Chapter 179 Errands

Chapter 179 Errands
Rosa pulled up outside the apartment right on time, Mara already in the passenger seat, Lina leaning between them from the back with her sunglasses pushed up into her hair.

"You're actually ready," Lina said as Lyra climbed in. "I had money on you running five minutes late."

"I've gotten better at this," Lyra said, buckling in.

"Debatable," Rosa said, pulling away from the curb. "But we'll allow it today."

They started with the market, a sprawling open-air stretch of stalls that Rosa insisted had the best produce in the city, though she said that about at least three different markets depending on the week.

"This one's actually the best," Rosa said, catching Lyra's look. "The others were just good."

"You said the exact same thing about the one near the clubhouse."

"That one's good for meat. This one's good for everything else, different categories."

"There are no categories, Rosa. You just like all of them."

"I have refined and specific tastes," Rosa said with great dignity, already moving toward a stall stacked high with tomatoes.

Lina looped her arm through Lyra's as they walked. "How's the shop coming along?"

"Slowly. Lease is signed, but the renovation hasn't started yet."

"What's the holdup?"

"Life, mostly," Lyra said, keeping it light. "Between the club stuff and everything else, I haven't had a full week to focus on it yet."

"You'll get there," Lina said easily. "Everything worth having takes longer than you want it to."

Mara, walking a step ahead, glanced back. "That sounded almost wise, Lina."

"I have wise moments. They're just rare enough that you notice them."



They wandered the stalls for the better part of an hour, Rosa filling a bag with vegetables while narrating her plans for dinner that evening, Mara picking through a table of spices with the careful attention of someone who actually knew what she was looking for.

"What's this one," Lyra asked, picking up a small jar of something deep red.

"Chili paste," Mara said. "Homemade, not the store kind. You want this."

"Do I?"

"Trust me."

Lyra bought two jars without further argument, mostly because arguing with Mara about food had never once worked out in her favor.

Lina drifted toward a stall selling scarves, holding one up against herself in a small mirror propped against the display. "What do you think?"

"The color's good on you," Lyra said honestly.

"That's what I thought." Lina bought it without hesitation, wrapping it loosely around her neck immediately. "See, this is why I like shopping with people who actually answer honestly instead of just agreeing with everything."

"I'm honest because I like you," Lyra said. "Not because it's some grand policy."

"Same result either way."

They stopped for coffee at a small café tucked between two stalls, claiming a table in the shade, bags piled around their feet.

"So," Rosa said, once they'd settled, stirring her drink slowly. "Anyone want to tell me why Renzo's been showing up to the clubhouse an hour early every day lately."

Lyra kept her face carefully neutral. "He's doing paperwork. Licensing research."

"I know what he's doing," Rosa said. "I'm asking why he's suddenly so dedicated to arriving before anyone else does."

"Maybe he just can't sleep," Lina said, a little too quickly, focusing intently on her coffee.

Mara raised an eyebrow but said nothing. "Sure," Rosa said, clearly not convinced, letting it drop for now with the ease of someone who'd pick it back up later when it suited her better.

"How's the fence line holding up," Lina asked, deliberately changing the subject. "After everything."

"Quiet," Lyra said. "Which everyone keeps telling me is more worrying than if something were actually happening."

"That sounds about right," Mara said. "Quiet usually means someone's planning something. Loud means it's already happening."

"Comforting," Lyra said dryly.

"I didn't say it to comfort you," Mara said. "I said it because it's true."

"Fair."

They finished their coffee and continued on, stopping at a fabric shop next, Lyra lingering over bolts of pale linen while the others waited with varying degrees of patience.

"This is for the shop," she explained. "Fitting room curtain. I've been picturing it for months."

"Take your time," Rosa said. "We're not in a rush."

"Speak for yourself," Lina said, though she said it fondly, already settling onto a small bench near the entrance.

Lyra ran her hand over several different fabrics before finally settling on one, soft and pale, exactly the kind of thing that would move gently if someone walked past it. "This one," she said, showing it to Mara.

Mara felt the fabric between her fingers, considering. "Good choice. It'll hold up well and it's not too heavy."

"You know fabric too?"

"I know a lot of things," Mara said simply, and Lyra had learned by now not to be surprised by the depth of what Mara actually knew about nearly everything.

By early afternoon, the car was fuller than when they'd started, bags of vegetables and spices, Lina's new scarf, the fabric Lyra had chosen carefully wrapped to keep it clean.

They stopped once more for a late lunch, a small place Rosa knew that served something simple and good, and settled into the kind of easy, unhurried conversation that came naturally to the four of them now.

"I keep thinking about the shop opening," Lyra said, picking at her food. "What it'll actually feel like, having something that's fully mine, separate from the club."

"It'll feel good," Rosa said with certainty. "You've earned something that's just yours."

"You've earned plenty within the club too," Mara added. "This isn't instead of that. It's alongside it."

"I like that way of thinking about it," Lyra said.

Lina reached over and squeezed her hand briefly. "We'll all be there opening day. Whether you invite us or not."

"I was definitely going to invite you."

"Good, because we were coming regardless."

Lyra laughed, something warm settling in her chest at the easy certainty of it, the four of them sitting together with bags of ordinary errands piled around their feet, nothing urgent pressing down on any of them for once.



The drive back was quiet in the comfortable way, the afternoon sun slanting warm through the windows, Rosa humming along to something on the radio while Mara looked out at the passing streets and Lina scrolled through her phone with her new scarf still wrapped loosely around her neck.

"Thank you for today," Lyra said as they pulled up outside her apartment. "I needed this more than I realized."

"We all did," Mara said. "Days like this matter. Especially with everything else going on."

"Same time next week?" Lina asked, already looking forward to it.

"Sure." Lyra agreed, gathering her bags and climbing out, watching them pull away before she headed inside, the fabric for the fitting room curtain tucked carefully under one arm, the whole afternoon settling into her chest like something worth holding onto.