up a napkin and gently cleared the debris from my lips and chin. Then she gave me a sultry, heavy-lidded look as she said, “Bratty girls make the best maids after they’ve been properly… trained.”

It must have been obvious how much I was blushing because she began laughing again and relaxed into her seat to dig into her burger. With an impish grin, she winked at me and stuffed a forkful of her lunch into her mouth. 

I turned my head to our waitress. “May I have an ice water? I may need to dump it over my head at some point,” I said candidly.

Minako simply smiled as she turned to walk back toward the kitchen. I took advantage of the unobserved moment to lean across the table and whisper, “Are you trying to kill me?”

Emily simply batted her eyelashes innocently and replied, “Whatever do you mean, Lauren? I’m simply acting out my role as a maid at a performance-themed café!”

I dropped my face into my hands and chuckled in exasperation. “You don’t even work here!” After a couple moments, I had recovered enough to resume my meal. We chatted a bit about how this whole event had come to pass, the fact that her cousin had actually sent her some videos to learn the song they’d sung together, and that Emily was honestly a bit disappointed I didn’t want to try on the outfit. Once the meal was done, we stood up to take some pictures together and then she excused herself to change back into the clothes she had worn here, leaving me alone in the booth for a few minutes.

That was when ‘Miyuki’ dropped by the table. Emily had informed me that her cousin’s name was actually Ashley and that she used a combination of cosplay facial tape and makeup to make herself fit the role. Thankfully, she just went for the sharper eyes of anime characters rather than some sort of caricatured yellow-face look. Still, she played her role well and having her tall, imposing figure staring down her nose at me from next to the table was a bit unnerving.

“Uhm… can I… help you?” I asked.

“So. You’re Lauren.”

I nodded. “And you’re Emily’s cousin, yeah?” Was I about to be interrogated? Hazed? What was going on?

“Stand up,” she commanded. Her voice carried an authoritative tone that motivated me despite my reluctance. Thus I found myself looking slightly upward into the discerning visage of ‘Miyuki’ - who was apparently several inches taller than me despite my heels. Her eyes drifted up and down over my body, and her scrutiny sent a shiver down my spine. Was I outed? Did she clock me?

“Huh. Shorter than I expected. Cuter, though.”

I blinked in confusion. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Em said she was gonna show up with a friend. Said it’d be a cute blonde, tall as me. Her perception of height is a bit skewed since everyone looks tall to her. But she was right about you being cute.” There was a bluntness in the way Ashley spoke that bewildered me. I couldn’t tell if she just had a flat affect like my sister or if she was nervous and having a hard time getting the words out.

I laughed awkwardly, uncertain how to respond. “Well, thank you… I think?”

“It’s a compliment. I think you’d make a great maid. Dandere type. I’m more kuudere. But I play himedere for the café,” she explained.

My brain fizzled and popped while trying to process the new information. I didn’t know there were that many types of -dere in Japanese media! I thought there were only like… five or so? Apparently my struggle to recognize and define the categories that had been presented to me brought a wry smile to Ashley’s face. I shook my head and blurted out, “I don’t know if I can keep all that straight in my head. But I guess I can look it up on my phone later!”

“So you’ll join us? As a maid?” She reached a hand out to caress my cheek before catching my chin with her fingertips and tilting it up so I couldn’t look away from her face. “I’d love to show you the ropes.”

What. The. Fuck. I could feel the heat radiating from my face and neck. I’m pretty sure no amount of concealer or foundation could hide the redness of my skin. I wanted to resist, to turn away, to say ‘no.’ But I was utterly tongue-tied. Who was this suave woman and why was she teasing me like this? And where was Emily?!

“No touchy! You’re being a playboy!”

Relief washed over me at those familiar words. Ashley released my chin and gave me a knowing smirk. “Think about it, Princess. It’d be nice to have another tall girl on staff. Especially one as cute as you.”

