“All right then,” she nodded with a small smile, pretending to believe him. “Um, you said you came here to pick up a list, if I’m not mistaken…”

“Ah, yes,” he showed her a small receipt from his pocket, and Suu’s gaze fell on Pa’s neat handwriting. Taking the slip from him, she skimmed through the words. Suddenly, she slowed down, a slight frown forming on her forehead as she realized it was a copy of Professor Desakshi’s order. Before she knew it, her mouth was open, her throat was dry, and she was staring at the young man.

“Sorry, you are Professor Desakshi’s…” she couldn’t get the words out of her mouth, desperately hoping he wasn't who she thought he was. For a fleeting moment right then, his gaze dipped to her lips before returning to her eyes again.

“She’s my mother,” he smiled, voice gentle. “She sent me here to pick up a list for this order. If it’s ready, I mean...”

“Ah…” Suu tossed him her best professional smile while she nearly tore the receipt from clutching it too hard. This, she thought, was a problem and a half. Looking back at the piece of paper, she focused on just two thoughts in her mind.

One, there was no way she could let Pa know that Fox-face over here was Professor Desakshi’s son; and two, that she would have to sort out this order as soon as possible and send him on his way.

“…umm, well, the list is ready, yes, but there’s a lot,” she confessed, “I sorted out about fifty books or so.”

“Fifty of them…” he repeated, a hint of hesitation in his voice.

Suu chewed her lower lip as she looked at the receipt again. “Yes, it’s a lot,” she said, licking her suddenly dry lips. “I’ve got a few more books to write on that list, unfortunately,” she winced.

“Please take your time,” he waved his hand in a reassuring gesture. “There’s no need to rush. I’ll browse for a bit.”

Oh thank goodness. “Thank you! Then, um, please feel free to look around,” she offered, gently pointing to the furthest ends of the bookstore, far away from Pa’s studio. Curses exploded in her mind for not having finished that list before wandering off to write more labels. But she consoled herself that fifteen books left were better than fifty.

Halfway back to the counter, she immediately scurried back to him with a fool-proof plan. “Um, I’ll need,” she reached out for him but stopped short of touching him, barely noticing the way he leaned towards her. “I’ll need your address!”

“F-For the delivery!” she added with a desperate laugh. The last thing she needed was for a customer to think she was flirting with them, and judging by the sheer panic on his face, he seemed to think so too. Not good. Not good at all.

“We offer free home deliveries for bulk orders,” she clarified with practiced ease, her customer-service smile doing its best to cover-up her panic.

The man parted his lips then as though he wanted to say something, but he stopped. A brief, tense silence filled the space between them, and Suu wondered if she’d said something wrong.

“That, uh…” he began, scratching his neck again and averting his gaze. “…that won’t be necessary.”

Suu blinked several times, for the third time that day. “I beg your pardon? Oh, unless you have a vehicle—”

“I’ll just come here several times,” he cut in with a small smile. “Don’t worry about it.”

Suu blinked several times, for the fourth time—her eyelids strained. Oh NO, Fox-face, pleeeeeease don’t do this to me, she groaned inside.

“Sir,” she stressed, “you’d have to come here so many times! Large orders typically come with free deliveries anyways,” she coaxed. I can’t let my old man lay his artsy little eyes on you, Fox-face! “Won’t the Professor need these books as soon as possible?!”

His eyes darted across the shelves, focusing on the labels she’d written; a small smile spreading across his lips. “Not really, she doesn’t need them anytime soon. And I appreciate it, but,” he faced her again, and her heart raced at the coy smile on his face. “I think I’ll be coming back here for a while anyway,” his eyes locked with hers. Suu felt her smile falling, writhing under the pressure of his gaze.

“I-I see, but, it’s just, such a roundabout way to get your books,” she stuttered. You’ve gotta be kidding me, Fox-face!

Suddenly, the young man raised his hands up defensively, backing away from her.

