What was supposed to be a short, ten minute trip to the post office was quickly turning into something the complete opposite. How was Zori supposed to
know that everybody in Hibiscus Hills would be trying to send a package or mail a letter at the same damn time? The line was near about out the door
and Zori was no where near the front. Matter of fact, he was in the most uncomfortable spot that the post office could've afforded him...the doorway.
His stocky, built frame leaned against the door, opening it, occasionally, for customers flowing in and out of the building. Wonderful. Now he was a
glorified doorman. All he needed was a long, black suit coat and a top hat and he'd have a job.
Smirking discreetly at his own personal joke, he nodded to an elderly couple that he'd opened the door for. He knew them by name. Mr. and Mrs.
Schwartz. Mr. Schwartz was the owner of the small business near Zori's gym. They were a nice pair, always said hello. Only thing Zori could think
about as a negative about the couple was that they liked to pay for everything in change. Thankfully, Zori was in front of them in line. At
least that was one thing that he'd done right that morning. His fatal mistake? Coming to the post office before he opened the gym, which meant
customers would be waiting outside the door. Not a good look. With a sigh, Zori fished in the pocket of his shorts and pulled out his phone, sending a short text to his assistant manager, Emma. Even though she was a bit forgetful, she was responsible.
She'd pick up the slack until he could free himself from this long ass line.
"The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
It was warm today. Even in the shorts that Shemar would surely call her a "peasant" for even thinking about buying, Fumie couldn't escape the heat. She knew she should have just
had UPS pick up this return shipment of Kidd's Kids Camp swag, but she was already out, having taken Eri to school for her first day of the 4th grade.
Something her father had missed completely as he was out of town for the week doing God knew what with who cared who...It didn't matter. In fact, it
was going to be a much better week because he was gone. Maybe if Koi wasn't busy he, she, and Eri could find something to do together. A movie or a
trip to Surfside or something...hm. She had to focus on the task at hand though.
Opening the trunk to the Range, she took out the box that was more big than it was heavy and set it down to situate herself before closing and locking everything and
making her way to the door. Usually she hated errand running, piling on task after task to keep her away from home and from possibly running into her
husband. Today though? She didn't mind it so much. She would get this box sent off and maybe treat herself to a little bit of Lilikoi Pie from that
diner in South Shore. She smiled at the thought of not having to think of what she ate with Shemar gone as she approached the door. Ugh. This line!
She could see it clearly through one of the doors her view was blocked, however, through the other by the man that had taken a resting position on it,
lost in his cell phone. Great. That meant he'd probably been here a while.
"Excuse me-," she startled him, his head snapping up as he instinctively pushed open the door for her. "Thanks," she said, friendly smile on her lips
as she tried to move past him with the box and into line. She'd been right. This was going to be a long wait.
I was a heavy heart to carry but, he never let me down.
When he held me in his arms my feet never touched the ground.
Excuse me- Wrapped up in the instructional text message that he'd been sending his more than capable assistant manager, Zori'd neglected his
duties as the post office's brand new door man and instead, he just looked like the rude ass that was blocking the door. His head rose, attention torn
away from his text, at the sound of the voice behind the door. Absentmindedly looking over his shoulder, he pressed "send" on his phone and pressed
against the door, opening it for the person standing behind it. The person...half hidden by a massive box that nearly covered her entire top. She
looked like a walking box behind that massive package. It was a she, right? Zori couldn't help but hope that there wasn't a guy on the island wearing
shorts that short. Yeah, it was hot, but not THAT hot. Her petite frame struggled to push the box through the door...and around his hulking frame. His
height and his build tended to always equal "in the way", especially in tight spaces. But instead of a "could you move", the box with legs thanked him
for opening the door for her.