“Uh.. I should, um, pay my bill…” I stammered. “And, uh, thank you. But I don’t think… I’m not a good fit.”

“I would love to see you in a maid uniform, but we have plans today and they don’t include flirting with my cousin!” Emily said, perhaps a bit sharply. “I’ve already paid, since this was my treat, so let’s get going, shall we?” 

Grateful to escape the clutches of the maid café, I waved a farewell to the staff as Emily and I made our way to her car in the lot. Emily, dressed once more in her jeans and t-shirt, it was hard to believe she was the same provocative girl that was dancing in a maid outfit just a little while ago. Her behavior was tugging at my mind. This wasn’t how friends acted, was it? I’d certainly never put on a song and dance number for one of my friends, no matter how much I liked them. But was I willing to do that for Emily? …probably, yeah.

I slipped into the passenger seat of Emily’s car, this time careful to tuck my skirt under my butt to ensure that nothing improper was showing, and turned toward Emily as she seated herself. “That was a lot of fun!” I admitted. “I don’t think I would have had the courage to go into a place like that on my own.”

“Why not?” Emily asked. “It’s just cute girls in cosplay. It’s not like there’s a gender restriction on who can enjoy that. I mean, you see all kinds of people at cabaret and burlesque performances.” She turned the car on, and the soothing pulsing of the LEDs around the interior trim of the vehicle bathed us both in a teal glow. “And honestly, that was the single most embarrassing and terrifying thing I’ve ever done. I’m okay now, but I think I almost peed myself.”

I chuckled at the notion, casually slipping my phone out of my purse. It was still quite early in the afternoon and thankfully I hadn’t received any text messages from any annoying parties. But I took advantage of the moment to lean over toward Emily in the driver’s seat and shoot a selfie on my phone’s mediocre camera.

“So, we’re heading back to your place, then?” I asked.

“Yep! I hope you’re ready!”

I tilted my head curiously. “So what’s on the agenda?”

“I am going to kick your ass and leave you begging for more,” she said with a dark smile.

---

Emily jabbed at me twice, following with a kick that I failed to block. As I tumbled to the ground, I desperately tried to roll back to my feet, but she was already on me with a punishing series of sweeping kicks that had me screaming in pain. She backed away, satisfied with her attack, as I shouted out, “Please! One more time! I wasn’t ready!”

“Hey, I told you to pick your best character!” Emily reminded me. “You said you could kick anyone’s ass with Poison. I took you at your word and picked Sakura, expecting more of a challenge!”

“But who is actually good with Sakura in Street Fighter V?” I retorted. “I mean, sure, not many people use Poison, but I was expecting you to use E. Honda or Ryu or something.”

“Aww, what’s wrong? Can’t handle fighting ‘faster girl-Ken?’ Come on, I barely even used any ranged attacks!”

I flopped back on the floor and stared at the ceiling. “Fiiiiine,” I grumbled. “What’s the penalty game this time?” My number of losses exceeded my ability to reasonably regain ground in our matches. I had won three and lost eight. So far, the punishments had been silly things like taking a picture while making a weird face or singing theme songs from cartoons from our childhood. I’m honestly not sure how I knew all the words to My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic or Steven Universe’s openings. I didn’t watch those, I swear! I was more into Adventure Time and Ben10. 

Anyway, Emily looked very thoughtful this time. She tapped on her chin melodramatically as she stared off into space somewhere on the left side of her admittedly spacious room. “Okay, I have an idea, but you have to be blindfolded.”

Huh?

“Uh… what are you going to do to me that requires me to be blindfolded?” I asked perhaps a bit too cautiously.

Instead of answering me, she stood up from the padded leather office chair she had appropriated from her computer desk and strutted toward a large wardrobe against the wall. She opened the door and, after a moment of thought, selected a silky green and white scarf from a hanger and proceeded to walk back towards me, twirling the scarf like a cowboy’s lasso with a huge grin on her face. “Do you trust me?” 

