"You didn't have to get the cheapest thing on the menu," Beth said to me once we were seated back at our table.
I shrugged. "I never got into the whole 'frappe-mocha-latte-cino' thing. I've tried them, but it's not for me. I just like my coffee to be coffee."
"Fair enough." She took a long drink, and then sighed. "So, now that you're settled with your coffee, I have a confession to make. I sort of... left my phone behind intentionally, hoping you would find it."
My cup paused halfway to my lips as I tried to process that statement. "You wanted me to take your phone?"
Beth blushed a little and looked down. "Well, no. I wanted you to call me, and this seemed like the best way."
"And what if I had just turned it into the lost and found at the store?"
"Oh, I'd have just swung by in the morning and grabbed it."
"But..." I was stammering, and my mind was racing. I took a sip of my coffee and forced my thoughts in order. "But what if I'd just... taken it?"
Beth thought about that for a moment, and then shrugged. "Sometimes, you just have to take a big risk to get a big reward."
I shook my head. "I'm sorry, what parallel universe did I wake up in this morning where I'm a big reward?"
She whapped me playfully on the shoulder. "No putting yourself down. That's rule number one around me."
"Really? And what's rule number two?" I asked with a smirk.
Beth mirrored my expression. "Guess you'll have to take me to dinner and find out."