"Lemme help you with that." Without waiting for an answer, He gently maneuvered himself out of the way and held the other side of the box, walking
with her into the doorway enough so that they could lower it to the floor beside their feet. The box wasn't necessarily heavy, but he could tell that
it would've given her problems if she'd tried to handle it by herself in the line that had formed in the small building. Zori couldn't help but turn
around and look at it again as soon as they'd settled the box on the floor. That thing was crazy long and probably even more of a hassle for the woman
he'd just helped. He sighed as his southern hospitality showed signs of rearing its head. There was no way he could let her walk back there and get in
that line. Yeah, he was late, but he was also raised to be a gentleman. No denying that.
"If you want, you can get into line in front of me. No use in picking that box up again and..." Turning around and looking at the face behind the box
made Zori's voice stop in the middle of his words. Good God Almighty. Was it rude to say that he wasn't expecting that face behind that
massive box? He smirked at himself and nearly laughed. There was beauty all over that island, but sometimes, all of that beauty still caught him by
surprise.
"Uh...going to the back...of the line. You're welcome...to stay." Very slick. Smirking, he turned, placing his back against the door again, hoping
that didn't sound as awkward as it sounded to him.
"The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
Lemme help you with that. Well look at this. "Thank you," she said again as she felt a bit of the weight lessen as he helped her put the box
on the floor. There were still gentlemen in the world. The way she'd been treated for the last eighteen years, she would have never guessed...But she
couldn't really base what she thought of all men off of her husband could she? Shemar Kidd was a special breed of man. If you asked him he would
probably tell anyone the same thing. Ugh. She didn't want to think of him. For the week that he was gone, she didn't want to think about her asshole
husband. She wanted to enjoy the time she had without him...That was horrible. She hated that she thought things like this about a man she once loved,
but...ugh. She wasn't doing this. She wasn't. She had to get this box to the back of this extremely long line. Removing her hat she ran a hand through
her hair, pushing what had fallen to the back back to one side. God, she didn't want to do this. Just as the thought to just have the box picked up
from home crossed her mind the man she was standing with spoke. Oh?
His words got lost as he looked at her but the important part had made it out. She could get in front of him if she liked. She did. Popping the hat
back on her head her smile grew and he smirked, continuing his sentence from earlier. There was no sense in going to the back of the line. "Are you
sure? I don't want to put anyone out-," yes she did. Well, she didn't but, she wouldn't mind it if it meant she had to drag this box less. He
reiterated his sentiment telling her she was welcome to stay. He was a God-send and she would take his offer. "Well aren't you Mr. Helpful," she said
with a wink, sliding just a little closer to make it clear she was in line.
"I'm Fumie-," she said, turning to face him. Small talk wasn't out of the question. They were going to be standing here long enough.
I was a heavy heart to carry but, he never let me down.
When he held me in his arms my feet never touched the ground.
It didn't take too much convincing to get the woman to get in front of him in the almost unbelievably, long line. If Zori had been standing in it for
close to fifteen minutes, then she sure would've been standing in it for the next thirty. With a cute smile and a quip, she slid in front of him,
securing her place in line. With her back to him, Zori smirked at the name she'd called him. Mr. Helpful. Yeah, he guessed. More like "Mr. He
Was Raised Better and He Knew It". Not like people on the island weren't friendly, but in that line? That morning? He wasn't too sure someone would've
given up their place in line as quickly as he did. For her, though? Maybe a more...anxious man would've. Especially if she was giving away a smile as
beautiful as hers for free. But Zori didn't want anything in exchange. Anything to make someone's day on the island as carefree as he could. Although
he'd been in Kapuhai Reef for four years, he still thought like a tourist, at times. And in a place as beautiful as this, no one should be stressed.
So, he was glad to oblige her...no strings attached. But it seems she wasn't only giving out her smile for free. Zori got a name, too? His lucky day,
huh.
