Chapter Four

Randy

T he service seems to go on forever. I decide maybe Soojin is right, maybe I am an atheist. I have no patience for it. They sing, a man comes up to make announcements, there’s more singing. Another person comes up to talk about Christmas services, then finally Michelle takes the mic. Eddie straightens up and watches as she speaks, his eyes never flickering from her once. They’re singing again when my oldest nephew, Zach, wanders in.

“Whatcha doing here, old man? We missed you at dinner last night. Mom’s worried about you out at that old cabin all by yourself.”

I wave him off. “I’m fine, just here to help them shut off the alarm.”

He grins. “And you stayed for church?”

“Soojin’s here,” Eddie says, his eyes never straying from Michelle.

Zach chuckles. “Ah, there it is. Hey, since you’re here, can you look at the spreadsheets for inventory? It’s been giving me some trouble.”

Things don’t seem to be wrapping up anytime soon. “Yeah, sure.”

I follow him back to the office and get caught up in the mess that he’s made of the inventory spreadsheets. The pack has two new babies–they can’t afford to have things go to shit with new mouths to feed. My nephews are solid businessmen, but they’re still so new to everything. I can’t let them fail this early on. I spend the next hour caught up in trying to fix things and don’t even realize the time until Zach’s asking if I want him to grab me lunch.

“No, I’ve got to catch Soojin,” I tell him.

Out in the club, there’s only a few people left hanging around talking to Michelle. None of them are Soojin.

“Have you seen Soojin?” I ask Eddie as I step outside.

“She left a bit ago. She had a bunch of old ladies in her car. I think she was giving them a ride home.”

I reach for my phone, only to realize I don’t have her number. I have the number to the restaurant, but, in all this time, I’ve never gotten her cell. “Do you have any paper?”

Eddie shakes his head. “There are sticky notes behind the bar.”

I head back inside, find the yellow pad, then stare at it for a second.

“Whatcha doing?” Zach asks as he wanders back out from the office.

“Trying to think about what to say to Soojin.”

He snorts.

“What?”

He shakes his head. “Why not just ask her out?”

“Zach–”

“Don’t Zach me, old man. You’ve been pining after her since she moved in. She’s been waiting for you to make a move–always giving you extra food, always lingering when she delivers stuff–and all you ever do is hover.”

“I don’t hover .”

Zach looks up as Eddie heads inside. “Eddie? Some help here?”

“You totally hover,” Eddie says. “She’s going to get tired of waiting for you to make your move.”

“She’s probably already tired of waiting and has given up,” Zach says. “She’s an independent woman with her own business. Does she really need a man?”

“Yeah, boss, you’ve been totally leading her on. Every time she shows up, you’re at her elbow, but never once have you asked her out or brought her a gift.”

“Yeah,” Zach agrees, “she probably thinks you’re one of those guys who’s only after attention.”

“Would you two shut up and help me?” I growl in frustration.

Zach laughs. “With what?”

“A note for Soojin.”

Eddie plops down on the bar stool next to me. “Just ask her out.”

“On a piece of paper I’m sticking to her door? That’ll get her to say yes.” I can’t keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

He shakes his head. “Not on the paper. Get her to send you a message, something easy…like ‘here’s my number, text me so I know you got home safe,’ and then you can call her and ask her out.”

“That’s a little obvious,” Zach says. “Just leave your number and ask her to call you.”

“Yeah, but if you ask her to text when she gets home, then it will make you look caring,” Eddie says.

“I do care about her. I don’t want–” I start, but they ignore me.

“But what if she doesn’t care? If you just ask her to call you, it’s more mysterious. She’s going to wonder what’s going on and call you no matter what. Her curiosity will get the best of her,” Zach argues.

“But then she’s going to think you’re creepy when she finds out you just want to ask her out,” Eddie counters.

They continue to argue the merits of each option as I stare down at the paper. Honesty is the best policy, especially if I’ve fucked this up as bad as they say I have.

I think for a moment, then write:

I’d like to take you to dinner, but don’t have your number. Can you send me a text?

I sign it and then carefully write my number at the bottom, scanning it once before pulling it off the pad. It all looks legible enough.

“What did you write?” Zach asks, trying to look over my shoulder. I turn away before he can see it, heading out the door and across the parking lot. The back door to her shop has a storm door that’s unlocked. I open it, stick the note on the inner door at what I guess to be her height and then turn around to head back, only to nearly trip over a pig.

Frigg, the youngest of the pig family that roams these parts, grunts at me, then continues on to the grassy spot near Soojin’s back door. She’s followed by her mother, Porshetta, their adopted pig, Chad, and a new addition. At first, I think it’s another pig they’ve adopted but nope, definitely not a pig.

“Is that a capybara?” Eddie asks as I walk back to the club to get my keys.

“I think so.”

“Where the hell did that come from?”

I shrug. “The vape guys have been saying they’re getting a capybara forever.” The guys who own the crappy vape place at the opposite end of the parking lot from Soojin’s restaurant spent a ton of time at the Wild Hare talking to anyone who will listen about their crazy get-rich-quick schemes. The latest one was an exotic petting zoo that would star capybaras. It looks like they’d succeeded, sort of…

Eddie scans the area. “Should I call them?”

I look back at the animals. The pig family has encircled the capybara that’s laying side-by-side with Frigg.

I shake my head. “Looks like the pigs have got it covered.”

I grab my keys from the bar, wave to Zach, and head home to pretend I’m not sitting by the phone waiting for Soojin to call.