The attention Kaede fought to maintain held by itself when the man began to address his message. Everyone went by their yes and amen to every word the Marco pronounced.

“The day is going to be hectic, guys. The caterers will start working on their set up from 1 PM. From 2 PM, the stage and the sound system will arrive, and at 3 PM, we will have the photocall area arranged with the instant photo booth. The business should carry on as usual until closing time.”

Marco grinned, “there’s also the hypest look contest which is closed to the staff.”

“Yes, Steph,” Kaede interrupted.

“It’s not fair; I’m the hypest, why can’t I enter?”

Dia rolled eyes; the whole staff knew Stephan was full of himself. The Kpop idol lookalike had girls drooling like husky puppies. Many mistook him for a member of BTS, and Steph played on it. His popularity soared when he shaved his head and the tattoo on the right side of his head, saying 헐 heol meaning OMG became visible.

Kaede gave Steph a crooked smile, “well, good for you, but no, you can not partake in this.”

The meeting went on with its banters and protests. As Kaede watched, she realized how much she liked the effervescence which reigned in the store. Her job had some fun sides, and it would be better ifㅡ.

“Get that grin off your face.”

The team was on the shop floor, and the managers cleared the breakfast of croissants, orange, and fruit juices they bought for the early team meeting.

“Kae, why are you like this? You could be cool on some days. I mean, you have a great sense of humor. Now you areㅡ.”

Kaede cocked an eyebrow, “Marco, are you sure you want to say whatever is spinning on your mouth’s tumble dryer.”

Marco closed his mouth.

“I thought so.”

Kaede began to wipe the table, and Marco came to stand behind her. The man stood close enough to make her feel the hard heat in his trousers. Kaede shook her head in denial and turned to face him, “Marco, do you have a death wish?”

“Come on, Kae, don’t you ever think of us? ”

Kaede looked at her wristwatch, ” Marco, it’s ten in the morning. What’s wrong with you?” The woman giggled, “oh, I get it. Which hoe stood you up? You’re the morning type. Please don’t Kae me, okay. We’re not intimate or buddies, okay. You rub yourself up on me like this again; I swear you’ll have to explain yourself in front of the work inspection for sexual harassment.”

“Kae, stop your bitch act. Come on; we can’t go on like cats and dogs.”

Kaede shook her head, “you started Marco, and this cat here is going to scratch you faceless. As for your problem, do like any single guy, use your hand. Please stay professional, huh.”

The woman passed Marco and left him in the empty room. Once outside Kaede heaved, it was a close call. What was worse than working with Marco was trying to ventilate the sexual tension that the man whipped up from time to time.

Marco loved to play. Nothing turned the man on more than attempting his luck with Kaede.

The woman’s mind was clear. It was her body that betrayed her by replying to the horny man with its peak dancing hormones. Kaede recognized the lack of affection made her easy prey for guys for whom sex was part of their breakfast routine.

The day went on as if Kaede did not speak up about hanging out in the store. Tara’s boyfriend did his usual tryouts. While Chris talked to a model about some photoshoot for about an hour, it seemed the staff was a sieve to the manager’s remark.

“Marco, you see. Look at them; they’re uncontrollable.”

“Kaede, it’s nothing having a full store makes us look busy.”

“It’s air, Marco. We are just shifting air. There’s nothing in the tills.”

“What air?”

The two managers turned to find Dominque with his full black fleece joggers set and AirForce 1 Puerto Rico. Kaede could not help wonder what kind of job he had to have so much time on his hands. Right then, only three options came to mind with a bonus four.

1. The man was a daddy’s boy, living off his family richness just as his padawan.

2. He was a jobless scrub.

3. He was an unemployed scrub living of some desperate girl’s emergency funds.

Or perhaps he was for a gigolo for a middle-aged sugar mom, Tik Tok fiend who like Peter Pan thought she would never grow old.

4. The man was on vacation, but who would spend their time in a concept store?

Somehow neither one of Kaede’s theories seemed to qualify or stick. Kaede decided to pursue her thoughts elsewhere, but she found herself caught in the middle between the man who carried on as if she wasn’t there.

“Yo, dude, I didn’t know you were coming, ” Marco feigned, not wanting a reflection from Kaede about Dimitri’s presence.

“I bought some books yesterday; I wanted to see what else you guys have, oh, hi Kaede.”

The natural flow of the sentence sucked out Kaede’s intake of oxygen. She envisioned bringing her hand to her chest, where her heart began to play an unknown rhythm with a strong thumping base that would have one doing a gwara-gwara and a shaku-shaku in no time.

“Hi, bye.”

Her greet was firm and sharp with that petite tone of spite. Kaede’s defense mode was as solid as The Great Wall of China. In moments where the paramedics could carry her out as a causality, it helped her to survive.

Marco sneered, he found Kaede rude. She did not know Dominque, yet she was cold. The man thought her reaction was immature as Kaede treated the two men the same way.

“Come on, Dom,” Marco nodded in the books’N’ stuff areas direction, and the men moved on. “Pff, she’s crazy, sorry about that. Kaede is in the misandrous stage.”

“No worries, it took me four years to get over my misogynist stage.” Dominque looked back and watched Kaede go to the window where she began to change one of the mannequins, “you know when one hurts you can’t think straight, you just want everyone around you to suffer just the same.”

Marco could not relate at age twenty-eight heartbreak was a one-way drive which never pointed in his direction. The man did not like hearing Dominque talk this way; it was as though Kaede and he formed some kind of exclusive broken hearts club. Marco did not want to be part of it, and he would have preferred Dominque to accumulate panty conquest to soothe his pain than his exile.

Now Marco looked at Dominque; he acknowledged the change in his friend’s behavior. The player’s poised attitude left him perplex. Whereas the old Dominque would have invited Marco everywhere and partied till daybreak, the thirty-year-old now preferred staying in to play on his game consoles. He even read though the themes concerned his passion for gaming. The bookworm stance didn’t suit Dominque at all.

Marco tried to test the waters once more, he already noted Dominque didn’t call him and that he came to the store the day before while he was off, “the guys want to see you, Dom, why don’t you come for a drink with us?”

“I told you, I don’t drink anymore, and I don’t feel too much in phase with everyone, right now.”

Coming back to Paris wasn’t an easy task. Some of the junior football players they knew were now in the national French football team living the fast life. Marco had his job, and he was becoming a fashion opinion former. And finally, Hye Ju had her Youtube channel, Instagram and was doing her MTV debut as a VJ.

Everyone moved on, and Dominque had nothing, not even his health.