"Nice to meet you..." He replied, his baritone voice just audible over the sounds of the post office. "Zori." He gave her his name simply, his hand
going out to clasp hers quickly. Fumie. Unique name. Kind of matched the exotic face it belonged to. And...Zori needed to get his thoughts
out of her appearance. She was just a woman that he was standing behind in line. Nothing serious. At all. And the less he thought about the color of
her hair and how it made her bronzed skin glow even more, the better. He had one task at hand and that was sending his monthly, "just because" check
to his Momma, who still found her home in New Orleans, certified.
"So..." His voice sounded again, apparently not listening to his thoughts. But it was just conversation, right? A little chit-chat in a mile long
line. Nothing wrong with that. "...hot day like this? Guess we can be thankful that the line is inside, right." What...the hell was that? "Small talk"
was never his strong point...
"The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
He was nice enough. More than nice really. He’d helped with her box, given her the space in front of him, and did it all with a smile. Why not have
a little chat with Mr. Helpful? The two of them were certainly going to be here long enough. And even though it seemed like it most of the time,
Shemar hadn’t forbidden her from talking to other men. Hell, lately, Shemar barely cared what the hell she did. He was more worried about the next
18 year old Vicki, Christina, Barcelona he could get in the sack...Damn it! How was she not able to stop thinking about her ass of a husband?! Even
with him hundreds of miles away, he still controlled her...Well fuck him and what he thought. In fact...
She introduced herself, her hand coming out for him to take in greeting. Zori. That was different. She wondered where he was from with a name
like that, but he spoke before she could ask. The weather? Nah, they weren’t that far into chit-chat hell, yet...that and Zori had earned more than
“weather chat”...and even if he hadn’t, it was about time she had just a little bit of fun.
She giggled a bit, sure to keep her voice playful as she responded, “I guess we can-,” her hand reached out, a quick, light touch to his bicep
before she pulled back into her own space, “Not that it helps too much though, huh?” She pulled her hair to the side then, getting it off of the
back of her neck, with the same, hopefully subtle, smile on her lips. What? It’d been awhile since she’d done the flirting thing but she was
hoping she wasn’t that rusty. Zori was cute. More than that actually.His eyes, the dreads, his Mr. Helpful attitude, built like a football player?
Like she’d said...more than cute. And instead of asking him the completely obvious question of whether or not he worked out, she would stick to the
original, less forward, “So, where are you from? Zori’s not a name you hear everyday.”
Small talk and a little flirting. Nothing wrong with it right?
I was a heavy heart to carry but, he never let me down.
When he held me in his arms my feet never touched the ground.
Well. It looked like that horrible conversation starter line wasn’t that “horrible” after all. Or maybe Fumie was just gracious enough
to entertain Zori’s blasé comment on the weather with a smile and a laugh. He appreciated it. Especially as the attempt to start any type of
conversation with a woman had been pretty limited for the past four years. Don’t get him wrong, he’d had conversations with women. He’d had
plenty of them. Although, most of those conversations had something to do with the gym…or membership at the gym…or a class that he was teaching at
the gym. Okay, maybe he was a little rusty. But that’d been his choice, hadn’t it? He chose to limit conversations,
interactions…shit…everything with the opposite sex when he’d moved to KR. That was his main reason for moving to the farthest place he could
honestly think to go. To get away from it all. Women and drama. And he’d done it. He’d gone to Hawaii, gotten his head straight, immersed himself
into the ways of enlightenment and bettered himself. Now, he owned a business, lived in a house that was HIS, even owned a dog. He was, dare he say or
think it, happy. That’d all been a part of the letting go and starting over phase of his life. But he knew, deep down in himself, that keeping
himself locked up and untouchable wasn’t going to work forever. Maybe that was why a conversation was so appealing with Fumie. Because finally
opening up his mouth to someone other than customers and employees was better than living life like he was still weighed down with the past drama that
he’d left behind years ago.
