Ariella is over her cold in what feels like no time to her. Though it's been a little over a week, time passed by so quickly that it felt like just a couple days. With Jimin staying to help her with her sickness and Taehyung to check in with her, Ariella had all of the company that she needed.
Four days post-cold and she's back at work. As she finishes replacing the final rack of clothes, her phone goes off in her pocket. She takes it out to glance at the notification and smiles.
It's a text from Taehyung along with a picture. He's got the camera over his shoulder showing Jimin standing behind him. He's got a wide smile on his face as he pushes a box into the house.
Tae: Your package arrived 😁
Are we talking about Jimin
or the fireplace?
He arrived with the fireplace so both
He's not going to install it
himself, is he?
I feel like that's dangerous.
What if he hurts himself?
It's getting installed tomorrow
I hired an electrician to help him
Ariella sighs in relief. She wouldn't want anything to happen to him. If he electrocutes himself or worse, that won't be good. She'll feel terrible about it as well.
She texts Tae and lets him know that she'll be home soon. She just has to finish up a rack of clothing and clock out then she'll be on her way.
As she's placing the shorts onto the store racks, a customer stops by her. He works here as well but he's been here for a few days as opposed to Ariella, who's been there for a few weeks.
Needing to know where to find a set of pots, the man asks for her assistance.
"Those are going to be in aisle 16e or d in the kitchen section. One aisle is the electrical kitchenware. Microwaves, blenders, mixers. Stuff like that. The next one is bowls, pots, pans and storage." She explains.
"Okay. Do you think you could walk me down there? This stores still confuses me sometimes."
"Of course!" Ariella says with a smile. She moves the clothing rack to its proper position and locks the wheels into place. "Follow me."
"Are you looking for a specific set of pots or a specific color?"
"I don't think a specific set matters." The man says in a questioning tone, thinking about it as he speaks. "I've just moved and want good ones that'll last."
"You just moved here? So did I." Ariella tells him. "Well, I mean, it's been a few weeks for me but it's still fresh."
"Oh, no. I didn't mean here. I just mean to a new place. I've lived in this town for most of my life. Well, in and out of it." He clarifies. "My parents moved around for work in middle school and my first year of high school. They had temporary jobs out of town a lot. Whenever they were finished with them, they'd move back here."
"So you know the town but not too well, then?"
"Yes, exactly that."
"I don't know anything about it at all. Didn't even know anybody when I moved." Ariella admits. "I moved here because the population is a lot smaller than the city I came from. I am not a city girl at all. I prefer the quiet that comes with this town. Even if I don't know much of anything about it."
"Do you need a tour guide?" The guy asks. "I'd love to take you out and see the town. I can show you all of the places I do know and the ones that I don't, we can see them together."
"I have one already. He's a good friend of mine."
"I thought you didn't know anybody here? You just moved...?" He asks, kind of confused.
"I didn't know anybody when I first got here." Ariella clarifies. "I do know a few people now. Taehyung is the butler for the house but he's also a really great-."
"Taehyung Kim?" He cuts her off to ask.
Ariella is surprised at first when he says his last name. She then remembers the size of this place. It is a small town. Everybody knows somebody.
"Yes. Do you know him?"
"Something like that. We bumped heads back in high school. He's still holding a grudge about it. I don't know." He shrugs.
"Oh." Ariella pushes her lips into a thin line. She doesn't know what to say to that. Taehyung doesn't seem like the type hold grudges so it's odd to hear this man say that.
"Did something happen?" She asks curiously.
"I don't really like talking about it. I'm the type to just let bygones be bygones, you know? Everybody fights in high school. We're adults now. That was so long ago."
Ariella also cannot see Taehyung arguing with anyone or putting his hands on people. That doesn't seem like something he'd do either.
"When's the last time you saw him? Maybe he's different now. The Taehyung that I know isn't that type of person. If all you two did was fight, it couldn't have been that bad."
The guy shakes his head. "The last time I talked to him was a couple years ago at a funeral. I went in my suit and some flowers and didn't even make it through the service. A lot of people were there but he saw me and... flipped. He had me escorted out by security just to fight me in the parking lot." He scoffs. "I don't know. It was crazy. I thought it was a little immature given the circumstances but I guess that he didn't care."
Ariella becomes skeptical of him. She trusts Taehyung's judgement well over this man's being that she knows him better. She knows the kind of person that Taehyung is and really can't see him doing something like that unless it was warranted.
Their walk across the store to the home section comes to an end and Ariella looks at the time on her phone.
"Alright, this is the aisle for the kitchenware. The pots and pans are actually in 16d." She gestures as she looks down the aisle. "I don't know the specifics about each. I can call a homeware employee if you'd like more help."
Her shift in attitude is subtle. Something about this guy rubs her the wrong way. She doesn't know what it is. She just doesn't feel like being around him any longer.
