MINJI
A few days after Hanni confirmed that she wanted the apartment, I was sitting in the living room with Jia, reading the paper while she worked on assembling the latest Lego set I'd bought her. As a civil engineer, I felt it was important to buy my daughter just as many building projects as I did baby dolls.
I glanced over at Jia and couldn't help but smile at the scrunched-up, determined look on her face. She was quite the problem-solver, my little girl, and I loved to challenge her mind with different educational toys and games. And teaching her that just because some boy called her pretty didn't mean she had to share her cupcake, and lots of other important life lessons. Although the conversation the other night was one I'd have preferred wait for another twenty years.
"How's it coming, sweetie?" I asked, setting the paper down in my lap.
"Good," she chirped without looking up, jamming one blue Lego on top of another with a flourish. Glancing from the structure in front of her to the pile of Legos to her right, she carefully picked out a red piece and continued her slow process of deciding where to put it.
I chuckled and was about to resume reading the complaints about our city's bus stops when I heard a low rumble and a loud screeching sound in front of the house. Placing the paper on our coffee table, I stood and walked over to the window to see what was going on.
A midsized moving van was parking at the curb outside our house. And sure enough, once the van was fully parked, Hanni stepped out of the driver's side door, turning to make sure she'd parked far enough over.
Gotta love a woman who likes to do it herself.
My heart rate kicked up at the sight of her, causing me to quickly look away and shake my head. I wasn't normally the kind of woman who got aroused just by staring at women on the street. But seeing Hanni again, after the things we'd shared on her birthday . . . well, let's just say I had a hard time keeping my thoughts clean.
Raking my fingers roughly through my hair, I turned to get Jia's attention. "It looks like our new neighbor is here with all her things. Should we go out to meet her and help her carry some stuff?"
"Our new neighbor is a girl?" Jia asked, her voice high and excited.
"Yes, our new neighbor is a very nice lady. I think you'll like her a lot," I said calmly.
And I pray to God you won't recognize her in broad daylight.
Jia dropped the Legos she was holding onto the floor, gleefully running to the closet to put her shoes on.
As I walked over to the doorway and slipped into some sneakers, I started to panic over the slim chance that Jia would recognize Hanni and what her reaction would be. What were the chances that Jia even saw Hanni's face? Jia hadn't talked about the incident in a couple of days, and part of me hoped there was a good chance that she'd put it out of her mind for good. Or at least until she was older and in therapy.
We walked out the front door to find Hanni opening the back of the van, revealing stacks and stacks of cardboard boxes lined up in front of a precarious pile of furniture. At first glance, it looked like a lot of stuff for one person, but what did I know? I was sure if Jia and I were to move anytime soon, we'd need a van at least twice the size of Hanni's.
By the time Jia and I got to the curb, Hanni had already begun her attempt to lift the boxes out of the van, standing up on tiptoe to reach the highest box. Her fingers just barely brushed the bottom, and no matter how far she stretched her arms, it was clear that she just wasn't able to reach the box.
I stood there watching for a second longer than I should have, amused by her struggle and finding it endearing, when Hanni happened to turn and see us standing there watching her.
Shit. Now I look like an asshole. "Hey, neighbor, need a hand?"
I walked over to help her, easily lifting the box off the stack and stepping back out of her way. A wave of annoyance washed over Hanni's face, and even though I'd only known her a few days, I was pretty sure there was a lot of determination and independence to her.
"How long were you just going to stand there and watch me struggle?" she asked, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her head to the side.
I knew we'd discussed being adults and forgetting about the other night, but damn if she wasn't sexy, even when she was a little mad.
"Well, I didn't want to question your capabilities and what sort of contortions you could twist your body into to reach that box." I smirked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Hanni smiled and ran her fingers through her hair, and my mind flashed back to the way she pulled her dress over her body, her breasts bouncing softly with the motion.
Jesus, Minji, focus.
"What is she doing here? Did she forget her underpants?"
Jia's voice snapped me out of my trance, bringing me right back down to reality. Fuck.