And part of opening up was this light conversation he was having with Fumie. A little laugh here...an arm brush there... An arm brush that
probably meant a whole lot of nothing, so he wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. Even though her smile and hair toss right after were...yeah,
she was flirting. His lips curled into a soft smile before he broke eye contact. Flirting. The hell was he supposed to do with that? He could
barely make small talk and this...beautiful woman had turned on the flirt? He...really needed to get himself together, though. There was a possible
chance that she was flirting...not asking him for his address and social security number. Flirting was alright. Harmless. And they needed to kill a
little time standing in that long line.
"Only thing unique about is the name..." He answered, getting out of his thoughts long enough to answer her question about where he was from. "I'm
originally from Louisiana...born and raised." That he was. A city breed, country fed Louisiana boy. And something Fumie looked like she didn't run
into too often. Not that she looked..."bougie". She just looked like she hadn't seen the country side of anything...which made him wonder where she
and her unique name came from. Definitely not the south...not with that name and definitely not with that accent.
"Fumie's not exactly a name that you hear around the way, either." He replied, a little chuckle at the irony of her question. "What about you...you
know, if you don't mind tellin' your business to a stranger..." Another small, unintentional smile hit his lips. He was cheesin' like a damn
choirboy...
"The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
She wasn’t sure what passed for flirting these days. Anything even remotely romantic had been pulled from her life years ago. The mere thought of
Shemar even complimenting her was completely laughable and sex? Ha. He probably played Romeo with his whores, but he prided himself on being real with
Fumie. He was the same asshole in the bedroom that he was out of it…at least when he took what he wanted from her she didn’t have to look at
him…but that was neither here nor there. She was speaking to Zori. Just talking…but it could turn into more though, couldn’t it? A date? Maybe
dinner? Or just coffee? She could do that…Hell, her husband did more than that without remorse…So why was the mere thought of Zori asking her out
sending butterflies through her stomach for more reasons than one?
On the one hand, she knew Shemar would kill her if he ever found out she even considered spending time with a man that wasn’t him. Despite his
obvious hate for her, she was still his wife, and therefore his property. No one played with his things but him. But…Fumie was getting something
she’d lacked for…Jesus, how long had it been since she’d gotten a little attention from a man? Zori smiled at her, laughed with
her…or maybe she was reading too much into it and she was being completely stupid. To be quite honest, she’d take it either way. The simplest
conversation with a stranger was more than she was getting at home these days, and even if he wasn’t interested in her like that, this little bit of
small talk that didn’t revolve around Kidd’s Kids or her children’s behavior was a welcome reprieve from her real life. Zori was a fantasy.
One that he was letting her live for a bit longer it seemed. The line moved forward a smidge and she slid the box up with her foot as he answered her
question. Lousiana huh? She could see that. She could hear the south in his voice, but she probably never would have guessed where. She’d hadn’t
been anywhere long enough to be called more than a tourist down south. When Shemar had away games—at a time when he still wanted her support with
things—she’d been to Dallas, Atlanta, and of course, Miami, but never anywhere in Louisiana. Not that she’d never wanted to go, “I’ve heard
New Orleans is amazing for Mardi Gras. My sister always tries to get me down there for my birthday but…” Her husband always said no? “It’s
never really been an option…” True enough. No need to put a damper on the conversation with the mention of her idiot husband. She nodded, her mind
coming back to their conversation as he asked the same question of her. And that smile…
She giggled a little with him before giving her response, “I was born in Osaka, but raised in California, She smiled as she thought of her a home
and a time she could never return to.She didn’t completely hate where she lived now. She mostly hated who she was with. “I miss it sometimes, but
it’s nice here too. Can’t complain too much about paradise, can I?”
I was a heavy heart to carry but, he never let me down.
When he held me in his arms my feet never touched the ground.
