Nari watched JiHo hurry to the car. He looked irritated. She'd been his driver for two weeks. With each passing day, he became more annoyed with work. At least she assumed it was work.
He didn't talk to her like most of her other passengers. It was a quick greeting when he entered and a quick goodbye when he left. There was never anything in between.
She supposed it was for the best. Those feelings that worried her had withered away because of his cold demeanor. He even seemed to lose some of the beauty she found enthralling. He had become nothing more substantial than a cologne model in a magazine. He was nice to look at but boring to be around.
Still, he looked upset and he was one of her clients. She cared about them all, so like it or not, she would care about him, too.
"Good afternoon, JiHo," she addressed him as he entered.
"Good afternoon, Nari," he answered with nothing more than expected politeness in his tone. "I hope you didn't have to adjust your schedule for this impromptu call. I have to get these documents to another office within the hour, and I can't trust a messenger."
"Not at all, JiHo," she replied as she watched him fasten his seatbelt. She pulled away as she continued. "If I had another appointment, I simply wouldn't have agreed to come."
He looked at her with a creased brow and laughed to himself as she focused all of her attention on the road. He shook his head as he found the music playlist he discovered they had in common. She was loyal to each and every passenger and placed none above the other.
He leaned back and glanced up from his folded hands to watch her. She was wearing the little butterfly earrings again. She only wore the same three: small blue and purple cloisonné butterflies, peach plastic-looking flowers, and silver hearts. They were all small with nothing dangling below the earlobe.
She only wore one necklace: a short silver chain with a little pink lily. She wore one round ring made of seashell he recognized from tourist traps around the coastal areas. On her left wrist was a simple watch, and on her right wrist was a small silver bracelet with a silver heart dangling from a short bit of chain.
Every time he looked at her, he wanted to shower her in diamonds, and he couldn't understand why. His desire to see her sparkle as much as her radiant smile perplexed him.
He had purposely avoided getting closer to her since that first day, keeping their relationship strictly professional. It had the exact opposite effect he had intended. Instead of making it easier for him to see her as no more than a means to get to and from work, it piqued his curiosity. Thoughts of her began to creep into his mind at random times. The more troublesome were when he was in the shower or laying alone in bed.
He cleared his throat to avoid dwelling on such things. He sighed as he looked out the window. The drive to the secondary investigation office wasn't far, but he would need a ride back to the main building. That would give him roughly an hour for a break.
He didn't like taking lunch breaks. The quiet of the office was his best time to work. It was far from quiet for that entire week. The case had taken an unexpected, devasting turn, and it sent all the offices scrambling to start research from the beginning.
He looked back at her and watched her for a while as she didn't seem to be bothered by his troubles at all. In the beginning of their arrangement, she had tried to engage him in banter like they had done the day they met. He deliberately gave her the impression he was disinterested in anything she had to say, hoping she would stop trying to build a friendship like she seemed to have with everyone else.
She seemed to struggle with it on Wednesday, obviously unaccustomed to the silent treatment. By Thursday, she was as cool as he had been. No attempt was made at small talk. Nothing more was said than common pleasantries.
After she pulled away that morning, he realized he didn't like this mood he set. He called her back for this delivery on purpose to see her again. Did the documents need to be delivered and so quickly? Yes. Did he have to do it? It was better that way. Did he need her to drive him? One of the detectives in his office was driving to the other office. He could have ridden with him, so no, she wasn't needed. Not in a professional capacity, at least.
He didn't notice Nari glance at him in the mirror. When she saw him staring at her, she looked again. He was looking right at her, but it appeared as though his mind were somewhere else.
She paid attention to the turn ahead to get into the office parking lot. Yoo SangHoon had been speaking of the case and how they had to start all over because of new evidence against their client that was disclosed at the last minute.
The prosecution team thought it meant their suspect had no defense, but JiHo remembered coming across something in older files that could turn that evidence in their favor and prove the criminal was someone else. They were working feverishly to rewrite their arguments before the prosecution could twist the case around again on their client. They had until Monday the following week.
As she pulled up to the doors of the office, JiHo quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the door.
"Please give me about ten minutes, Nari," he told her.
He shut the door when she nodded and hurried inside.
He returned closer to forty minutes, but she didn't complain. She was able to catch up on an online game she'd been neglecting during the week of more appointments, all because of that one case.
"I'm sorry," he apologized as he got into the car. "I had to explain some things."
"No need to apologize," she replied. "Back to the other office?"
He sighed loudly and looked out his window. Before he could answer, his phone rang.
"Hello?" he answered. "One moment," he told the person on the other end. "Nari," he said, "I need to take this outside. It's about the case."
"Go ahead," she replied and watched him as she pretended to scroll through her phone.
He became irritated again speaking with whomever had called. He hung up and let his hand drop to his side as he rubbed his forehead with his other. He moved aside his suit jacket so he could place his hand on his hip over his belt as he looked up at the sky. She watched as he shook his head again and turned toward the car.
He saw her watching as he returned. She seemed worried about him, and it made him feel better. He climbed back into the car and shut the door. He buckled up and nodded for her to drive.
As she was about to turn onto the road, she glanced back and saw him try to rub away the weariness from his head and eyes.
"Do you need to return to the office this very minute?" she asked.
He creased his brow and gave her a confused glare. Of course, he had to return to work. She knew how busy they were. He was certain the old man had told her even if he had not.
She shook her head slightly at his impatient glare. "I only mean to suggest you could work from here."
When he continued to stare without speaking, she explained. "Everything is accessible to you through your mobile devices and laptop, correct? I'm saying that if you would like to get away from the office to rest for a while, you could work from here in peace. I'll drive around until you're ready to go back.
My afternoon is completely clear. I had two cancellations. Bringing you home after work is my next and only appointment left for the day. It's your call."
He considered her offer as she said it. He did have everything there in his briefcase. He thought about the phone call. If he left the new staff members for even five minutes, they acted like the end of the world was at the door. He had given them other work because they weren't ready for this case and it was too important for interns to touch. They didn't need him. If he wasn't there, they could look for someone else.
"Let's do that," he answered and smiled when she smiled at his reflection. "Thank you, Nari," he said a bit softer, grateful for her compassion and grateful he would have a little longer in her company.
She gave him a gentle nod and smiled as he turned the soft music back on and went to work. She took a turn-off that would lead to the highway. She would take him as far as she could before she would have to turn back and get him to the office at a reasonable time. An hour seemed like a good break, so she looked at the clock and set out.
She liked this. She liked this very much.
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