Monday morning rolled around far too quickly for Velvet's liking.
Still not recovered from Saturday's incident, she popped her anxiety meds at the first flutter in her stomach. She had no capacity to process her emotions today, so it was better to focus on something entirely different; something such as the man in black.
It wasn't every day that someone wouldn't want to spend time with Velvet, she thought it was only natural that he ask her out.
Sure, it was quite formal, very forward, but he does seem like a no-frills kind of guy; so he cut to the chase.
Why was it then that he didn't mention it the two times they met afterward?
Had his opinion of her changed so rapidly?
Velvet huffed down the stairs to the deli.
On Friday night she was elegant and – somewhat – composed. She envisioned herself in the green satin dress, radiating charm.
Velvet nodded to herself as she stepped inside.
She looked to the spot in the kitchen where she fought Ratman and grimaced.
Ah, that must be it, she thought.
She stood against the door pretending to be as laid-back as the man in black was, and imagined herself in his eyes.
She flailed around with Ratman, her shrill voice bouncing off the walls. She was uncoordinated, sloppy and frantic… how embarrassing.
It was late, Velvet had no time to sit and enjoy her coffee. Instead opting for a travel cup so that she could go produce shopping across the road.
7 am was the best time to shop, for as 8 came around the isles would be filled with slow-moving pensioners doing their daily trawl. Stopped randomly in front of brightly coloured labels, staring open-mouthed at the wall of choices before them.
It was a mild day, mid twenties but with soaring humidity.
If you lived in Queensland, chances were high that you'll break a sweat just from blinking.
Velvet didn't train on Monday's, so she wore a mini black cotton dress that wrapped around her torso in the front and fluttered about her hips as she walked.
No makeup, no jewelry, bun piled high and glasses slipping down her nose as she looked down at her phone. Refreshing Instagram so that she could avoid eye contact with gawking passers-by.
Around to the right of the big multi-coloured wall sat a poorly designed car park which saw cars backed up past the roundabout on Howard every time someone attempted to reverse out of their spot.
The mall was a cheap build nearly twenty years ago, wiping out the old English shop fronts which boasted the largest antique fair around, plus every commodity known to humankind.
Nambour was originally a small business mecca.
The cheap build mall was the opposite of the colonial buildings; big chain stores and security guards that dealt drugs on the side.
It smelled like burnt body odor mixed with sanitiser; the fluorescent lights flickered; a buzzer always buzzing; cracked tiles and screaming children.
And yet the cafes that served avocado from a tube turned a higher profit than Velvet.
She looked into the cafe by the entrance, taking in the breakfast crowd with bucket-sized coffee, bacon stacked high, prescription meds filling plastic bags to offset the medley of poisons being shoveled in hungry mouths.
The screeching of curdling milk filled the air as the barista made sub-par drinks.
I guess quality doesn't matter when you add so much sugar, Velvet thought.
She continued on past the food court, pausing to look in the window of the jewelers, rolling her eyes at the tacky extravagance.
A gush of cool air swept past her, the hairs on the back of her neck standing high.
Her eyes paused mid-roll to the right as she caught a glimpse of the figure who was powering past her.
It was him.
Him.
He walked with a focussed intensity, eyes set on something far ahead. Instead of his usual ambiguity, the man in black was giving serious 'you better watch out, I'm coming' vibes.
Velvet had the feeling something was about to go down, and she wanted in.
She swung around and followed the man in black at a distance, holding her cup up in front of her face as she shuffled to avoid recognition.
His cap was flipped backward, fists clenched, shoulders tight.
He was angry.
He cut a sharp left past the donut shop in the food court, down the hallway to the bathroom.
Velvet slowed her pace.
Perhaps it was a different kind of emergency.
I wonder how much fiber he eats, she mused.
At the end of the hall was a fork leading to the ladies that flowed out to the other side of the mall by the grocery store. Straight ahead was the door to the men's.
A young man sauntered out, arranging his pants.
He froze when he saw the man in black powering towards him. Velvet could almost see his soul leave his body in fright.
Velvet held back, just out of view.
"Volta!" the young man exclaimed, "V-Volta, I can explain."
His eyes grew wide in fear.
Volta pushed the young man back through the swinging door of the bathroom.
All was quiet again.
"Volta?" Velvet whispered.
She snuck forward until she was right outside the door, leaning against the wall opposite.
"Monday morning, 7:10 am," she spoke into her phone, "the man in black seems to be named Volta, and has disappeared into the toilet with a young man of Islander descent."
Velvet jumped as the bathroom door swung open.
She reflexively covered her face with her phone, but it wasn't Volta. Just an old man who looked her up and down, sucking on his dentures.
She peeked over his shoulder into the bathroom as the door swung in and out on its hinges, unable to see the entire room.
The denture man ambled away. Velvet crept closer to the swinging door until her nose was an inch from the handle, the door now firmly shut.
"Stakeout it is, then." She muttered, turning around.
Min-jun lounged on the wall opposite, smiling widely.
"Vel-vet-ine." He bowed his head.
Velvet shrieked, jumping backward.
Min-jun was different in the early morning light filtering in from tall windows along the hallway.
He wore fitted black slacks and a tucked in white button-down shirt with a band collar. His sleeves were rolled up to show an elegant watch on his left wrist. Light, rounded glasses and a ruffled fringe that sat half parted above his brow line.