The line inched forward by an inch it seemed, almost like a reminder that no one in that line was going anywhere fast. And as late as Zori was, that
fact was beginning to not bother him all that much. Good conversation made anything go by faster...especially a mile long line in a post office. And
"good conversation" might have been a bit of a stretch when it came to what Fumie and Zori were having at that moment, but it was entertaining Zori a
whole hell of a lot more than staring at the digital clock on his phone as the minutes ticked by. He was late getting to work, but he didn't regret
that fact so much. Especially not talking to a woman like Fumie. Her laugh was contagious. He hadn't chuckled in awhile and he definitely hadn't
smiled this hard in awhile. But she was a conduit for a smile, it seemed, her flirty, light laugh tinkling in his ears. Even though the conversation
probably hadn't lasted long enough to qualify as "good" one, Zori appreciated it. It was making the time invisible and being able to see her
contagious smile wasn't a downside at all.
She'd never been to New Orleans, huh? That was unfortunate. Mostly because there was nothing that Zori didn't love about his city. The people, the
food, the jazz, the partying on Bourbon and of course, his Saints. What wasn't there to love about "the N.O."? Fumie was definitely missing out. And
he would've told her so if they'd been more comfortable with each other. But it seemed like she'd already known how much she'd been missing out when
it came to his city. Mardi Gras was only a taste of what the city had to offer, but for her to even miss that? Yeah, a part of her life was
lacking...and Zori only meant that half jokingly. He smiled as she talked about a sister that had always wanted to take her...but for some reason
she'd never made it there. He could understand that, There were a couple of places that he'd sworn to make his way to before the age of twenty five.
But here he was, sitting at thirty and that list hadn't even been ten percent fulfilled. Just like him, she still had time. And who knew? Maybe one
day, Zori could introduce her to his city, himself? Or maybe, his ass was thinking about too much...too soon.
"Osaka? Japan?" Oh really? Fumie was born in Japan? Well that explained a lot. That exotic face. The traveled look, like she'd seen way more of the
world than the Dirty South even began to offer. That figured. He was pretty impressed. Not that he hadn't met people who'd been born in different
countries, but usually, they were military. He wasn't sure that was Fumie's case. Either way, being "traveled" was something he respected and it
looked like she was.
"Wow...Japan. That's nice." Zori said, hoping that he didn't look as impressed as he felt. "California. Oh okay, so that's the accent I'm hearin',
yeah? " So she was a Cali girl? Yeah, it kind of fit.
"It's beautiful here. I love my city, but the South? It's got nothing on this. Kinda glad I..." Zori said, his mouth moving faster than his brain.
"...moved here." Good. Moved here. Because saying "I'm glad I chose this place to get away from it all." was definitely not getting him on the way to
"good conversation" territory.
"The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
He was so handsome. The parts of her that didn’t give a fuck about her husband and their fucked up marriage was aching for him to ask for
her number and a date and...a lot more than that...but, there was a small sliver of her that felt bad about some of the thoughts running through her
mind as he responded to where she was from. Yeah, Osaka. She smiled, nodding as she got the ‘Oh wow, really?’ response that people usually gave
when she told people where she was born. It really wasn’t even as impressive as it sounded. Her parents had actually been stuck over there when
Fumie was born. They’d flown in for one of her great aunt’s funerals and her mother had been “too pregnant” to fly back. Fumie had spent a
majority of her life in California. Palm trees and movie stars...and then Shemar happened to her life. Yeah, the parts of her that cared nothing for
her husband wished the man in front of her would just...keep doing what he was doing. Looking at her the way he was; smiling at her like she
was...worth something.
She missed this. Simple conversations about nothing. There was nothing simple about her conversations with Shemar. The only time they spoke now was
when Koi was in trouble or when one of Shemar’s whores got out of pocket. Never something as simple as a ‘how was your day?’. Never anything
even remotely pleasant...Zori was a change. “Yeah, I guess it might be-,” she replied as he asked about her accent. Did she still have that?
“I’ve been away from home for...way too long.” She giggled a little, making that statement seem lighter than it was but, in reality, it had been
far too long since she’d been to California. Since she’d been home. Choosing Shemar way back when had cut her off from almost everything. Being
stuck with him now kept her that way...
