Chapter 3 #2
“I’ll go grab a broom to clean this up,” the man beside me says, quickly running off. The guy behind the table snorts, shaking his head to himself.
“I really am sorry,” I say again, nodding at the mess. “I have no idea how I dropped it.”
“I’m Bren,” he says, “and I have an idea or two about what happened but only time will tell.”
“I’m Jin, and I have no idea what you’re implying.”
His eyes sparkle as he grins. “That’s okay. Are you looking for anything in particular?”
I shake my head, turning my eyes down and taking in all the ceramics. “I really liked that little mug. I was thinking it would be cute as a sugar cup or maybe for morning tea? But now I think one of these bowls would be lovely. I eat a lot of ramen.”
“Look at this one,” he says, gesturing at one bowl in particular. “It has little holes on the side so you can rest your chopsticks, if you use them. I don’t judge a man on how he eats his ramen.”
All of those awful emotions from a moment ago fall away, leaving me grinning once more. That excitement is back in full force, maybe even more so because through such an awful moment, I was able to meet a new friend.
“I liked the red color of that mug. Do you have anything like that?”
Bren turns around, rummaging through a few boxes behind the table. He hums to himself before making a happy noise and pulling a bowl out of the box.
“How about this? It’s not exactly red but close enough, right?”
I take the bowl from him, cupping it in my hands. It’s beautiful. It has the little indent and holes on the side for my chopsticks and big enough to serve myself a hearty portion of ramen. The outside is painted with hues of red and orange and yellow. It reminds me of a sunset.
“I love it,” I tell him with a grin. “I’ll take it. How much do I owe you?”
Bren tells me a price and I hand the money over quickly. That’s when the man from earlier comes back, a broom and dustpan in hand.
“Thanks for cleaning that up, Leo.”
Leo.
The man’s name is Leo. It suits him. My chest brightens at knowing his name and I can’t stop wondering why? Why am I feeling like this? Why is my chest flipping with excitement?
“Yes. Thank you so much,” I say, nodding my head to him in respect.
“It’s no big deal. Please, don’t worry about it. It was an honest mistake and I’m just really glad you didn’t step on anything or get hurt. Whoever bumped into you is the one who should be sorry, not you.”
Bren snickers at that and Leo shoots him a look that I don’t really understand. I probably shouldn’t just stand here and stare at Leo as he sweeps the floor. That would be weird. I don’t wanna come across as weird even if there truly is nowhere I’d rather be right now.
“I’m going to keep looking around,” I announce. “It was really nice meeting you both.”
Bren sits up a bit straighter. “Are you heading to the candy shop?”
I nod my head. “That’s my last stop of the day,” I explain, carefully putting my new bowl into one of my bags.
“Leo, you should go with him.”
“What?”
“You mentioned wanting to see what stupid bullshit they’re up to today. Why don’t you go with Jin?”
Leo looks away, leaning against his broom. When he looks at me, there’s a tentative nervousness to him. “I wouldn’t want to intrude or bother you.”
“You wouldn’t be,” I say right away and meaning it. I have no idea why I’m feeling like this but it would be silly to just ignore it.
Leo leaves me feeling splayed open. He makes me feel intrigued. I want to know everything there is to know about him. I want to sit and stare at him until the only thing I see when I close my lids is his face.
This isn’t normal. I know it’s not.
The fact is, I don’t really care.
“Okay,” Leo says softly. He quickly tosses the ceramic into the trash and leans the broom behind the table by Bren.
“Ready?”
“Have fun! Tell Andras I say hi and I’ll be over to see him soon.”
Excitement makes my insides feel all melty in the most wonderful way. Leo is so close to my side I can practically feel the heat coming off of him in waves, yet at the same time I can feel the distance between us like a tangible thing.
If I hadn’t just had this stupid soulmate tattoo put on my shoulder, showing me I was destined to be with me, myself, and I, I would think there was something really special here.
Something supernatural pulling the two of us together.
Instead, I do my best to just enjoy these new and exciting feelings for what they are.
Or at least, what I hope they are; a mutual attraction. Maybe even a tentative new friendship.
“Do you work with Bren?”
Leo shakes his head. “I have a boring office job. He asked for help with this vendor event and I said yes because he’s one of my best friends.”
“That’s really kind of you.”
“What are friends for, right?”
“I guess,” I say, letting my voice trail off. “I don’t have any experience with having a best friend so I wouldn’t really know.”
“Really? You seem so outgoing and friendly!” Leo looks away quickly. “Shit, sorry. I barely know you, I shouldn’t be assuming things.”
“I don’t mind,” I tell him right away. “But you don’t have to make assumptions. I welcome the questions you might have.”
“Oh,” Leo says softly, a little smile playing at his lips. He opens his mouth to ask something but as we walk into the store, one of the workers jumps into our space.