A patent black folder rested in his right arm, one foot back on the wall, chewing gum as his piercing eyes laughed and perfect teeth glistened. When she had first met him, his eyes were darker than the night, but today they were golden brown. Warm, inviting, like he had a secret he was just about to share.
"Min-jun," Velvet composed herself, "how long have you been standing there?"
"Here?" he looked around, "not long."
Velvet let out a sigh of relief.
"But over there," he pointed up the hallway to the food court, "quite a while."
Velvet groaned.
"There is another exit," Min-jun nodded his head to the hallway leading to the grocery store, "he probably already left."
Velvet chewed on the inside of her lips as she nodded in thought. He was right, Volta probably pushed the young man through the bathroom and out the other door long before the denture man exited.
"So…" Velvet rocked back and forth on the heels of her feet, looking around awkwardly, "what brings you here?"
Min-jun pushed his hair back from his forehead.
"Ah," he looked around, "I had a meeting with center management."
Velvet looked at the time on her phone.
"A bit early, isn't it?"
She was suspicious.
Min-jun looked at her over the top of his glasses.
"In Korea, it's never too early for a meeting."
Velvet's face fell.
"Oh," she gave a small smile, "sorry."
Min-jun laughed.
"Got you."
He straightened up, extending an arm towards the fork in the hallway.
"You were going this way, right? I'll come with you."
Velvet didn't have a chance to object as Min-jun herded her in the direction of the grocery store.
"You're looking very formal, was it a big meeting?" Velvet asked as they walked side by side.
Min-jun grinned.
"No, one of the managers had ah," he clicked his fingers as he searched for the words, looking around at the people who walked by, "ah, like slippers…"
He pointed excitedly at the feet of a child standing by the grocery store ahead.
"Those."
"Oh, thongs?"
Min-jun paused, eyes wide.
"Th-thong?" he asked.
"Flip-flops?" Velvet offered.
"Ah, flip-flops," he nodded, "they do look like a thong though, a thong for the foot."
Velvet snorted.
Min-jun slid her a look, moving the gum around in his mouth, amused.
"Whoops," she held her hand up to her nose, "sorry."
"One of the managers had… thongs… on," Min-jun continued on, "and ate a hard-boiled egg while I gave my presentation."
"Welp," Velvet grimaced, "I apologise on behalf of my country, we are violently laid back."
Min-jun chuckled, waving his hand around.
"It's ok, it's ok, I'm used to it by now."
They stood before a wall of colourful produce in the grocery store, groggy-eyed people meandering between rows of vegetables, Christmas carols blaring over the speakers.
Velvet balanced her empty cup on top of her phone in her hand, a basket hanging from her arm, as she reached for a bunch of bananas.
Min-jun looked at her with raised eyebrows.
"Do you need me to hold something for you?" he went to grab the basket.
"No, no, I'm fine." Velvet moved out of his reach.
He quickly retracted his hand.
Velvet moved on to the vegetables, lightly squeezing tomatoes.
"How was your weekend?" Min-jun asked.
Velvet paused.
"Not too bad…" she trailed off as she floated towards the potatoes.
"Did you," Min-jun craned his neck closer to Velvet, "get up to anything special?"
Velvet frowned, leaning away from Min-jun.
"Not really."
Min-jun looked around.
"Oh," Velvet smiled, "sorry. What about you?"
"Well," he said, matter-of-fact, "I went to that place where we met on Friday night… Swamp… land?"
Velvet nodded.
"I went to Swampland on Saturday," he looked down at his shoes, "I was ah, meeting someone."
"Oh yeah?" Velvet moved to the end of the aisle, "did you have a good time?"
Min-jun looked at Velvet as she filled a bag with mushrooms.
"I got stood up."
Velvet looked at him, bottom lip protruding in a sympathetic grimace.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Min-jun sighed, exasperated.
They walked out from produce, Velvet making a face and holding her breath as they walked past the seafood counter.
Min-jun looked around, trying to find what she was reacting to.
"I just need one more thing." Velvet said to herself, staring up at the top shelf of the spices.
She made small noises of effort as she reached her hand up as high as she could, standing on her tippy toes. Her cup moved around in her hand as she squirmed, leaving a trail of coffee on the screen of her phone below.
Min-jun paused as he watched her struggle for a beat.
"Stop." He said.
He grabbed her cup and placed it between the potatoes and tomatoes in the basket, taking the phone from her hand and sliding it into his pocket before Velvet could blink. He took the basket from the crook of her arm and positioned it firmly in the palm of her left hand.
He nodded, then turned to the spice shelf, extending his arm slightly to reach the large bag of dried oregano.
"There." He placed the bag into Velvet's basket.
Velvet looked at Min-jun with puppy-dog eyes.
Min-jun spun her around and walked her forward.
"The check-out is that way." He whispered smugly, tapping her on top of her head with his folder.
Velvet gritted her teeth.
"I knew that." She muttered.
Velvet slid colourful reusable bags onto her shoulder as they stood outside of the grocery store, looking at the wall of seniors descending upon the mall.
"Phone." Velvet held her hand out to Min-jun.
Min-jun raised his eyebrows.
"Phone…" Velvet shot him a look, "… please?"
He handed back her phone.
"Okay, bye!" Velvet darted off, weaving between the slow-moving crowd.
"Okay…" Min-jun said softly after her, "see you."
He considered chasing after her for a moment before turning away, deep in thought as he slipped out the side door before the seniors could breathe down his neck.