Girl With The Tattoos™

Feel.

Her past was a dark one.

Filled with loneliness, fear, abuse that was both physical and mental and rarely any happiness.

Love wasn't a word that she grew up knowing the true meaning of, much less knowing what it was like to be wanted.

Everything that she has ever had was always earned and never given. She wasn't blessed with a memorable childhood, in fact, it was something that she tried so hard to forget. And her teenage years....was the very reason for her sleepless nights.

It was unfair but as she grew older, she quickly realized that life never played fair or chose favorites.

Still, Na'imah never let her past define her nor change her pure ways. They may have tainted her body and shook up her mind but she never allowed them to break her spirit.

As soon as she turned eighteen, she joined the military considering that college was out of the question. Once she graduated, she packed up what she needed, disappearing, not looking back since. It wasn't ideal but she was desperate to get as far away from them as possible and at the time, it was her only way out.

Six years have passed since she began her journey in living her own life on her own terms. No one knew her story and she never really allowed anyone to get to close because if she did, she felt as though she'd be opening up old wounds that she's been trying so hard to forget. Although she had people she'd consider friends, she never had anything close to a best friend.

Maybe it was better that way.

With her last year in the Navy ending in South Korea, she decided to call the city of Seoul home for a while. She had zero reasons to return back to the states, there was literally nothing waiting for her there anyway.

At first, Na'imah was nervous about living in a place that was so different from what she was normally used to. She picked up on the language with ease and was quick to get used to the culture, however, she couldn't front like she didn't miss certain things from back home in North Carolina.

Her eyes were glued to the last chapter of her book when she heard someone walk in.

Shifting her gaze to the clock beside her, she knew exactly who it was judging by the time.

For the past two weeks she's been working at 7/11, he has shown up most nights she worked, around the same time to buy the exact same items.

It wasn't something she found to be out of the ordinary, considering she used to do the same, which is how she managed to even land this job to begin with.

However, Na'imah could feel it when he watched her as he picked out his items. The way he would look at her when he approached the counter to pay. Even when he would purposely brush his hand against hers.

She noticed it all.

He was flirting without ever speaking a word to her which she thought was kind of odd but everyone was different and she wasn't one to judge.

His face was familiar to her though. It was as if she has seen him somewhere else but couldn't put her finger on where and that bothered her.

She did find his features to be beyond attractive to her, with the beauty marks above his eyelid being her favorite.

Closing her book, she pushed it to the side as he approached the counter. Occasionally she'd dabble in small talk with a few customers to be friendly and tonight she decided to attempt to do something she almost never does, be the first to spark up a conversation.

"You always watch me but never speak, why?" She questioned curiously, watching his eyes widen by her suddenly speaking to him. A small smile pulled at her lips while he placed his items in front of her. His dark hair fell slightly over his eyes as he stared down at her, making her heart beat a little faster.