“Hi, Leo!”
Leo’s eyes are wide as he stares at the man in front of him. “Jesus Christ, Damien. What the hell are you wearing?”
I look past Damien and see two more people who look exactly like him. Well, sort of. Their features are identical but their costumes couldn’t be more different. Triplets, that’s so interesting! I’ve never met a triplet before.
Damien and his brothers are all dressed up as candy.
Damien is supposed to be a candy cane, if I had to guess.
He’s wearing the tightest dress I’ve ever seen with red and white stockings up his legs and arm sleeves with the same pattern.
He’s even wearing red and white themed make up on his eyes and lips and his horns.
His tail flicks behind him, holding a little candy cane.
Jesus, these guys apparently go all out with their costumes.
That’s so fun!
“I’m a candy cane!”
“A slutty candy cane,” Leo says with wide eyes. “Does Raphael know you wore this to work today?”
“Of course I knew,” Raphael says from further in the shop.
“And you still managed to get here on time?”
“Oh, shut up,” Raphael calls back, making Leo chuckle.
“This is Damien,” Leo says, pointing at the man in front of him. “The guy who you just heard is Raphael, Damien’s mate.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jin.”
“Welcome in, Jin. Have you been here before?”
“Just once but I already know this is my favorite shop in the whole mall.”
“Good man,” Damien says, squeezing my shoulder. His brothers walk over, one of them waving.
“Nice to see you again!” Oh right. That must be Gadreel. He’s dressed as a lime green gummy bear. His entire face is painted green and his horns aren’t on display, instead replaced by cute little gummy looking bear ears. Where the hell did he even find something like that?
The final brother comes over, grinning from ear to ear at Leo. “Hi, Leo! Is Bren stopping by soon?”
Leo rolls his eyes. “Can’t believe I’m playing messenger boy for you guys. Yes, he says hello and he’ll be by soon.” Leo turns towards me. “This is Andras. He’s Bren’s mate.”
“Nice to meet you,” I say with a little bow to the man who appears to have somehow dyed himself bright pink. He blows a bubble with his gum, showing off that he’s supposed to be bubble gum.
“You too, Jin! How do you know Leo?”
I shrug before I can think to do anything better. “We actually just met.”
“Really?”
I feel far too many sets of eyes on me all at once. I rub the back of my neck. “There may or may not have been a small ceramic assassination that brought the two of us together.”
“We are not doing this,” Leo says, putting his hand on my shoulder and pushing me deeper into the store. “Don’t interrogate the poor man. He just wants some candy!”
Damien chuckles, opening his mouth to say something but one stern look from Leo shuts him up. I have no idea why Leo doesn’t want them to talk but I’m inclined to take his side. Especially because he’s being so cute right now.
We pick out some candy and make our way to the register. Damien is the one behind the counter, his mate sitting in a chair behind the counter, watching me with steady eyes. The flash of wings is back. A demon and an angel together, that’s adorable. Fuck stereotypes and all that!
I swipe my card to pay for my candy while Damien puts everything into a bag.
“There’s also a mystery envelope in your bag.
You’ll either find yourself the proud owner of a coupon which is not our sneaky way of getting you back into the store or you’ll be the golden ticket holder which means you win a grand prize! ”
“Awesome,” I say with a grin. “I hope I get a really good coupon because I know I’ll be back. Probably sooner rather than later. I actually start work next week.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Mhmm. I’m gonna be working at the coffee stand in the mall.”
“That’s so awesome,” Damien says. “I’ll be sure to come see you!”
“I would like that,” I tell him with a wide smile.
I like these people a lot. There’s something very cozy about them. They seem like they’re ready to adopt any sort of wayward weirdo whenever they stumble into their candy shop.
The one making me the most cozy though, is the gentle presence beside me. I’m all fire and chaos, but Leo is soft. His very presence is soothing. I feel like I could very easily grow addicted to wanting him beside me.
“Will you come visit me?”
Leo tenses and he almost bumps into someone as we’re walking out of the candy store. “What?”
I ask him again. “Will you visit me? At my new job?”
“Do you want me to?”
“Very much so,” I tell him with a grin. Leo stares at me for a long moment before his features all soften.
“Then yes, I’ll come visit you.”
“Great! I’m looking forward to it! Thank you for coming with me into the candy store,” I tell him before turning around and walking in the opposite direction so I can start making my way back home.
Today feels like a whiplash of ups and downs.
First I find out I don’t have a soulmate because why else would my tattoo be my own wings other than the universe spelling it out for me that I’m destined to just be me, myself, and I?
Now I’ve met someone who makes my heart fill with emotions I was unprepared for.
Is this longing? Or am I just happy to be meeting new people?
Instead of trying to analyze things, I simply slip my hand into my bag of candy and pull some out, eating it on my way back to my home.