Shorts

All In A Day

Morning

There he was again. Coming up the path at a full jog, brows knit in concentration, earbuds in place. She imagined that he must be listening to some serious workout music like, the Rocky soundtrack, because he never wavered. He never missed a beat.

Dalia jogged along, keeping her own pace, knowing he would lap her by her third time around. He always did. The one mile paved path around the pond in the park was her favorite place to walk and run, but being out here with him made it feel like a competition. Feeling herself becoming winded, Dalia focused on her breathing. Can't let him get in your head, she told herself. You are your only competition...well, you and the beautiful, melanin bronzed, tall and well built man currently lapping you. Dalia didn't even mind when he breezed past. His deep voice trailing behind him, "Anneyong." His fluffy, black hair bouncing his goodbye with every step.

"Dang. Got me again."

Noon

This restaurant was as much his home as the place he slept. His grandparents had built it and given it to his parents. He was pretty sure he was going to be next in line...and he was ready. He also hoped that the cook was included as a plus one. Moving around the hot kitchen like a gymnast or a dancer, she held him captivated. JiSoo forced himself back to work. He bussed tables, greeted customers, worked the register and swept floors. His favorite thing to do was calling orders...it was the only time she looked up. Her focus was squarely on him. He'd misread plenty of orders, but she was always patient, always knew what he meant. She got him. JiSoo watched her smile. Her full, burgundy tinted lips curving into a smile, flashing beautiful teeth and making her nose ring sparkle.

"One more time." Her voice, somewhere between song-like and raspy, floated across the short distance between them. He looked down at the order slip, willing himself to get a grip.

"Two bulgogi, two japche, one kimchi fried rice...what did I say before?" He looked back up at her, puzzled. She was already spinning away from the window, but looked back over her shoulder. Her hair, caught in multiple colored bands down her back, bounced as she changed her direction.

"Something about bulgogi fries and japche with rice..." She smiled again, but this time distracted. No eye contact, just a polite dismissal as she dove back into her world of pots and pans and food.

Flipping the last of the chairs onto the tables and mopping the last corner of the dining room, JiSoo was happy to be done. He loved the restaurant, but it worked him out, every day. He could hear her singing as she finished shutting down the kitchen. She did not have a great singing voice, and sometimes he actively flinched as she reached and missed the high notes...but he still loved to hear her. As the restaurant shut down to the early dinner crowd, that staff went their separate ways. They were alone. He watched as she grabbed her long cardigan off of the hook near the door and settled her book bag over her shoulders. Looking up, her dark brown eyes met him, she paused, then..."JalJaa." She lifted her hand, and left. The bell above the door rang out her departure.

"Dammit. Get it together."

Night

Stepping out of the loud party hall and into the fresh air of the side garden, Anise took a deep breath. She slid off her heals and almost moaned at the bliss she felt. The shoes had been biting her baby toe all night. Her brother and sister's wedding weekend was finally drawing to a close and she couldn't be happier. Dalia had finally talked to him while jogging one morning, after crashing into his back, distracted by his back, none doubt. JiSoo had spoken to the girl he'd been staring at for years, after burning himself while moving distractedly through the kitchen at the restaurant. She couldn't believe it had taken her twin older siblings so long to just say hello.

Hearing the noise of the party get loud and then quiet again, Anise looked up to see who had come out. There he was, like a challenge from heaven, her breath stopped. She watched as he took off his jacket and sat on a bench. She breathed with him as he leaned back, looking up at the sky and took several deep breaths. Pulling her eyes away, she looked down at her feet. Common ground, that was all she had to figure out. Something to talk to him about. School? They both attended university and even some of the same classes. No, too boring. Work? They both worked at the large branch of the local library, moving around one another silently, with the occasional smile passed between them. No, to obvious. "I can't even lead with a stupid question," Anise thought," I already know his favorite food, favorite color and career path." She looked over at him as he stood. She wracked her brain for something, anything she could stay to make him stay. Like a miracle, he moved toward her.

He stood over her , his gray eyes locked on her brown ones. She hoped he couldn't see her pupils shift from his hair, pulled back from his forehead and styled perfectly over his ears, his eyes thickly rimmed in dark lashes and his pulse beating in his throat.

"May I sit?" His voice made her jump. It always did, when he spoke in the middle of her staring at him. He grinned.

"Oh, go ahead." She mock, shifted. Moving no where, but making the motion as if she had.

They sat in silence for a long while, occasionally tapping their feet to the rhythms coming from reception inside. They smiled whenever their eyes met. She would look away as the silence got awkward.

"Ok, I'm going back inside." He stood, his brows furrowed a bit in disappointment. He turned to walk away.

"MY FEET are killing me..."Anise burst out, but ended in a near whisper. He turned, teeth flashing in the night and came to retake his seat on the bench.

"Why?" He patted his lap and motioned for her feet. Turning  on the bench and tucking her dress around her knees, she silently thanked her sister for insisting on the group pedicure before the wedding.

"The planner couldn't find this style in my size so she got them a half size too small.."She stopped talking, struck dumb as his hands began to massage her aching feet.

"What size?"

"Yeah, right." Anise's quick reply made him laugh out loud.

"Nailed it!" She congratulated herself, silently. JiSoo and Dalia were definitely the awkward ones. Talking to her crush had been a breeze.