Strawberry Kisses

No Vacancy

The woman’s eyes reduced into twin dark slits as she surveyed his face looming above her. Gio felt the subtle tug of amusement but he kept it down. This isn’t the time.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” he asked, loosening his grip on her. She quickly caught on, distancing herself from him the moment she got the chance. His eyes fell on the display behind her. Ducking like a scared cat, she jumped out of his way when he took a step forward and reached out. His father is a little sensitive about his collection. One car was out of its proper place.

“M-Me?” her eyes grew like discs. “I don’t think I have anything to say to you.” The tigress, or shall he say kitten, is back.

“What about thank you Mr. Kwon? Or have you lost your manners when you hit your head?”

Her mouth immediately clamped shut, setting it in a thin line. Gio raised one eyebrow, challenging her. If there’s one thing he noticed about the girl was, she’s proud. So much like himself.

“T-Thank you.” Her voice was one stop short of a whisper.

Gio leaned in, intent on making her repeat herself. “You were saying?”

A gust of cinnamon wafted when she blew air through parted lips. Her annoyance was plain in her features. “Thank you,” she said in a clear voice, “Mr. Kwon.”

Satisfied, Gio stepped back, arms behind his back. “Okay. You may go now.” He then made shooing gestures with his left hand.

Suddenly, an overwhelming urge to retaliate swamped Sandy. In an instant, she was in front of him. The look in her eyes startled him when she moved, trying to get closer to him. He answered her advancing steps with retreating ones. He was half-aware when his thigh contacted something solid. One arm shot to his left, trapping him between the scary-looking woman-child and his father’s a monster of a table.

“H-Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” he stammered. His tongue stucked to the roof of his mouth, completing a sentence proved to be an inhumane feat.

A notepad and a pen appeared in his line of vision. “Your account number,” she said.

“Eh?”

“Did your brain turned into mush?” she sneered, “write your account number, I can pay my hospital bills.”

Gio complied with a too-quick smile on his face. In a few, he wrote his bank account number. Sandy snatched the pad from him as soon as he finished.

“Thanks.” She tucked the slip of paper in the back pocket of her jeans. “Now, we’re even. And I would really appreciate it if we’ll never see each other again, be it deliberate or an accident.” Sandy stormed off. He flinched as she slammed the door shut. The card he left for her lay face down on his father’s table.

Sandy was still fuming when she and Bommie got off the cab. They spent the ride home on her ranting while Bommie was munching on her corn cob, offering grunts and occasional nods as a response. She did not understand where did Bommie got her corn; she was too mad to care, anyway.

“Hey, rest. Doctor’s orders, remember? Forget about the stress that was Mr. Kwon.” Bommi dumped her bags on the floor. Barefooted, she sashayed her way to the open kitchen to drop her now empty corn cob on the trash bin.

Sandy heaved a deep sigh, plopping on the soft folds of the sofa. The leather was chilly to the touch. It gave her a momentary respite from her churning thoughts. Her blue hair hang limp like overcooked spaghetti.

“What am I supposed to do with the idle days aka rest?” she complained to the white ceiling.

“Get yourself into a self-induced computer game comma?”

“Oh god no. My eyes would fall from their sockets if I do.”

“You have stacks and stacks of unread books in your room. It’s about time to give them love. They’re collecting too much dust, enough to plant a bed of cucumbers,” Bommi quipped.

“Thanks for the reminder.”

“Don’t mention it. Now, I’ll go get a shower, I badly needed one.” Bommi grimaced.

“You do that,” Sandy agreed. She paused then looked at Boomie, “I think I’ll go see Nana. Is that all right?”

“You want me to come with you?”

Sandy shook her head. “No need. I promise I’m feeling a hundred percent fine.”

“All right.”

While Bommi was in the shower, Sandy padded into her room to get ready. After twenty minutes, they both came out of their rooms exactly at the same time. Bommi was on her sleeveless tank top and shorts, displaying her mile-long legs, pink toes and heels peeking through her fluffy yellow slippers. Sandy had chosen a plain white shirt and tattered blue jeans.

“Shall I expect you at lunch?”

“No. I’ll eat out. Dinner though,” Sandy said.

“Keep your phone with you. Wait.” Bommi went back inside her room. When she got back out, she clasped Sandy’s hand. “Bring this power bank with you. You now have no reason to get low bat. Don’t stay out too long, there’s a storm coming.”

Sandy couldn’t resist her eyes from rolling. She dropped the power bank inside her backpack. “Yes, Mom.”

“And know your surroundings. Don’t talk to strangers.”

“What am I, eight?”

“No, you’re five. Now, go.”

