Alice wiped tears from her eyes as she laid her napkin on her lap. “I bet that waiter thinks were nuts.”

“Maybe we are,” Dana agreed.

The two began eating, alternating between conversations about tennis, Alice’s new article, and their friends, while often falling into a comfortable silence. Things were going quite well until Dana accidentally spilled her glass of water down her front. “*****!” she moaned.

“Oh no! Here’s a napkin,” Alice offered, reaching across the table, knocking over the candle in the process, which rolled over and ignited the edge of the tablecloth.

“*****!” Dana repeated, grabbing the water glass to put it out, not realizing it was empty. Alice was beating the small fire with her napkin, attempting to put it out, but the napkin caught fire as well, and she dropped it to the table with a small shriek. In desperation, Dana grabbed Alice’s glass.

“No, don’t, Dana! There’s alcohol in there! It will-” Alice cut herself off as she watched, in dismay, as Dana threw the drink on the fire and it momentarily calmed before suddenly burst back into flames, worse than before. Both women yelped, jumping back from the table, chairs falling over behind them. They heard the shouts of the other patrons.

A waiter rushed over with a fire extinguisher, quickly putting out the fire. He glared at them, and Dana said weakly, “Um, check, please?”

After paying the bill and for the tablecloth, as well as leaving a generous tip for their frazzled waiter, the two stood outside the restaurant. Dana’s chest and lap were soaked with water, and both had soot covering their hands.

“So…,” Dana began, using a phrase Alice found very familiar, as she scratched her cheek nervously, leaving a smudge of black on her face.

Alice giggled and reached over to wipe it off, but it just made it smear worse. In response, Dana laughed and wiped a bit of soot onto Alice’s cheek to match her own. They stood for a moment, smiling at each other, Dana’s hand still on Alice’s dirtied cheek. They leaned in and kissed each other softly.

“Call me tomorrow?” Alice asked, squeezing Dana’s hand.

“Of course,” Dana replied, squeezing back.

“Don’t go starting anymore fires, my little partner in crime,” Alice teased with a grin.

“You started it!” Dana protested.

“And you made it worse,” Alice replied, shutting her up with a quick peck on the lips.

They said their goodbyes, and as they were walking away, Dana suddenly turned around and shouted, “Hey, Alice?”

Alice turned around. “Yeah?”

“You might want to take a bath!” Dana erupted into a fit of giggles, then shrieked and began running away as Alice chased after her, chasing her down and tickling her until she apologized.