After Work

“Thank you for coming. Good work, everyone.”

Those words from the producer were soon followed by applause from the studio workers as if they couldn’t wait to get home.

Another day, another interview done. I grabbed my luggage and left the scene along with my colleagues who starred in the same show as me. We talked a bit about usual stuff like our future work and what we thought about the show until we eventually parted ways.

Seeing them go on their way, my manager, Cole Sawyer, approached me.

“Good work today.”

“Thanks, Uncle Cole.”

“Don’t call me uncle during work,” he said in a bored tone as he handed me an iced lemon tea, my favorite.

“Alright, thanks, Cole.”

That’s right. Cole was my uncle from my mother’s side. He’s been my manager since I was around nine years old. After the movie I starred in blew up, my parents didn’t have the time to juggle between their own work and managing my schedule anymore. Fortunately for me, during that time, the talent agency Cole worked in went under, so my mother offered him to work with me, and he’s been my manager and my babysitter ever since.

Exiting the elevator, arriving at the parking building, we headed towards his obsidian-black German car, which was parked all the way at the back. I opened the door and jumped into the backseat, taking off my brown coat and readjusting my hair.

Cole started the car and took off. As I was enjoying the song that the radio was playing, he suddenly spoke up.

“Got another job for you. Antony Margot wants you to appear on Tracker.”

“For an episode?”

“Yeah. Want me to set up a meeting?”

“Hmm…” I sipped on my drink to feign contemplation. “ Sure. What’s my schedule for this week?”

“There’s nothing.”

“Oh, then… When do they want to meet?”

“Up to you, they said.”

“Then let’s do... Wednesday, 14 o’clock.”

“I’ll send them the message.”

After driving for a bit, the car got stuck in the traffic. It was unfortunate since my interview ended right before the rush hour, so we basically drove ourselves into the traffic. I traced my eyes along the view outside from one advertisement poster to another until I stopped at a poster of the show I starred in.

Rune Hunters… the show that I didn’t care much about before had now become one of my biggest worries. I usually didn’t care if the show hit mainstream or not; as long as it didn’t flop hard, I would be fine.

But after knowing that Lena was excited to see the show, I couldn’t help but be worried that the show wouldn’t come out as great as she expected it to be.

“...How do you think Rune Hunters will turn out?”

“I can’t really say, but the studio has a good track record, so there should be nothing to worry about.”

Aside from stating the fact I already know, Cole’s words didn’t offer much to help soothe my anxious feelings.

I sighed and rested my head against the window, watching the cityscape change without really paying attention as I wrestled the murky feeling in my chest. But then I spotted someone outside walking along the road.

“Uncle, can you drop me off here?”

“Isn’t it still far from your place?”

“Yeah, I just… want to stop by somewhere before heading home.”

Without asking further questions, Cole pulled over at the sidewalk, and I stepped out of the car before it took off. I approached that someone, while making sure I had the right person, until I stood behind her.

I was about to cover her eyes from behind, but stopped as I raised my hands because I felt like we still weren't close enough, so I decided to call out to her instead.

“Hey, Lena. Whatchu doing?”

Lena turned to face me, her eyes widened the moment they met mine.

“Rachel!?” She dodged our eye contact as a nice shade of pink appeared on her ears. Seeing her flustered look lifted whatever feeling I had in my chest a minute ago.

“Uh… nothing. I’m just out getting some groceries for my Mom.”

Lena lifted her canvas bags filled with different types of groceries to show me.

I was quite disappointed that she was already done shopping. I wished that it was the start of her trip so I could follow her along, seeing what she liked to buy, but alas… At least I could walk with her until she was home, maybe…

“I see… So are you heading home?”

“No, I'm thinking of stopping by the liquor store before going home.”

My eyes lit up, but I took control of my excitement as I took a step closer to her.

“Oh, that's nice. Can I come along?”

“Um… sure… If you don’t think it’s boring…”

Walking with Lena beside me, I sneaked a glance at her. She wore a simple gray hoodie that covered her white graphic T of a cartoon cat, a pair of baggy indigo-blue leggings, and a pair of black toe-covered sandals, all while carrying a sand-colored canvas bag. A simple attire for a brief outdoor journey, she probably never expected to run into someone she knew out here.

Then my eyes wandered down to her hands. Her pale hand contrasted with the red hue of the fingers that were being used to carry her groceries. It was a shame that I couldn’t hold her hand as we walked since they were occupied. But then a thought occurred to me; what if one of them were free?

“You want some help with that?” I asked, pointing my finger at her bag of groceries.

“Ah, this?” She asked, lifting it slightly to confirm. “It’s fine. Don’t worry.”

“Oh, okay…”

A light sigh escaped my mouth.

Maybe I should’ve accounted for her refusal. After all, Lena was a loner, so I should’ve known that she would have a tendency to not bother others with her problems, especially when they were manageable.