“I mean, sure, I trust you… although this is only like the third time we’ve actually spent time with each other,” I snarked as I sat back up. “But honestly, I feel so relaxed with you, it’s almost like I’ve known you forever. So yeah, I trust you.”

She stopped in front of me and knelt down, looking me directly in the eyes, and gave a half-smile. “Good. That’s what I like to hear.”

Emily then folded the scarf in half lengthwise and placed it over my eyes, tying it behind my head. A little bit of light leaked through, but I couldn’t make out any shapes or shadows. I felt the tiny hairs on the back of my neck and across my arms stand on end. I wasn’t sure what to call this feeling of anticipation, but I could feel it throughout my body.

I could hear her shuffling around on the floor near me, but couldn’t figure out what she was doing until I heard a voice near my left side. “I’ve been doing my best to hold back all day, you know.”

I felt my body shudder at the unexpectedly erotic stimulus of her breath on my neck and her whispery words in my ear. “Um… hold back from what?” I asked, my voice quivering. Her fingers traced across my shoulders and up the right side of my neck and I let out a gasp.

“From touching you. From holding you. From claiming you.” This time, the warmth of her breath and the sound of her voice felt so close to my right ear, I’m surprised her lips didn’t brush against my skin. I couldn’t help but remember my dream at that moment.

“Emily, uh… isn’t this moving a little fast? We’re both girls, here,” I fibbed. Honestly, though, my heart was hammering so loudly I thought I could hear the bass from some crazy EDM track on my workout playlist. “Besides, I never knew you could be this… uh… assertive?”

I could hear more shuffling around me. The next thing I knew, there were hands holding both sides of my face. “I didn’t plan this,” Emily said in a more normal tone. “But when I saw Ashley touch you, I just got so jealous and… and I thought I needed to make it clear how I felt.”

Before I could reply, there were soft lips pressed against mine. It was a gentle kiss. Ephemeral. I could taste the sweetness of her lip gloss mixed with my own. She pulled away slowly and rested her forehead against mine. For a long moment, we sat like that in silence. Finally, she said, “I really like you, Lauren.” Emily paused and let out a breathy sigh. “But if you don’t feel the same way, then we go on being friends. This becomes just a silly punishment game. We go on like it never happened.” I could feel her hands behind my head untying the scarf. As she pulled it away from me, my eyes sought hers.

I faltered, losing the will to speak the words I needed to say. “I really like you, Emily,” I finally managed. “But I’m not the person you think I am.”

She gave me a confused smile. “Is this about the clothes again? I know I told you to wear something cute, but if you’re not comfortable-”

“No, it’s not that,” I interrupted. My heart hurt from the anxiety and the fear that spread throughout me. “I’m actually getting too comfortable, and that’s the part that’s worrying me.” I climbed to my feet, careful not to flash anything under my skirt. “I have something I need to show you. It’s really important.” Was I really going to do this? Was it going to happen? Was I finally going to man up? Everything in my brain said that this was the right thing to do.

So why did it feel like I was being stabbed through the heart?

“I’ll be right back, I promise.” I walked purposefully toward the en suite bathroom and closed the door behind me, unwilling to look back at Emily lest I lose my nerve.

With a bit of soapy water on my fingertips, I easily released the adhesive holding the lace front of my wig to my forehead and pulled it off, laying it on the bathroom counter. Slowly, carefully, I removed the wig cap and bobby pins, and laid them on top of the wig. After several moments of effort, I finger combed my hair into an approximation of my masculine hair style, parted on the right side with the shaggy bangs pulled down toward my eyes. 

Was this really okay? At best, we would remain friends and things would never go any further. At worst, she would feel deceived and kick me out of her life. Was I okay with that? Was I willing to risk it? I could feel tears welling up in my eyes, but I refused to let myself cry. I needed to be strong. Be brave. Be a man. I turned and unlocked the bathroom door, drawing a deep, shuddering breath to calm myself. It’s okay. I can do this.

I opened the door.