Decisions

Oh My Gosh

She stared at his door for way too long, lost in thought after what had happened earlier. She knew she shouldn't have trusted the girl that ran out of her apartment. After she had snuck in quietly hoping to surprise Jinyoung, what she saw after opening her bedroom door was too much to bear.

"It's not what you think with Min-Seo..." Jinyoung gasped out loud, clearly in shock as Min-Seo smirked evily while she grabbed her shirt off of the floor and threw it on.

"See you both at the office." Flipping her hair arrogantly, she walked out of the apartment, slamming the door hard enough to make Lily wince at the loud sound. Her life as she knew it had started to crumble after that moment.

"Lily, please let me explain..."

Snapping her self out of the memory, she resisted the urge to start crying again by taking a deep breath and checking out her outfit real quick.

"Comfortability is key, plus it's not like he likes me." She thought to herself, giving his door three quick taps. Hearing footsteps shuffle around, she hears him quickly unlocking the door before walking away.

"Come on in, I'm just throwing the meat on the stove." Jackson's voice cheerfully chirps as she slowly opens the door. She had to catch her breath for a moment, not expecting his apartment to look so majestic. Strolling through the living room, she turned to admire the view of the sunset for a moment.

As she made her way to the kitchen, she saw his back muscles flexing as he leaned over to toss the steak into the pan after marinating it in some spices.

"Oh my gosh. Excuse me real quick. I thought I had more time to grab a shirt, I tend to get hot while cooking." Sheepishly grinning as he covers his chest, he scoots over a few feet to a black tank top on the counter. Throwing it over his head, he quickly thanks her as he puts what she brought to help with dinner on the counter by his fridge and invites her to sit at the kitchen table while the meat cooks for a few minutes.

"At least I won't be eating alone tonight, tough work being a personal trainer who loves his food and sweets....don't tell anyone I had a beer or two." Winking as he runs his hands through his hair, Jackson watches as Lily still seemed a little off from earlier.

"Your secret is safe with me. I'm sorry if I'm not the best guest. It's going to be rough as hell going back to work, knowing both him and the home wrecker work in the same department as me. I honestly just want to quit, but I'm not giving Min-Seo that satisfaction. Never should have taken my eye off of her, but it seems she wasn't the only person who was eyeing someone." Watching as Lily furrows her eyebrows in frustration, he saw a glint of weakness flash through as she tried to fake being happy.

"You really loved him didn't you? I want to be the first to tell you that it'll be the worst mistake he will ever make. Let me take your mind off of all that drama for tonight...come, you can help me with dinner!" Grasping her hand, Jackson gently pulled her into the kitchen, pulling down a bowl out of the cupboard for the rice she had brought. As she emptied her container into the bowl, she frowned for a quick second.

"Do you have some salt and pepper, plus some soy sauce?" Lily inquires, watching as Jackson nods and points to a cupboard door close to his head.

"Right there. Help yourself."

As she opened the cupboard door, she saw the salt and pepper, grabbing them and putting them next to the rice. Noticing that the soy sauce was up a little farther than she could reach, she stood on her tiptoes to reach it.

"I'm sorry, I don't have many guests over that are shorter than me. Let me help you." Reaching his hand over to help, their fingers touch for a brief moment. Not sure what to do for a moment, they finally pull away from each other and he ackwardly hands her the soy sauce.

*After dinner*

"Thank you for the delicious dinner. I want to give you my number, I owe you a dinner or something." Quickly taking a pen and paper out of her purse, she wrote down her number and handed it to Jackson.

"You don't have to feel like you owe me anything Lily. I was glad to help you feel better. Maybe we will catch each other again sometime?" Jackson inquires as he walks with her towards his door. Putting her number into his phone, he stuffs the piece of paper into his pocket, along with his phone.

"You have my number now, just text me and we can figure something out. I'll have plenty of free time after tomorrow. It's my last work day for the week." Smiling as she nervously fidgets back and forth, Jackson couldn't help but admire how her medium length brunette cascaded so carefree over her bare shoulders.

"Will do. Come give me a hug, don't want to exactly say kiss the chef. A hug will do." Jackson jokes as Lily wraps her arms around  his waist and quickly leans her head onto his chest. Neither of them saying a word about the hug going on a little longer than normal. As Lily pulled away, Jackson caught a whiff of tahitian vanilla body wash wafting from her direction.

"Good night Jackson." Smiling meekly as she waved with the arm that wasn't busy with the leftovers and her purse, the door quietly shuts and he exhales loudly. Walking up towards the window facing downtown, he nervously chewed his thumbnail for a moment before pulling his phone out and typing Lily a message.

"Hey, it's Jackson. Just wanted to give you my number so we can keep in touch. Would it be too weird to say your body wash smelled great before you left? 🙈"

A couple minutes later, his phone dinged and he read her reply.

Chuckling for a moment before heading to his bedroom to get ready for bed, he couldn't help feeling his heart beat skip a little more.

"I think she's going to be more than just a normal neighbor..." He mumbles, putting his phone on the side table by his bed before changing into a pair of red plaid pajama pants and tossing a short sleeve black shirt on before settling into bed and slowly closing his eyes.