Love Summer
Maya scrolled through Instagram, the endless stream of sun-drenched bodies and tropical cocktails making her already mild sunburn sting a little bit more. Everyone else seemed to be living their best #LoveSummer life. Meanwhile, she was stuck in her tiny Brooklyn apartment, battling a malfunctioning AC unit and a deadline for a marketing campaign she was increasingly convinced was destined to fail.
She sighed, posting a grumpy selfie with the caption: "Love summer (said through gritted teeth and a desperate plea for air conditioning)."
A notification popped up almost immediately. A heart from @LiamWest.
Liam West. The guy she'd randomly bumped into (literally, coffee-spillingly) at her favourite coffee shop last week. The guy with the disarmingly crooked smile and the eyes that reminded her of the Aegean Sea. They'd chatted for a glorious twenty minutes before her boss had called, summoning her back to the office. They'd exchanged Instagram handles, a gesture that felt both modern and incredibly underwhelming.