She moved on, mentioning how living in Hawaii wasn’t at all the torture she was making it out to be. She actually really liked it here. The sun, the
culture, the private schools. She could agree with Zori. She was glad she moved here too. “Yeah, it is pretty--,” Shoot. Fumie was forced to pause
their conversation, her phone sounding from the inside of her bag signaling a phone call she was not at all interested in. She wanted to talk to Zori.
She wanted to know more about him. It was probably her sister and she would get rid of her super quick and be back to him. Fumie smiled, apologizing
to him as she stuck her hand into her bag to find the phone, answering with a light “Hello?”
Shit. Fumie sighed, her eyes closing against the voice on the other end of the line greeting her. Ms. Harris. The headmistress’s
secretary. Less than four hours into the school day and already she was getting calls about Koi. She listened as Ms. Harris requested her presence in
the headmistress’s office to discuss an “altercation” Koi had already been in. Jesus. Sometimes she was sure Koi was trying to break
his own records for trouble-making. This was a new one as he had done something to get an administrator’s attention before lunch. “Of course I
can, Ms. Harris. I’m on the way now-,” And she was...after saying goodbye to her new friend.
Ending her call, Fumie tossed her phone back into her bag. The smile that had been ever-present now long gone as she looked back to Zori. “Well it
looks like I’m going to have to cut this thing short. My son is...going through a phase...” she shrugged a little. God she could only hope it was
a phase. So far it’d lasted the length of his high school career...she should have known his senior year would be no different.
I was a heavy heart to carry but, he never let me down.
When he held me in his arms my feet never touched the ground.
Yeah, it is pretty. Pretty was an understatement when it came to the Reef. It was breathtaking here. The colors were bright and vibrant, even
in the winter...which was pretty much nonexistent, unless you thought a temperature drop meant "winter". Everywhere Zori looked, he saw things
awakened and alive. And that's what drew him to the island. Things were living. There wasn't the drab, grey of Oregon that said "dying" and
"stagnant". Nothing moved there...no, he was wrong. Things moved...down. Sad got sadder. Piss poor got poorer. Nothing got better. There was
no...better there. So, he had to go. Because there wasn't another point of Zori's life that he was going to let be as dark as the rest of it had been.
There had to be some light somewhere, right? And there was light here. Plenty of it. More than he'd seen in a long time...especially as he talked to
Fumie. It may have been to earlier to even think it but...her face exuded light. Every smile was as warm as the one before it. And her smile? Man, it
was like...a straight shot of Southern Comfort. It made his throat tighten and his insides...it made them ignite with slow heat. All the way the way
to his stomach. Damn, he was pitiful. Really, he was. One smile from a woman he didn't know outside of "stranger" and he was comparing it to liquor.
Predictable. The exotic ones did it to him every time...
The halt in their conversation and the ringing of her cellphone was the distraction that Zori needed. Because truth be told, he was sure he was
looking at her like some dumbstruck schoolboy. By all rights, she was a beautiful woman. That reaction wasn't an over or understatement, really. But
this was how it started. Every time. Every time he'd met a stranger with a extraordinary beauty to her and a kind smile, he'd completely lost his mind
in them. And he did mean completely. There was no need to remember the names as he remembered situations already. And most of them had started this
way. A happenstance meeting, his normal resistance, her breaking through that rough ass exterior he used as a "front" and his heart...in the palm of
her hand. And that was the point of moving out here, right? Tiny little island? Less chance of running into unnecessary drama. But then again, when
had drama ever had a hard time finding him?
He had to stop that. Really, he did. Every situation wasn't necessarily doomed from the start. He'd learned that when he moved to the island and
started a life here, no problems. He'd set up his business and he'd gotten a reasonable amount of happiness. Not every situation HAD to spell drama.