As I continued my walk along with Lena, I felt a familiar glance, this time from a very much closer distance.

“...On second thought… I might need some help.”

She then handed me one of the bags. My lips tucked into a smile as I pulled the bag from her hand. It was a bit of a shame that she gave me the bag from the side away from me, but I was satisfied enough just from a slight glaze of our hands when she passed the bag to me; it made me feel nice and fuzzy inside, melting away the fatigue accumulated throughout the day.

It was a short trip until we arrived at the liquor store.

The moment Lena pushed the door open, the doorbell jingled as if welcoming us instead of the store clerk, who only spared us a glance before going back to watching whatever was on the T.V. The air in the store reeked of a stale A.C. that hadn’t been washed in months. Certainly, it wasn’t a store made for a long browse in mind.

I followed Lena by her side as she was walking straight to wherever her preferred drink was.

“Do you drink often, Lena?”

“Not really. I only drink on Friday night, after I finish my work. Getting a hangover when I’m supposed to work really sucks.”

“How responsible of you.” I nodded.

“But then again, I often get carried away, so I might have blackouts sometimes…”

Lena being blacked out drunk was a side of her I’ve never expected to have. But now that I knew it existed, I couldn’t help but want to see it.

“Really… We should go out and drink sometimes. I kinda want to see that happen.”

“I would rather not… let you see me like that…” Lena said, her voice grew quieter after each word.

Standing between the wall of alcoholic beverages, I watched Lena as she tried to find her drink of choice.

“So what do you like to drink?”

“I like Kinro peach soju. This one.” She reached to grab the green bottle of soju. “I really like its sweet and fruity taste, goes down easy.”

“Yeah, some Korean soju does taste like fruity drinks, it's scary.”

It was my turn to share my drink.

“I like this one; Zero Lemon.” I grabbed two cans of lemon-flavored vodka seltzer off the shelf and showed them to Lena. “They’re sweet and citrusy, very easy to drink.”

Lena watched me put the drinks into the cart before she looked at me.

“Relax, I'm gonna pay for them,” I said, throwing my hands up.

Now that Lena got what she came for, she headed to the counter. The store clerk got up from his seat and scanned the items one by one before putting them in the plastic bag. Being asked how she wanted to pay, Lena pulled out her credit card and handed it to the clerk. I handed a couple of bills to Lena, and she put them in her purse.

“Oh, there’s some change. But I don’t have any coins on me.”

“It’s just a couple pennies. Don’t worry about it.”

She accepted the bills with a nod, but judging by her expression, she seemed to be troubled about owing me money, even if it was only a small change.

We stepped out of the liquor store. I followed Lena by her side as she kept walking before she turned to me, her brows raised in realization.

“Wait, are you going to help me all the way to my home?”

I nudged my lips, contemplating what to do, but when I realized I didn’t have anything to do back home anyway, I decided to go with her.

“Yeah, I might as well. How far is your place?”

“...It’s just a couple minutes walk.”

Walking along with her, I took note of street corners and the landmarks around in case there was a need for me to make a visit to her place.

Finally, we’ve arrived at Lena’s house, or more precisely, her parents’ house. Lena stepped to the front door before she turned to face me.

“Thanks– you for coming with me.”

“You don’t have to be formal with me, Lena. Just thanks is fine.”

“Okay… Thanks for coming with me, Rachel. I had fun today.”

She pushed her hand out towards me. I knew that she wanted her groceries back, but I didn’t want to hand them back yet. Because once I handed them back, we would have to part ways, and I didn’t want that to happen yet.

A light sigh escaped my lips, knowing that this moment couldn’t stay on forever.

I reached my hand out to give her the bag of groceries, but in the end, I couldn’t help but want to prolong this moment for a while longer. So when I slid the grocery bag onto her hand, I grabbed onto it, grip tightened, making sure the heat of her hand lingered inside of my palm long after they separated.

I was sure that my grip wasn’t tight enough so that she could pull her hand away at any moment, but for whatever reason, she never did.

Five seconds, ten seconds, twenty seconds, she still held on.

I turned my gaze to her to find that Lena was staring at me, her cheek flushed red, mouth slightly ajar as if her nose wasn’t enough to heave in the air to her lungs.

When our eyes met, Lena broke out of her frozen state as well as our eye contact and pulled her hand back.

“S-See you later…” She said as she fiddled with her thumbs.

I nodded and reached for a can of vodka seltzer.

“What about the other one?”

“I want you to try it.”

Taking another step back, I continued.

“Think of me while you drink that… will you?”

“I will…”

I watched as she closed the door behind her before walking away.

Counting the streetlights along the sidewalks, I wondered if the feelings Lena had for me started to bloom into one I had for her. But seeing all the time she flustered pink today, I felt like I didn’t have to worry much. It was slow, but surely her feelings and mine would be the same in due time.