She bought peonies before heading to the train station. The train she’s meant board winds through the suburbs and back into the city. She took two hours and a half to get to Nana. She kept her grandmother’s ashes in an urn next to her grandfather in a columbarium. The place was near their old home where she spent her teenage years. Sandy kept the house when Nana passed away. She couldn’t bear to part with it because it holds Nana’s memories.

Each time she fulfills something from Nana’s list, she’d come and tell Nana about it. Often she’d boast how she’s doing things according to her own terms. For the past nine years, her coming and going at the columbarium had become almost a habit that the staff calls her by her first name.

“Nice to see you again, Sandy.” Regan, a middle-aged man with rosy cheeks and round middle, stood guard at the entrance.

“How are you, Regan?” She liked the man. GIo was the first person she befriended when they brought Nana’s urn here. He found her crying in a corner long after the guests thinned. Gio didn’t say much that day, he sat beside her and kept her company until her tears dried.

“Same old, child.” His eyes flickered towards the flowers in her hands. “Beautiful flowers for a beautiful lady.”

Sandy smiled. “It’s her favorite.”

Thunder came rumbling from a distance like a grumpy giant. With eyes squinted, Regan looked up. “You better be quick. This storm is nasty, I’ve heard.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she told him as she stepped inside the building, leaving him to his duties.

By the time Sandy came out, rain was pounding on the pavement in a steady staccato. It looked like glass curtains, lowering her chances of spotting a cab that would take her to the train station. It was only a quarter past eleven in the morning and yet it looked like five o’clock. Regan was nowhere in sight, too. She’d been standing there for almost half an hour when the heavens answered her prayers; a cab came by. Sandy grabbed the chance and instructed the driver to take her to the train station.

“But Miss, the station is about to close. There has been an advisory over the radio and tv. They are suspending operations because of the storm.”

“Still, I’d like to try. Please, Sir,” she pleaded, damp blue hair plastered all over her face and neck.

They got there just as the glass doors at the entrance slid shut. Sandy heaved a frustrated sigh. “To the nearest hotel please, I guess I have no choice but to let the storm pass.”

“Right away, Miss.”

The driver took her to Hotel Merlot, one of the more decent hotel in the area. With no umbrella, Sandy was once again drenched when she stepped out of the cab. The overhanging roof sheltered the front of the hotel did not help. With that volume of rain, it was impossible to venture out and stay dry.

People crowded the lobby. There’s even a queue forming in front of the reception desk. A group of children in varying ages kept running around, weaving through the throng of people. They seem oblivious of the raging storm outside, unlike the surrounding adults. Their squeals and peals of laughter almost made Sandy forget of her own sodden wet plight. She then joined the queue to get a room for the night.

“What? No more rooms?!”

Sandy craned her neck to see past the four or five people ahead. A guy in a black suit was arguing with the woman behind the desk. People behind him were muttering in disappointment.

“I’m sorry, sir, we’re full. The hotel closest to us sent those people they can no longer accommodate. They’re full too.” It wasn’t just her voice which convinced Sandy that she’s genuinely apologetic, her tone too conveyed her apology.

I’m wasting my time here, she thought. Sandy turned to leave, hoping her luck hadn’t run out. Sandy needs a cab again, this time to take her to Nana’s house. She’s not sure she’d get someone willing to drive that far in this weather but she has no choice.

She hasn’t long been standing outside when the revolving door of the hotel spit out a very familiar figure. Sandy’s head whipped to his direction, groaning in the process when she recognized who it was. His earring was a dead giveaway. Her luck had run out.

“Hey!” he called out when she turned to leave.

“What?” Sandy stopped, never bothering to conceal the irritated look on her face when their eyes met.

“Are you following me?” he asked, perfect brows drawn towards each other. Gio approached her while loosening his tie.

“I don’t even want to breathe the same air with you.”

Gio stopped in front of her. His hair was wet. Tiny droplets of water were dotting his forehead, face and neck. Some parts of his suit were darker. He had his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, revealing fair skin as smooth as his face. She loathed to admit, but the man was freaking beautiful it hurts her ego.

“Then why are you here?” he paused and surveyed her form with disinterest, “the moment they discharged you from the hospital, you go around drenching yourself into another hospital admission.”

“My health is my problem, Mr Kwon.” She emphasized through gritted teeth.

“Sure thing, Miss Park.”

Not wanting to talk to him any longer, Sandy turned 0n her heels to get away from the man. But she miscalculated her steps, forgetting the slippery tiles adorning the floor. To her horror, she slipped and falling was inevitable.

“You seem to have this habit of falling whenever I’m around, Miss Park,” he teased, eyes dancing with mirth. He caught her in time.

Sandy’s heart skipped a beat. It surprised her. She’s half aware of herself answering him breathlessly. “And you seem to enjoy catching me each time I fall, Mr. Kwon.”

(Next update is in two days)