"Himari! Here! Here!"
The shout attracted Himari's attention. Her face broke into a smile. She quickened her step and ran to the owner of the voice until she reached the place.
"Have you been waiting for long?" Himari took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat on her forehead.
Even though the temperature was particularly low in spring, but since she had to struggle with the vast crowd in the train stations, it would be inevitable for her to sweat. The cool air inside the shopping mall helped to relieve the heat.
"Nah, only for a few minutes," Nanako couldn't help but nag, "I've told you to let me pick you up but you insisted on coming here yourself."
"You have to make a detour in that way," Himari retorted, "What do you want to buy today? Clothes?"
"Hehe, I'm here to feast my eyes on these little fresh meats," announced Nanako boldly. Her eyes had started to wander from one youth to another.
Himari laughed, "Do you have another fight with Ryota?"
Nanako grimaced, "Can't you stop mentioning him? I don't want to hear about him at all."
"Well, my guess is right," Himari shrugged.
Nanako had been steadily climbing the ranks in the company where she worked. It was still the first company as three years ago. Even though there were times she met setbacks, she still persevered until the end.
The two best friends could only meet on weekdays. Nanako's work hours were pretty flexible but it couldn't be applied to Himari.
Since she was particularly free today, Himari agreed when Nanako invited her for a shopping trip.
They entered from a boutique to a boutique. Himari just browsed through while Nanako had successfully bought three bags of dresses.
Then, Nanako dragged her inside a home accessory store.
"How's your new place?" Nanako carefully peered into the potted plants arranged on a shelf.
They were pretty cute. Her heart was set on the one with artificial red roses.
"Pretty good. The neighborhood is decent. I could get up later than usual and still make it in time," Himari was pretty satisfied with her new apartment.
"Let me send you back today. I want to give something, err, more than a thing to you," Nanako gave Himari a mysterious smile.
It was not a mystery because the meaning behind her words was so obvious.
Himari raised up her brows, "Oh, more clothes for me?"
"Bingo!" Nanako laughed, "It's springtime! I can't let you wear the previous spring outfits!"
"You know you don't have to do that," Himari didn't know how many times she had said it but Nanako kept being stubborn.
Ever since she began working, Nanako often made clothes for her personally, not the ones that were produced by the factory. Himari felt bad because making them consumed time but Nanako didn't stop doing it. In her closet, most of the outfits were made by Nanako.
When she wanted to pay for them, Nanako outrightly rejected her. If she wanted to pay, her friend would only accept it in the form of food.
"You could wear the dresses to school. They are not overly fancy, anyway," Nanako grinned.
Himari knew it was futile to persuade her so she could only smile.
The two friends continued browsing the store. Nanako had picked two potted flowers, one foldable storage box in floral patterns as well as a string of fairy lights.
"You don't want to buy anything?" asked Nanako as she was getting ready to pay for the items.
Himari hummed softly. Her gaze fell on the shelf where the lamps were displayed. One of the lamps attracted her attention.
"It's so pretty," Himari sighed.
The one that piqued her interest was a crystal lamp. The rose quartz crystal lamp was carved into blossoming rose flowers, resembling a bouquet. Its pinkish hue would match perfectly with the white walls of her new apartment unit.
"Do you want this one?"
Nanako thought the crystal lamp was pretty as well. Her eyes fell on the light pink dress on her friend's body. It was in the same color scheme as the lamp.
Hehe, how could she forget that her best friend loved the color pink the most?
Himari almost sucked in a sharp breath once she looked at the price tag.
With her current salary, she could still afford it but...
How many cakes could she have with the same amount of money?
Seeing the hesitation in her friend's eyes, Nanako didn't know either to laugh or cry.
As Himari's friend for almost a decade, she knew what she was thinking about.
"Let me give you this as your house-warming gift," Nanako had seen the interior of Himari's new apartment through the photos she shared. This crystal lamp would look beautiful if it was placed beside Himari's bed.