“Ah, I’m sorry,” he sounded surprised, “I won’t do that if you think it’ll be a bother, somehow…” he glanced at the shelves before looking at her again. Suu gave him a nervous laugh, wondering how the hell she was going to get out of this one. Gritting her teeth and gathering her thoughts, she clasped her hands together. Customers are royalty, as the mantra went.

“Not a bother at all, sir,” she said, half-smiling. “Please do as you like,” she assured him. Pa’s ‘favor’ was a thorn on her side, but it paled in comparison to losing a potential, regular customer. If only Pa would forget all about this dude.

“Are you sure?” he asked, hesitating again, looking like a lost puppy. Suu bit down a chuckle and nodded.

“Yes! I’m sorry for any confusion,” she assured him again. “I’ll come get you when I’m done with the list.”

Once she returned, a slight peak into Pa’s studio let her know that her old man was deep into detailing his latest painting. Suu sighed in relief, knowing that Pa wouldn’t be coming out of there any time soon. Then, she settled down behind the counter, fingers drumming on the counter-top as she mulled over plans. Chewing her lips, she browsed through Pa’s handbook, searching for days when he had meetings to join or art-classes to teach; jotting them down on a scrap piece of paper.

When she finally went over to Fox-face with the list in her hand, he was peering into a shelf, with his arms holding a stack of books.

“Are you searching for a specific book?” she asked as she ran up to him. “I can help you find it!”

“No thanks, I found exactly what I was looking for,” he smiled, a playful glint lingering in his eyes. “I’d like to buy these, please.”

Suu couldn’t help but feel like his words were loaded, but she relented when she eyed the books in his hands. Pleased that he was making a purchase, she offered to carry them. But he refused, only letting her grab two of the thinner tomes.

“Umm, since you plan to come here often,” she offered, choosing her words carefully, “would it be too much trouble if you could come by on, um, specific days?” she winced on the inside, hoping it wouldn’t sound too weird. Even if it did, it was her last attempt at damage-control for the time being. Fox-face tossed her a curious glance.

“Sure, if you’d prefer that,” he said casually, “but I do have work and, uh…classes on some days, so…”

Suu nodded. She could make that work. I f—king have to.

“That’s completely fine,” she said happily. “So I’ll give a list of the days and times, and you can drop by whenever you’re able to.”

“Sounds like a plan,” he slouched and tilted his head at her again as she mouthed a soft ‘thank you’. A small part of her wondered why he was so accommodating of her, or why he didn’t question her specific demands, or why he seemed to fixate on the signboard and the little book-summary labels and—wait, why does my face heat up every time he looks at me? Is this guy giving me a fever?! She kicked those thoughts down to get rid of them, especially those pesky last ones, but she should’ve known better.

The exact same thoughts ran laps around her mind while she double-checked the list, prepared his bill, counted his payment, and packed his purchase into his cloth rucksack; with him insisting on doing the last bit by himself. The books themselves were a right old mess: a romance novella, two supernatural thrillers, an athlete’s memoir, and an accounting guide. She tried her best not to frown and smile at the same time.

Fox-face is a certified weirdo, she thought. Guess that makes two of us.

“Thank you, and please come again,” she said with practiced ease, and he smiled softly as he began walking towards the exit.

“I sure will, have a nice day,” his words sounded like a cheeky promise more than anything, and Suu waved back, muttering a faint ‘thanks’.

The moment he left, she sat back on the wooden chair behind the counter, gasping as though she’d been running hard. She ran her hands over her face, and the heat that met her fingers there did little to calm her down.

“It’s like Mrs. Venai put a f—king curse on me,” she tipped her head back. “But if she curses the way she counts, she’d probably curse the wrong girl,” she grinned, snickering to herself bitterly. But she couldn’t deny that the nosy old cow had been right. Mr. Airavara’s youngest daughter was headed for a lot of trouble, and it was just a matter of time.

So much trouble.