Yuko watched as Raph turned to speak to his new customer, some lady in head to toe Lululemon with a long, swishy ponytail. She gave Yuko the stink eye as she passed her. Ok then, Serenity or Dharma… or whatever the fuck you changed your name to… they’re all yours. Shaking her head a little at the lady’s obvious thirst, Yuko left the booth with a little wave to Raph. They paused in their conversation and returned the wave with a smile. Take that, Serenity. Yuko strolled off with a tiny bit of extra switch in her hips.

Abruptly, Nachelle yanked Yuko behind a rack of clothes in a neighboring vendor’s display. “Oh my god, Yuko, what was that? Get your ass behind these tunics so I can listen to you and watch those two at the same time. I wanna see something. What was that, though!? You liked them.”

“They seemed nice,” said Yuko airily, holding up a woven tunic and inspecting it. What was this made out of, some kind of linen? It's nice and soft, and seems like it would feel cool in the summer. Some chunky beads, a cute sandal...I could pull this off. Did they have them in black?

A discreet cough-laugh escaped from Nachelle. “They seemed very nice, but what you were thinking about doing with them was anything but. Nasty, nasty things. Maca root. Tuh.” Nachelle was beaming at her like a proud mother. “You better go and take that class. Tell me you are taking that class.”

“Nachelle, look at this dress thing. What is this made out of? Linen?”

“Hemp. Everything in this booth is made with hemp… that’s, like, their business model. I was surprised you were looking at those given your bizarre antipathy towards hemp."

“Ew. No, I cannot do hemp. I know it’s sustainable, but seriously. The whole hemp brand is ruined by association with all of this craziness, as far as I’m concerned,” Yuko circled a finger in the air to encompass the all-ness of the craziness in the marketplace. "It is pretty, though. Too bad."

"Uh huh. How's that gummy treating you?"

"I feel great!"

"Excellent. I'm sure it's just the gummy, too. You’re definitely gonna take the class, though, right?” Nachelle said, "Because I've been spying on Raph and what I just saw was that they had a very different energy while talking to Lululemon than they had when talking to you. They looked perfectly neutral and professional just then. No big smiles. No little winks that you two didn't think I could see. A lack of enthusiasm was exactly what I wanted to see, and that is what I saw. I am not trying to throw you at some kind of downward dog who’ll just fuck with your pretty head while they crack your back. I just want a nice romantic interlude for you. That oughta unblock your Qi."

Yuko looked over and smiled a little. Raph really wasn’t acting like a dog. Yuko could also see that Lulu did her squats as well as her sun salutations. She was very cute. And she was working hard over there with hair touching and shoulder-swinging. Raph just looked like they were thinking about rocks. She felt all kinds of relief she wasn't going to look very hard at.

“I do believe I am gonna go and take that class,” Yuko confirmed.

Nachelle fake happy-screamed into a bunched up hemp tunic and drummed her heels on the floor. “GET SOME!” she stage-whispered to Yuko. "Did you know they all call them the TILF? You are about to land the TILF!"

"T..."

"Teacher."

They all called them the TILF, huh? Welp. That tore it. Yuko felt the rising of her competitive streak and smiled at her feet.