I can't believe I just did that.
I spent the whole next day trying to forget what happened last night. I mean, how stupid can I be? Obviously, I have no concept of friendship. Just one set of pearls and boom. Here I am slipping back into nineteen year old me.
By the end of my shift, I decided to cut myself some slack. Because I know it's not about the gifts or the money or the house or the hotels. It's about when he holds me, looks me in the eyes and calls me his princess.
It's about how I can talk to him for hours on end without getting bored or tired. It's about how he stares at me when he's listening. You can see how his brain processes your words to produce a brillant, elegant response.
It's about how he's everything you need. He could be your nurturing parent. He could be your goofy best friend. He could be rock best friend. He could be your unproblematically possessive boyfriend that will shield you and protect you from everything.
So I took my car and drove down to Cary Town, entering his store. I talked to one of the managers, explaining I was looking for Namjoon, and he pointed me to the direction of the basement door while ringing his pager.
When he got the green light he pressed in the new passcode and let me downstairs. There was a girl, sitting on his desk. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she wore a bright green cheerleading uniform.
As I got closer, the girl got smaller. In the window, I watched them laugh as Namjoon pasted price tags on books he pulled from the box, and handed them to the cheerleader who stuffed them on a rack.
His smiling face turned at me, seeing me through the door window. He put the tape gun down and opened the door, still kind of laughing. The girl was tiny. Itty bitty. With bright, dyed red hair with a gold bee necklace dangling in the light.
Namjoon: Hey!
Me: Hi...
Girl: Whoa, uncle, she's pretty.
Namjoon: BB, this is my friend Nari. Nari, this is my niece BB.
Me: Oh, hi there.
BB: Hi! Nice to meet you!
Me: *laughing* Nice to meet you too!
Namjoon: Hey, little bumblebee, can you take that rack upstairs for me?
BB: Kaykay!
She jumped off the desk and rolled the rack out of Namjoon's office. She flashed a smile at me again before shutting the door behind her. Namjoon broke the big box that held the books and threw it in a stack in the corner with other versions of them.
Me: Cute kid.
Namjoon: *smiling* I know. She's the sweetest.
Me: How old is she?
Namjoon: She's going to turn thirteen in October.
Me: What's she doing here?
Namjoon: *smiling* She likes to hang with her uncle. She comes down here sometimes and helps out. She's a bookworm too.
Me: Isn't school over?
Namjoon: Yeah, why?
Me: She's in her uniform for cheer.
Namjoon: Oh, her squad has competitions and conditioning over the summer.
Me: Brother's daughter?
Namjoon: Nah. Sister's daughter.
Me: You have a sister?
Namjoon: Yeah. Two. One older one younger.
