POISE//AMBW

7.

I left early in the morning, leaving headache medication and water on the night stand beside her. I snuck into Hanuel's room and kissed him goodbye. It was an hour journey to get to my workplace, so often times I had to leave at unneccessary times. The ride there was a quiet one as I whipped through the dark cities. The skies going from a charcoal black to a grey blue, the movement in the city finally awakening. I turned a sharp corner like I've often practiced and stopped at the man at the gate.

"Good morning!" The beady eyed man chirped. He was a scrawny man that barely reach the average height of a male. His hair was precisely cut into a bowl, his black hair hiding his thick eyebrows. His wrinkles worn deep into his light skin as he gave a tired smile.

"Good morning, Mr. Park. How are you?" I asked the bright eyed man who wore an eye opening neon shirt. His wrinkles sunk deeper, his eyes squinting up and his lips shriveling up to none. Mr. Park shuffled in his assigned booth, towering over me and my car yet his stature was not intimidating at all.

"I'm good, Mr. Namjoon. Thanks for asking! How's that baby of yours?" He leaned the distance we had between us, and handed me my week parking ticket. Now he rested his chin on his hand, elbow on the small window sill awaiting my answer.

"Hanuel's doing well. He's walking and talking so much that sometimes I wish he would shut up." I chuckled at the thought, letting my hand off the wheel and put the ticket in the dash board. Mr. Park and I had a strange relationship. When I began my internship here, he was the first person to give me a chance; he never judged me. Before you know it, we confided in one another and laughed at what little time we had together. Coincidently, we ended up having the same lunch schedule.

Mr. Park told me stories that I would have never believed to be possible. From traveling in the Bahamas and getting drunk and ending up on somebody's doorstep, to seeing the Berlin Wall while he studied in Germany. He spoke with sharp words that pinched and stabbed you in the chest to get your attention. I learned many lessons from his tall tales, and with him being my senior, I felt somewhat obligated to listen. Everyday I would listen to a different story of his trials and tribulations and how he overcame them with such ease, and through his faith. "Just hold on," he would tell me. 'Hold on a little bit longer, because the minute that you're about to let go, something amazing happens. You just have to hang on.' I kept those exact words tucked away in the back of my mind, and stored in my heart.

"You and Nala made such a wonderful kid," the bowl cut man jolted to see another car pulling in behind me. "Hey, I'll catch you at lunch when it's time, alright?" He waved at me, preparing another ticket for his next costumer. I nodded at him paying my respect to him and drove off. 

The lights warmed up the facility, the sunlight had no problems entering the glass windows. Women wore business skirts, heels clanking loudly against the hard tile. Men rushed about getting to their next meeting, nodding at me. I had worked so hard to get where I was now. From the pits of being a nobody, drowned in the depths of work that tested my capabilities to being one of the Head and Chiefs was something I took pride in. I loosened up my tie and strode to the elevator, holding on to my black briefcase very closely to me. The elevator dinged and many people flooded out of the claustrophobic box, but only one person stayed inside.

Her brown eyes met mine, a smirk now playing on her pink lips. She had her light brown hair up in a bun with a pencil holding it all together. Nice milky white legs called my name, pleading for me to pay attention to her small thighs that led up to a place a married man, like I, shouldn't think about. She wore red heels that matched her blouse, but her blouse. Three buttons undone intentionally to capture my eyes which sent shivers all around my body. The woman bowed, making me catch a glimpse of her black laced bra.