"No need," Himari quickly refused, "I'd just accept the new outfits as the house-warming gifts."
A mischievous light flickered in Nanako's eyes, "Let's buy it. Who knows, this crystal lamp would be the start of your new love life?"
"How could you say something so silly?" Himari made a face.
"I'm telling you the truth. You shouldn't retort my words like that," Nanako persisted with her belief. Then, she sighed in bliss, "The pink color, rose blossoms, its beautiful shine, ah~ A new love in spring season~"
"You should make up with Ryota first before daydreaming about my love life," Himari gave Nanako an eye-roll.
Nanako immediately frowned, "I said don't talk about that dead man!"
Himari was baffled. Why did this couple fight again? It must be over something silly as usual.
In the end, she successfully pushed her friend to the counter. Nanako rolled her eyes back to Himari.
While Nanako was paying for the items she chose, Himari wandered back to see the crystal lamp. She was really tempted to buy it but, because she had used a huge portion of money when moving into the new apartment, Himari didn't want to overspend the limit she set every month.
A start of a new love life, huh?
Himari shook her head in disbelief. She shouldn't let Nanako's words clouding her mind.
"Could I take a photo of this lamp?" Himari asked a sales assistant nearby.
The youth smiled at her, "Yes, you may. You could have this catalog as well."
The girl handed her a catalog of the shop. She flipped to the page showing the same exact crystal lamp on it.
"This lamp is popular among our customers. Most of them are male. They chose this lamp as a gift to their significant others," The sales assistant started advertising the product, "Besides this lamp, they often pick the rosebud fairy lights to go with it. Imagine! By placing this lamp at your bedside and the fairy lights hanging above your bed, don't they make the atmosphere more romantic?"
The twinkling of the sales assistant's eyes almost coaxed Himari to buy both the lamp and the fairy lights.
"Err, hehe, I'll look at it more," Himari closed the catalog and tried to get away from her.
"Okay, dear customer. Don't forget to give hints to your boyfriend!"
The girl winked at her. Himari smiled awkwardly.
Once they were done, Himari and Nanako chose to have their late lunch at one of the restaurants on the third floor. Both of them sat next to the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the city.
Ring! Ring!
"Pick it up," Himari rested her chin on her hand, "He has been calling you nonstop."
Nanako showed a reluctant expression but she did pick up the call.
"Hello... What? You're blaming me for sulking? You've been busy for the last two weeks, I thought I no longer have a boyfriend... Hurm, never mind, it's better if I become single..."
Nanako kept bickering with her boyfriend for three years. Himari smiled faintly as Nanako showing signs of being softened.
"Tsk, who loves you? Okay, okay, bye!"
Nanako tossed the phone aside but her entire face was glowing. It was obvious that Ryota had successfully coaxed her.
"Aye, I could see spring flowers blossoming around you," Himari sighed.
Nanako proudly wiggled her brows, "Well, yours truly are well-loved by the boyfriend. What do you expect?"
Himari smiled. She threw her gaze out of the window.
Nanako looked concerned as she scrutinized her friend. After a moment of hesitation, she asked, "Himari, are you really not going to fall in love again?"
"Huh?" Himari was baffled, "Why do you suddenly ask that?"
"Well, you never have anyone new after... Jun. Three years have passed so... Sigh, are you actually waiting for him?"
Himari blinked.
Facing the sudden question, she didn't know how to answer it.
Or, rather...
She didn't have the answer to the question.
"I... I don't know."
"You don't know?"
Himari lowered her head. She nodded her head once.
She really didn't know.
Nanako felt guilty seeing Himari's troubled expression.
"I'm sorry, I'm just thinking," Nanako smacked her own lips.
"Nah, I know you're worried about me," Himari smiled.
It wasn't like she had never thought of falling in love again but, she was afraid of her love would fail once more.
Would she give love a second chance?
Or, was she still waiting for Jun?
She didn't know.
But, the one thing she knew, she didn't want to be disdained by his family again.