I gave Hanni an apologetic look and turned to shake my head at Jia. "No, sweetie, she didn't forget anything. This is Hanni. She's our new neighbor. She's going to live in the apartment above the garage."
Jia furrowed her brow, crossing her arms with a humph. "But she was hurting you, Dada."
I could tell by the look on her face she was close to a breakdown, and I knew I had to do something—and fast. A four-year-old having a meltdown on your first day moving into a new apartment? Didn't exactly bode well for a new tenant.
"Remember, we talked about this. Dada and Hanni were having a special adult snuggle-time. It's just not for kids, that's why Hanni had to leave."
Having to re-explain all that in front of Hanni was embarrassing. I quickly glanced over to give her another apologetic look. Thankfully, even though she looked just as mortified as I did, she smiled weakly at me before turning to talk to Jia.
"Your dada's right. It's something you'll learn about when you're older," Hanni said calmly, leaning down and nodding her head.
Jia made a sour face at both of us, shaking her head with another humph. "But I wanna know now," she whined.
It was time to pull out the big guns.
"Right now isn't the time to talk about special adult snuggles. Right now, we need a big girl to help us move some of Hanni's stuff into her apartment. If you can't be a big girl, then I guess you'll just have to go inside and sit by yourself," I said in my calmest voice.
Jia's face fell, and she then quickly perked back up. "Nope, I'm a big girl. I can help!" With a determined look on her face, she marched over to the back of the van and stuck her arms out to carry something.
Crisis averted. For the moment.
The three of us spent the next half hour walking boxes from the van up to Hanni's apartment, being sure to give Jia the lightest objects that would still make her feel involved.
Hanni didn't have that much stuff after all—it just looked like a lot piled into the back of the van. But once it was all sitting in the living room of the apartment I'd spent the past couple years remodeling and making just right? I liked the idea of someone filling the space with life. There were potted plants drinking of the sun in the front windows, and kitchen gadgets on the counters.
Once everything was unloaded from the van, I set Jia up in her room with a book for her forty-five minutes of quiet time. She'd started outgrowing naps a few months ago, but I'd found that giving her some downtime, especially after an eventful day, kept her from having meltdowns in the late afternoon.
I sat on the edge of Jia's bed and smoothed her hair over her ear. "I'll be right back, okay, Jia? I just need to go give Hanni the keys to her apartment." And do my best not to think about her naked.
Jia furrowed her brow. "Are you going to have another special adult snuggle-time?"
I sighed. You can't get anything past this kid. "No, sweetie. We won't do that again. I'm just going to talk to her. I'll be right back."
I placed a kiss on Jia's forehead and left her room before she could ask any more questions about that damn adult snuggle-time. I had a feeling that impulsive turn of phrase was going to haunt me until she graduated from college.
Grabbing the keys to Hanni's apartment from a bowl in the kitchen, I quickly checked my reflection in the hallway mirror before walking over. We might not ever get busy again, but I couldn't deny my attraction to Hanni. I smoothed the messy hair I'd yet to style today and walked through the door, ready to finally talk to my new neighbor without my daughter's eagle-eyed observation.
When I arrived at Hanni's entrance, the door was slightly ajar, so I knocked lightly before gently pushing it open. "Hanni?" I called, stepping through the door. "I just wanted to swing by to drop off your keys and see if you need anything."
"Be there in a sec!" Her voice came from the bedroom, accompanied by the sound of boxes sliding across the hardwood floor.
Shutting the door behind me, I wandered into the living room, where Hanni had already begun assembling a bookshelf and sorting boxes. Before I could take a peek at what kind of books she liked, she came walking around the corner, her face flushed, tiny beads of sweat on her forehead.
"Thanks for dropping off the keys. I would have completely forgotten about them in all the chaos of moving." She chuckled and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand.
The combination of her flushed appearance and slightly out-of-breath voice took me right back to that night at my place, her voluptuous body pressing into mine, her lips on my skin. I could feel a stirring behind my zipper, so I promptly wandered around the room, nervous that she might notice the action in my pants and take it the wrong way.
