My phone goes off again and her eyes flicker away from my face.

“Sorry,” I mutter as I glance quickly at the screen. Asha’s icon is still typing as I put her on Do Not Disturb. “You were saying?”

“You could try taking your phone off the table,” Evi says as she crosses her arms. She’s pretty when she’s angry, her eyes get all narrow and glinty while her clenching jaw makes her naturally soft features harsh. It makes her look older, I think, as I place my phone exactly where it was.

“So what did you want to talk about?” I lean forward, trying to keep my smile from drifting into a smirk.

“I think you know.” The restaurant is mostly empty, but they still made us sit in the corner, basically behind the door. Inside Out is playing on the most inconveniently placed TV I’ve ever seen, above Evi’s head.

“Do I?”

Evi sighs. “Look, I don’t want to make this a thing, okay?” Her fingers thread through her hair, winding and unwinding the same curl. “I barely see you anymore, I don’t think it’s asking too much for you to be, like… responsive.”

I try to soften my expression. “I’m not trying to be rude,” I say, reaching for her hand. I pull her fingers away from her hair, running my thumb over her knuckle. “But I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I feel her hand clench into a fist. “God–Don’t you ever listen to me?” She snaps so suddenly I almost pull away. “You never come up here, you never reply, you never initiate, you-”

“Are you serious? You’re mad that I have-”

“I’m not mad! I’m just- I’m frustrated, okay? I-”

“You do realize how busy I am, right? Sorry that your need for constant attention isn’t really my top priority.”

“Constant atten- What is wrong with you? I’m literally just asking you to be a slightly less shitty girlfriend and you can’t even-”

“It’s not my fault you live in goddamn Sacramento. That’s not exactly close, you know. You could come to me if you care so much but no, I’m always the one who has to-”

“That’s not the point!” Evi’s voice is so loud the restaurant’s sole waiter removes an Airpod and glances at us quizzically. “I know it’s far, okay? I get that you can’t see me as much as I’d like, I get that. But you don’t even reply to my texts. Sometimes I think if I stopped pushing, I’d never see you again.”

My face burns and I struggle to keep my tone level. “You know that’s not true.”

“Do I?” Evi snips back. Her body is wound tight like a snake but I’ve never been a mouse so I let her anger sizzle in her teeth, trapping her in my silence.

After a minute of nothing, Evi speaks again, softer now. “Saira?”

“Yeah.”

“Look, um-” She fidgets, glancing at our hands. “Okay. I’m just going to say it-”

“Can we leave?”

Evi blinks, her mouth still open. “Uh- What? We didn’t even order. And there’s something I need to discuss with you.”

“Okay well let’s discuss outside.” I stand abruptly, letting her hand fall.