Like this one, for instance. This was just a nice conversation with a pretty lady in a post office...one that was looking like it was on its way to
coming to an end. What? Zori wasn't necessarily "listening" to the quiet conversation she'd been having on the phone. He'd only heard the necessary
part, signaling her exit. There wasn't much to hear, in the first place as it seemed the person on the other end had been doing most of the talking.
And from the expression that Fumie was wearing (which Zori had discreetly watched from the corner of his eye), the news she was hearing wasn't falling
into the "good" category. That prize winning smile slipped into something that looked more like a grimace as she hung up the phone and tossed it, with
a little more force than necessary, into her bag.
"Everything alright?" Zori's question was answered before he even finished his question. It wasn't. She was leaving and...her son? Son? That
was obviously the last thing that Zori was expecting to leave Fumie's mouth. She had a son...and he was old enough to obviously "make trouble" at
whatever school he attended.
"Oh. Uh...looks like you stood in line for nothing, huh." A light grimace shadowed his features at his rocky dismount from the news he just received,
but it didn't seem like Fumie noticed at all. She was too busy preparing herself to go and handle whatever situation had just played out and disrupted
her day.
"You know-and this might be a stretch but...you could leave it with me. I'm not a mail theft of anything. I'd just hate for you to have wasted your
time standing here..."
"The greatest wisdom is seeing through appearances."
Great. Just great. What Fumie thought was going to be a Shemar-free day of relaxation was turning into a Koi-filled day of issues. She couldn’t ever
pretend to be surprised when her phone rang about an issue with her son; he was his father’s son...no matter how hard she’d tried to avoid him
becoming just that. It just disappointed her. She knew Koi had the potential to be the man his father wasn’t. He was a sweet boy underneath all the
shit she and his father put him through. Yeah. She knew. She wasn’t stupid and neither was her son. Koi saw. But he made sure his sister
didn’t...That boy was a blessing. Until he got tired of it. Then she got these phone calls. The “Koi’s showing his ass again” calls that she
could attribute to Shemar’s constant nagging at him not to “fuck up what he built”. Ugh.
Zori asked her if everything was okay and her response came quicker than she might have liked. It was reflex, talking about her kids. When she
wasn’t taking care of something for Kidd’s Kids she was taking care of something for her actual kids. They were her life. It was more than easy
for Koi’s name to come up in conversation and even more likely for Eri’s to leave her lips as she bragged on her babies to whoever was willing to
listen. Zori had been different though. She didn’t want to talk about her real life with him. Hell, she had spent the last 10 minutes of their
conversation running circles around mentioning her husband, she hadn’t thought to exclude her kids...She honestly didn’t know how Shemar found it
so easy.
Fumie gave a him a slight smile that she hoped didn’t look like too much of a grimace as she went back into her bag to search for the keys she would
soon need to go back to King’s Prep. ...Looks like you stood in line for nothing, huh? No. That wasn’t how she saw things in the
slightest. “It wasn’t a complete waste-,” she replied her search pausing as her eyes fell back on his briefly. Her smile was genuine then,
however short lived as her fingers found the ring of her car keys. She pulled them from her bag as Zori spoke. Aww.
“That’s sweet Zori, thanks, but I couldn’t do that,” her smile was back and it wasn’t fading as she contemplated taking him up on that and
finding a way to leave him with her number “in case anything went wrong with her mail” or just in general. But she couldn’t impose. “I’ll
just have it picked up like I should have in the first place.” She sighed a little, telling herself to just get the hell out of there. It wasn’t
like she could have anything with Zori anyway. She was trapped in a loveless marriage after all. “It was really good meeting you though-,” she
finished before dipping down to pick up the box that was more huge than heavy so that she could head out. Her trip to the post office had gone from an
errand to a delight, right back down again.
But she’d been happy for a few minutes anyway.
I was a heavy heart to carry but, he never let me down.
When he held me in his arms my feet never touched the ground.
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