Not that I didn't want her to think I was interested. But the last thing I wanted was to seem like a creepy landlord preying on her latest tenant.
"No worries," I said lightly, walking over to the bookshelf. "It looks like you've been busy. I'm impressed." I turned and flashed her a smile while gesturing to the newly assembled bookshelf, and I could have sworn she blushed a little.
"Well, when you live alone, you have to be able to take care of yourself," she replied, raising a playfully arched brow.
She walked to the opposite end of the bookshelf, and I couldn't help feeling like we were circling each other, testing the physical boundaries of our new dynamic.
I took a step toward her. "I don't doubt that you're more than capable. But know that if you ever need anything, I'm always available."
"Careful. Anything is a pretty big offer." Her mouth twisted into a coy smile.
"I mean it. Anything." I held her gaze for a few seconds longer than appropriate. God, what I wouldn't give to just push you up against that wall right now.
Hanni smiled and chuckled softly before turning away and tucking her hair behind her ear.
Maybe I'd gone too far, but I meant it. Even if our connection wasn't serious, I was already feeling a little protective of her. She was a single woman, and if she needed a man for a job, something inside me wanted to be that man.
Running my fingers over the top of the bookshelf, I let my gaze wander over the boxes scattered throughout the room. Books, kitchen supplies, knickknacks . . . whoa.
"Wow," I said as I locked on a much larger box in a corner of the room. "You have a huge vinyl collection." I walked toward it, my eyes growing larger by the second.
"You're into vinyl?" she asked, a smile spreading across her face.
"Big time. Do you mind if I take a look?"
"Be my guest."
When I reached the box, I bent over and began thumbing through her records, all housed in pristine sleeves. I'd already thought that Hanni was cool and sexy, but this? This was taking it to a whole new level.
"Billie Holiday, Miles Davis, the Beatles . . . you've got all the classics," I said, unable to hide the surprise and admiration in my voice. I couldn't believe that Hanni liked music this much . . . or that our taste in music was so similar.
She joined me in front of the box. "I started collecting them when I was sixteen. Once I got into it, I couldn't really stop. It's a little out of hand." She chuckled, rolling her eyes.
"No, no, this is amazing. Like really fucking cool." I was so floored, I didn't have it in me to be articulate. "Paul Simon? I love this album." I turned to look at her with wide eyes, shaking my head in disbelief.
"If you want to borrow any of them, you're welcome to. Normally, I keep my obsession with records to myself, but now that you know, I guess the cat's out of the bag—or the album's out of the sleeve, in this instance, so you're more than welcome. And if you ever want to come by for a listen, I'm only a short walk away."
"Yeah, of course, that would be great. Jia loves this stuff too." Shit. Nothing like bringing up your kid to kill the mood.
"Maybe a little dance party will help her warm up to me." Hanni gave me a crooked smile.
"Nah, she likes you just fine. She's just . . . adjusting." That's one way of putting it.
"Well, I just hope she's, uh, not scarred for life," Hanni said.
We both chuckled awkwardly, and I struggled to keep myself from picturing Hanni naked for the tenth time today.
"She'll be fine," I said, placing the record back in the box. "That reminds me, I should probably get going. Jia's quiet time is ending soon, and she'll be upset if I'm not back when she comes out." That, and if I stayed in Hanni's apartment any longer, I wasn't fully confident I'd be able to avoid making a move on her.
"Right, of course. Thanks for stopping by," she said, walking me to the door.
As I stepped outside, I turned to wave awkwardly before turning the corner around the garage, my heart beating fast. Hanni waved back, smiling softly, and shut the door.
Back at my house, I had about ten minutes left before Jia came barreling out of her room, insisting that she didn't need quiet time anymore. I took the few minutes of silence to collect my thoughts.
I could already tell that I was in trouble when it came to this woman. No matter how badly I wanted to forget what happened between us, every time I was around her, I couldn't keep my mind from wandering to the sight of her naked body, the feel of her slick warmth around me. And that vinyl collection? It wasn't helping anything either. She was sexy and interesting. And living mere yards away from me.
I had to find a solution to all this pent-up sexual energy, and fast.