Sincerely, Vantae

GRILLED CHICKEN WRAP

The first time I woke up, I was laying on top of vantae. His hands were entwined with mine and my head was resting against his chest. Twice in the middle of the night, we'd woken up and had sex, and we'd somehow fallen asleep mid-kiss.

The second time I woke up, I was alone. And I was late.

The alarm clock was blaring loudly and my watch read 11:30.

Shit...

I jumped out of bed-heading to my closet, quickly realizing that my closet wasn't here. Not in vantae's room.

I pulled his drawers open looking for something better to wear than flannel pajamas. I settled on one of his T-shirts and tied it at the back. I even tried on his pants-the smallest ones I could find, but it was no use. They fell off as soon as I buttoned them.

Shit. Shit. Shit...

I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and literally gasped. There were red marks all over my neck, my lips were puffy, and my hair looked like I'd spent one too many seconds with my fingers in a live electrical socket.

Not willing to risk being fired just yet, I pulled my hair into a messy high bun, licked my lips, and found a different shirt to cover up the marks.

The pajama pants would have to stay...

"Why are you wearing a turtleneck in the dead of summer?" My boss looked up at me as I approached. "Have you forgotten what part of korea you live in?"

"Not at all..." I said, sweating profusely. "I just felt like wearing a turtleneck today."

He looked at his watch. "You're lucky I actually need you today. Get in there."

I pushed the doors to the box office open and set down my bag.

My coworker joohyun looked up at me. "What's got you glowing today?" She smiled. "You and ur ex finally made up?"

"No, we, uh, broke up actually. I'm not glowing."

"You are!" She stood up and walked over to me. "Tell me..."

Thankfully, I didn't have to change the subject or find a distraction on my own. A customer approached the window, and after we arranged her boat tour, twenty more customers drew near.

Per the usual summer season, the line became never-ending, the questions nonstop. By the time our lunch hour came around, flipping a coin for who should take a break first was far more important than discussing whether I was glowing or not.

"Heads it is!" joohyun clapped. "I'll be back in thirty minutes. You want anything?"

"No, thanks." I flipped our window sign to "Out for Lunch" and closed the blinds.

After she left, I began the less than thrilling task of counting the sales for the first half of the day. I was halfway through the children's tickets, when the fabric of vantae's turtleneck itched me to the point of no return.

I pulled out my phone and called him.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Can you do me a favor?"

"I've already forgotten about last night."

"That's not what I'm talking about...But I'm glad we're already on the same page with um...that. That thing which did not happen."

He laughed. "What's the favor, lili?"

"Can you go to my house and get me some clothes and bring them to the marina?"

"Are you currently there naked?"

"No." I rolled my eyes. "There's a spare key under the flower pot on my front porch. Anything in my top right drawer-shorts, T-shirts, jeans, would be great. No tank tops, though. Do not get one of those."