He senses the change and shakes his head. "Nah, it's fine. I'll figure it out from here. Thank you. Tell Taehyung that Derek says hi."
The words on her mind are on the tip of Ariella's tongue watching him walk away down the aisle but she doesn't say them. Why would she tell him that he said hi knowing that he doesn't like him? What sense would that make?
She's put in a mildly sour mood as she clocks out and grabs her things to go home. On the way there, she's pulled over by a police officer.
Her heart skips in her chest as she watches him get out of his car. She sits with her hands on the wheel, waiting for him to approach. She thinks of reasons that she could've gotten pulled over and the only one that's sticking out in her head is her license plate.
"Good afternoon, Miss." The officer greets her.
"Good afternoon." Ariella smiles at him.
"License and registration please. Do you know why I pulled you over today?" He asks as he looks through the window into the back seat of her car and into the passenger seat.
"No." She asks as she reaches for her wallet. He watches her closely as she opens it up and pulls out her ID. "I have to reach into the glove compartment for my registration."
"That's fine. I can see you. Where you coming from today? A brunch, maybe?" The officer responds and asks.
"No. I'm coming from work." Ariella says as she reaches over and opens her glove compartment, pulling it out. She hands that, along with her ID to the officer.
"Sit tight. I'll be right back." He says, knocking on the top of her car twice.
"O...kay." She says, a little confused. She doesn't know why she was pulled over and he didn't tell her although he asked.
She waits patiently with her hands on the wheel as he runs her information. Her phone begins to ring and she picks it up to answer.
"Hello?"
"Hey. Are you alright? You usually make it back around this time." Taehyung's deep voice asks through the line.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think. The police pulled me over on the way home so that's what taking me so long."
"... pulled you over for what?"
"I'm not sure." Ariella replies as she looks into the rear view and side mirror. "He asked me if I knew why he pulled me over, I told him no and then he took my ID and registration to run it. He asked if I was coming from a brunch."
"Oh... Your record's clean though, isn't it?"
"Yes. I've never been in any car accidents. I've never gotten a traffic or a speeding ticket either so I'm not sure."
She sees the officer getting back out of his car and puts Tae on speaker.
"Hold on. He's coming back now."
"Ask him why he pulled you over. It can't have been for no reason."
The officer comes back to the car with her license and registration. He holds them in his hands instead of holding them out to her or at a distance where she feels comfortable reaching to grab them.
"You just passing through?" He asks. "Your plates are different. I've never seen you around here before."
"No, I live here. Just moved here five weeks ago. I haven't gotten my registration and insurance switched over yet."
The officer pulls his shades down on the bridge of his nose as he looks at her. "Whereabouts do you live?"
"Um, on Essence." She replies nervously. "It's just around the corner." She doesn't like to feel like she's in trouble or doing anything. She's not used to it and it makes her anxious.
"Mm." He looks side to side on the street, running his tongue along his teeth. "Well, I'm gonna assume you don't know then. This town requires new residents to register their vehicles within 30 days or four weeks of the official move in."
"I wasn't aware of that. I thought that it was 60 days for the county."
"For the county, yes. But our town has their own registration laws and mandates. You should have done the research for that before you got here. That would have been the responsible thing to do. I wrote you a ticket." He hands her the license and registration back with the copy of the ticket. "You'll be getting another copy with your court date and time in the mail."
"Court?" Ariella asks as she takes her papers.
"Yeah, there's a fine for not registering."
"But I didn't know."
"I'm sure you didn't. Be glad I didn't get you for the swerving. Have a good day, Miss." He walks away and Ariella releases the breath in her chest.
"Does it say how much they're fining you for on the ticket?" Taehyung asks her.
"No." She looks at it and reads it carefully.
Her eyes water and she takes in a breath. She's never had a ticket for anything in her life. She's never had a bad mark for anything. Even when she was in elementary school, her color coded behavior slip was always on green.
"Okay. We'll take a look at it when you get home. We'll get the registration and insurance information together too. I hadn't thought to ask about that. I apologize."
"It's not your fault. I should have kept on top of it. I didn't think that I was swerving. I'll see you in a minute. I'm around the corner."
"Alright."
They get off the phone and Ariella drives around the corner to get home. She parks in the driveway next to Taehyung's car and gets out of hers. The cold air hits her and she shivers.
Not wanting to get sick again at all, she hurries into the house. Taehyung opens the door for her and helps her out of her coat. She stomps the snow from her boots before she takes them off.
How holds his hand out for the ticket and she hands him the copy that the police officer gave her.
"You don't have to appear in court for this." Taehyung states as he looks it over.
"So why did he tell me that I had to?"
"Most of the cops act like they own this town and are just assholes to people passing through or moving in. They're on a power trip. Don't worry about the ticket. I'll take care of it."
