Standing at the counter, Nikki was flipping the ends of the new hat, scarf, and mittens combo he'd gotten as a gift from Julia at me and I was secretly jealous. It was made of loosely woven black yarn, except the mittens were more dense. You could wear it as a hat, as he was now, where the ends would trail down and then you could put your hands in the pockets, or you could wear it as a scarf and wear the mittens the same way. 

"They said they made it for me, because I don't have a hat. Then they realized I don't have mittens and a scarf, either, and this is what they came up with."

Receiving a gift from Julia was almost unheard of. They were always so to themselves, hardly saying a word to anyone, but we could tell they liked to be around us. It was kind of sweet, and I was deeply jealous of the affection they'd apparently rained down on Nikki. Did they like him more than me?

"It's one of a kind," Nikki dug in, putting his hands in the mittens. "I'll cherish it forever. So fashionable, too." It did look like the indie street wear that he often liked to wear. It only meant Julia had been paying attention to his clothes. 

The chiming bell above the door distracted us, and my head snapped toward it, hoping for the Korean stranger. But, it was the opposite.

Ayane barreled inside, her larger form clad in a red leather motorcycle jacket and vintage bell bottom jeans. She could have climbed right out of the 60's. Other customers waved to her, but she didn't pay any attention to them. It was obvious she had some kind of big news.

"Your hot guy was in my store," she burst out. 

"Ahhh," I squealed, my hands going to the sides of my face. Now, this was the kind of news I wanted.

"What was he doing?" Nikki leaned in, too, wanting the news about him. 

"Looking at denim," she said. "I wonder if he likes vintage denim? Miyuki said she saw him, too, at Pinky Books." Ayane's eyebrow went up at that. 

Pinky Books. What would he be doing at Pinky Books? Did he think it was a regular bookstore? What a mistake. I had to point it out.

"Well, he told me that he's new to the neighborhood. He might have thought Pinky's was a regular bookstore. He seems kind of studious, I don't know." My hand was on my chin, concerned.

"What, you talked to him?!" Nikki gasped, his mittened hands going over his mouth. 

"Don't act so surprised," I scoffed, hoping they didn't see right through me. "I can talk sometimes."

"What- but, what made you talk to him? I'm sorry, he's so hot... I can't deal with it," Nikki fluttered. "I could barely serve him."

"He's pretty nice looking," Ayane admitted. She wouldn't understand, though, being a lesbian. She wouldn't appreciate him like we did.

"He's so much more than that, though," I said, pretending like I'd actually gotten to know him. We'd only talked for a few seconds, but maybe I could influence ownership, if we were becoming friends. "He's pretty clumsy. I think that's why he bumped into me in the dark. He knocked over my whole display of chocolates. So, I went over there and helped him clean them up. He told me he's new here in the neighborhood, and that he's Korean."

"Interesting," Nikki said, his eyes going spacey. "Why would he have moved here? If he's Korean, maybe he heard that there's a lot of foreigners in this neighborhood. We do have so many. He'd fit in that way."

"Yeah, maybe. Or maybe he likes the cheaper apartments nearby. You don't think he's our neighbor, do you?" It was boggling my head. Imagine if we lived nearby each other? My brain was fantasizing already.

"It's suspicious," Ayane said. "Him moving here. He doesn't really fit in. He was wearing a suit again today, when I saw him. There's not really any office buildings around, nowhere where you'd need to wear a suit to work."

"Maybe he just likes wearing suits. A lot of artists wear different things," I tried to explain. 

"I wonder if he paints," Nikki said out of the blue, lost in his own daydream. 

"He's probably not gay," I said, smacking him on the shoulder. He smacked me back, and I was about to do it again, when Ayane spoke, interrupting us.

"I don't know, he was in Pinky's," she said, sounding curious. "Do you think he bought something?"

My eyes went wide, and blush immediately started to tint my ears. It had never occurred to me that he could be gay. Looking like he does, wearing that suit, the styling he has. Someone like that? 

"I wonder if I have a chance with him," Nikki said dreamily, lost in his daydream still. 

"Quit daydreaming," I sighed, smacking his shoulder again. He smacked me back, and Ayane let out of a noise of frustration.

"Stop fighting, you children! You see one hot boy and immediately stop being friends!" She smacked her hand loudly down on our showcase, her many rings making it sound like a gunshot. We jumped apart, our hands up like she was a cop. "Anyway, I'm happy to know he lives in the neighborhood. Maybe he'll bring his friends and they'll give us some business. It's no lie that we need it, and it looks like he has money. Maybe his friends do, too."

Now, that was an idea. 

Her finger rose to us. "Be nice to him. He might bring business. We have no idea who he knows. He seems like a nice young man, so maybe his friends are, too."

"What, more hot guys?" Nikki gasped. 

My jaw dropped.

"We'll see," Ayane said. "Anyway." She gathered herself, preparing to go, swiping her scarf back over her shoulder where it had fallen. "I have to get back, I told my part timer that I was having a smoke break. But, I wanted to tell you that I saw him. I hope he brings business to us. Positive business. He's going into so many of our shops. He might tell his friends about us if he has good experiences."

She was completely right. He was a stranger who didn't know any of us, so he might belong to an entirely different social network. If he brought that network here...

"Got it," I said, saluting her like Yash always did to us. "We'll be kind to him and give him the best service we can. We'll spread the word, too."

"Glad to hear it. Anyway, I'll come back if I get more news. There's been strange people lately, so if we can bring positive people here, it might help combat that bad business. Well, bye." She went to leave.

She was absolutely right. Maybe there was a solution to our terrible experiences lately after all. Something positive in the storm. 

We waved to her as she left, and the bell signaled that she was gone. We watched her brave the elements, the wind going pretty harshly against her in our big window. Together, we stood silently and still, both of our brains starting to go off, probably thinking of our own daydreams.