Paper Wishes novel Chapter 3

A Heartful Experience

When we arrived at the store Jez ran over and gave us both a hug-her long, almost butt-length, black hair swished back and forth as she moved. "Viiiillv! I can't wait for you to try on the dresses I held for you. They're from the new shipment, so you haven't seen them yet!" She rubbed her hands together gleefully; her large dark brown eyes sparkled with excitement as she went into the back room and retrieved the dresses. When she returned she hung the dresses in the fitting room and gestured for me to enter.

"Just leave the rejects on the hook. I'll find a place to put them later," she said.

After she pulled the curtain closed, I looked through the dresses she'd selected for me. They were very much my style. I put on a short-sleeved white sailor-inspired dress that landed just above my knees. Gathering the skirt in my hands, I couldn't help but giggle. Kai would love the way I looked in this dress-he was secretly an otaku and a big fan of the Japanese school girl look. I loved this dress but as I reached up and touched the dark blue bow at the neckline I knew it wouldn't work. I'd need something simpler, something that didn't put out Lolita vibes for graduation.

I tried on two more dresses before I decided on a short black dress with a sweetheart neckline under a layer of lace that went up into a mandarin collar. I loved this dress almost as much as the first-especially because it hugged my petite frame-but when I glanced at the price tag I knew I could only afford one of them.

"Which dress did you decide on?" Jez asked as she smiled at me, curiosity alight in her eyes.

I held up the black dress for her and Kai to see. "This one," I smiled as I handed her back the other dresses.

"Are you purchasing the sailor dress too?"

"Oh," I said unaware that I had held both of them up, one in front of the other. "No, I don't think so. I can only afford to buy one dress, for now, maybe another time?" I smiled sheepishly.

"Okay," Jez said, completely unaffected, as she collected both dresses from me and prepared to ring me up for the black dress.

I fumbled with my debit card as I tried to pull it out of my wristlet for what felt like an eternity before finally handing it to Jez so that we could complete the transaction. I hated how my cards stuck together, which sometimes left me looking completely incompetent in front of whoever the cashier was. Thankfully, in this instance, it was just Jez, and I knew she wasn't the type judge someone over something so little.

"That went faster than I thought it would. Did you want to have lunch at the mall since we're already here? My treat," Kai offered.

"We could go to that new Japanese place-Ichiban-I think it's called. They opened up last month and I haven't had the chance to eat there yet. I heard their Japanese curry is the best," I said, batting my eyelashes comically. I hoped that mentioning Japanese curry would seal the deal because it was one of his favorite foods, and more importantly, it was one of mine, too.

"Okay," he agreed as we waved goodbye to Jez and left Heartful.

"Oh shoot," he said as he suddenly patted at his pockets, "I think I dropped my keys back there. Would you mind going on ahead and getting us a seat while I go back and take a look?"

I shook my head to signify that, no, I wouldn't mind. "It'd be no problem at all."

"I work the closing shift tomorrow and Monday, and I don't need new shoes, but if you don't have plans tomorrow we could find something to do during the day."

I held the door that led inside of the house open for him.

"Thanks for coming out with me today," I said.

"No problem," he replied as he walked ahead of me. "I had a lot of fun." He turned back to look at me and winked playfully before ascending the stairs. I hadn't seen him this happy since-no, I wouldn't think about it.

It sounded like he was halfway up the stairs when he said, "I'm going to be in my room. I have to finish working on a client's website tonight. I promised them it would be live by tomorrow morning."

Despite living together, spending time with Kai was always a rarity, even before I spiraled into my depression. However, when we did hang out it was always enjoyable. In addition to going to college full-time, he also worked full-time hours at his Dad's design firm, both remotely and in office. His Dad's firm was called Bell Tree Designs, which was funny because their surname was Suzuki, and in kanji that read as bell tree in English. There were times he did freelance work on the side as well, but I didn't know whether those clients were the firm's or his own.

By the time I reached the top of the stairs his bedroom door was closed, as I had expected it to be. Whenever Kai was working on a big project, he'd close his door. Although I was never sure whether it was so he wouldn't bother me, I wouldn't bother him, or perhaps a little of both.

When I pulled the second dress out of the bag, I knew it was Kai's doing. I shook my head, grateful and not at all surprised. That guy. Tsk. He was always doing little things to surprise me. Somehow, I'd have to find a way to return the gesture. Like not abandoning him again, my conscience scolded me.