"Oh, no. You don't have to. I'll just pay it." Ariella says as she walks to the kitchen counter. Taehyung sees her looking in the coffee pot and smiles to himself.
"Coffee's already ready over here, Ari." He slides her mug and the island across the counter to her.
"Thank you." She peeks up as she reaches for it. She smells the vanilla band smiles before taking a gulp.
"You're welcome. How was work?"
"It was alright." Ariella says.
"Annoying customers?"
"Mm. Kind of. He works there too but he was just a customer today."
"What happened?" Taehyung asks as he sits at the island. Ariella sits as well, taking another gulp of her coffee.
"Nothing, really. I guess. I don't know." She shrugs. "He just said some things that rubbed the wrong way. He came in asking about pots because he just started working there a couple days ago. So we were talking about me just moving and he asked me if I needed a tour guide or whatever and I told him no because I had you." She gestures to him.
Taehyung raises an eyebrow at the path of their conversation. He's curious to know what he could've said to annoy Ariella. That doesn't seem like a very easy thing to do at all.
"Anyway, I said your name and he said 'Taehyung Kim', like, asking me and I told him yeah. So he said that he went to high school with you but that you guys don't talk anymore. He said you beat him up at a funeral and told the security not to let him in. But I was thinking that it didn't sound like something you would do." Ariella explains and Taehyung listens. He looks from her to the table as she talks.
"It is." He states confidently. He was confused as to who she could be talking about until she mentioned the funeral piece. He knows exactly who she's talking about now.
"That man was a bully. He was a very terrible person who contributed to a lot of irreversible damage. He may be over it as the bully. But I am not now, nor will I ever be over what he did to my friend. Victims aren't obligated to forgive their abusers just because they've 'grown and moved on'. Or because it was 'such a long time ago'. Fuck that and fuck them."
Ariella is kind of surprised by Taehyung's blunt words. He's usually so kind and so easy going. But she knows that he's human and she completely understands his reasoning for not wanting to speak to the man ever again.
She wouldn't want to talk to him either. It's like bullies live in this delusional bubble that the world revolves around their space of thinking. Just because they forgot and want it to be over, they expect the rest of the world to as well.
Ariella drinks the rest of her coffee and Taehyung starts making their dinner. As she's scrolling on her phone, she comes to a sudden realization.
"I thought Jimin was here?" She asks.
"He is. He ran out to grab some more beef and rice. I want to make Jasmine rice but we only have yellow."
"Mmm. Okay. Well, while he's gone, I'm gonna go up and shower and stuff."
"Alright. See you when you come down."
Ariella walks up the stairs and grabs her towels and shower caddy. While she's in the shower, she gets the urge to pee and quickly steps out to use to the bathroom.
She flushes the toilet and stands up to to wash her hands. She feels a little dizzy and closes her eyes to breathe.
Maybe I should start drinking more water. Might be dehydrated. She thinks.
She drinks about six cups a day from her water bottle but she thinks that maybe that isn't enough. She has been doing more lately, moving around more. She makes the mental note to get more water into her system as she gets back in the shower and finishes washing her body.
When she's out, she gets dressed in brown lounge cotton spandex lounge pants and a white tank top. She's a little warm and the house is always warm anyway being that it's cold outside.
Ariella lets her hair out and walks down the stairs, entering the kitchen upon hearing the water running. Taehyung is standing at the sink washing the rice.
"Hey. Did Jimin come yet?"
"Yeah he's in the-."
"Right here." Jimin says as he walks into the kitchen.
He wraps his arms around her and she smiles as he kisses her cheek. She turns to face him to get a better hug, wrapping her arms around his body.
"I missed you." She tells him as he puts his forehead against hers.
"We were on FaceTime for four hours last night."
"So?" Ariella says, finishing the words with a pout of her lips. "I still missed you."
Jimin smiles at her and feels his cheeks begin to hurt. "I missed you, too." He pecks her lips and her cheeks warm.
She puts her head against his chest, feeling bashful as she hugs him. Taehyung watches the pair with a grin on his face as he rinses the rice for the final time.
"The electrician is coming out tomorrow morning to install the fireplace." Jimin tells her.
She gasps quietly. "Really? So soon?"
"Yep, we got lucky. He'll be here at 8 so I'll be here bright and early to meet him."
"But you'll have to get up at like 6:30 to get ready and make it here on time." Ariella says, eyebrows dipping concern.
"Yeah, but it's okay."
"Mmm. You can stay the night here if you want. It'd be easier and you wouldn't have to travel out in the cold so early in the morning."
"Sounds like a good idea to me. We don't you tracking sickness back in the house and reinfecting Ari."
Jimin looks at Taehyung who's smiling at his freshly cleaned rice.
"Oh, please no." She says quickly. "I don't like being sick. I just got over it."
Taehyung raises an eyebrow and looks at his best friend. "Looks like your mind's been made up for you, Jimin."
"Okay. I'll spend the night."