The day seemed to be full of surprises for Constance. First her Wi-Fi had gone out unexpectedly and now Beom was acknowledging her existence and actually being helpful. The only thing that annoyed her about the whole thing was how he just assumed she would follow after him like some sort of whipped puppy. Not once during the several minutes they had been walking had he turned back to see if she was following him.

"You're cocky to think I'm going to follow after you, you turd!"

She could hear Beom chuckle from where he was a few steps ahead of her.

"For starters, you are following me and for another, I'm not a turd. I'm a human being. You might want to get your eyesight checked if you think otherwise."

Constance wanted to come up with some sort of witty rebuttal but was unable to right on the spot. She instead lapsed into silence as Beom finally came to a stop outside a building. She didn't have much of a chance to examine the outside of the building to see where exactly they were before Beom slipped inside. Constance had already come this far and - even though she was slightly hesitant about following him inside - moved to do just that.

As Constance entered the place, she couldn't help but to notice how it was clustered with a bunch of eclectic people that were all self-absorbed into their own hobbies. The place seemed cozy yet crowded. Beom was already navigating his way through the people like he was doing some sort of choreographed dance so that he wouldn't hit anyone on his way to the back where an unused computer sat. Constance moved to go back to the computer he was now standing by. Once she had reached where Beom was, she moved to take a seat in front of the computer. He moved to sit down in an unoccupied chair beside her.

"Did you used to come here often?" asked Constance as she turned on the computer in front of her.

"Once in a while," Beom said simply, looking around the room instead of at her.

While Constance waited for the computer to boot up, she cast her eyes about the room again too. She wondered if Beom's gaze would fixate on anyone in particular, but his gaze just kept bouncing about as if soaking in the view for nostalgic purposes. Constance's attention was soon diverted back to the computer in front of her when the main screen popped up.

"Why were you without Wi-Fi?" asked Beom as he looked back over at her.

"I forgot to pay the bill," said Constance, seeing Beom smirk out of the corner of her eye. "Don't laugh at me."

"I'm not laughing," said Beom as he quickly wiped the smirk off his face.

Constance turned to look at Beom, seeing the mischievous twinkle still present in his decadently dark eyes.

"Tell your eyeballs that," she said to which he let out a low chuckle.

Constance hmphed as she turned to look back at the monitor in front of her, bringing up job portals to continue the search for a new job. Beom sat there and watched her scroll through the choices with his arms crossed.

"Can't you just pick a job?"

"It's not that easy," said Constance as she expanded the description on one before ultimately backing out of it to continue her search. "I mean, I'm willing to settle for something. It's just...I'd like to also not hate every second of my job."

"What happened to your last one?"

Hearing Beom ask that question out loud caused an ache to settle in her chest. She didn't like thinking about it because doing so brought back the pain that came with it. She blinked her eyes quickly a few times to discourage any tears from falling before clicking on another link on the screen before her.

"It's a long story," she said.

Beom watched her body language after he had asked the question. Though her words conveyed very little of what happened, her body language spoke volumes.

"Have you ever tried looking for a job the old-fashioned way?" he asked.

"Meaning what?" asked Constance without tearing her eyes off the screen as she continued scrolling, semi-surprised by the soft tone of voice he'd taken on.

"Meaning taking a walk around and looking to see if any local shops have 'help wanted' signs posted in their windows."

Constance turned to look away from the screen and over at him. That suggestion certainly wasn't a bad one and Constance was not really seeing any jobs online that held her interest. She definitely didn't have anything to lose by trying his suggestion.

"Fine," she said. "I suppose I could give that a whirl."

- - -

Shortly after having parted ways from Beom after leaving the internet cafe, Constance started trying to wander about to look for 'help wanted' signs. Even though she was convinced that it wouldn't make a difference, she wanted to be able to tell Beom that she had given it try.

'Why do I care about his opinion so much?' thought Constance as she let her feet wander aimlessly about the city.

She didn't know exactly how long she had been walking, but she soon discovered that she was in the same part of the city that she had been in yesterday with Beom. Her feet came to a complete standstill when she stood outside the Mama's Oven bakery; the familiar scents from inside drifting out to greet her. As she stood looking at the outside of the bakery, she noticed - tucked between the displays of baked goods in the window - a barely noticeable 'help wanted' sign.

Constance walked up to the front door and tugged the door open. Unlike the day prior when there had been one college aged student tucked in the back corner, there was no one inside today. There was a clatter of pans out back, but absolutely no one out front at the moment. Walking over to the counter, Constance's eyes took in the decadent cupcakes and muffins that lined the inside of the display case. It was obvious that they had been made that morning. She was sure that they must be as fresh as they looked. They looked fluffy and decadent from where they sat.

"Oh! I'm sorry, dear! Have you been waiting for long?" asked a voice as the same middle-aged woman from the other day came out of the kitchen out back.

"It's fine. I just came in," said Constance with a smile.

"Well, what can I do for you?" asked the woman that Constance remembered was named Darla. "Are you here to purchase something?"

"Well, I actually came in because I couldn't help but to notice the 'help wanted' sign in your window."

"Oh yes! I've been looking for some help to help with baking and working the register up front. I know it might not seem busy now, but when it's busy - it is busy."

Darla suddenly stopped talking as she looked at Constance.

"Are you asking because you're interested in applying for the job, dear?"

Constance nodded her head as she suddenly felt herself turn sheepish.

"Do you have an application I can fill out or something?" asked Constance as a follow up question, watching as Darla shook her head.

"I don't need to give you one," said Darla. "You don't need to fill out any application. You're hired."

"Hi-Hired?!" asked Constance in shock. Never in all her life had applying for a job been this easy. Surely, she had to be dreaming.

"Yes," said Darla with a chuckle at the surprise that had blossomed on Constance's face.

"But you don't even know if I'm qualified for the position!" said Constance.

"Whatever you don't know now, I'm sure that you'll learn while you work here," said Darla. "I can see that you're a kind woman and that's enough for me. Can you start tomorrow?"

She nodded her head as Darla smiled, holding out a slightly floured covered hand her way.

"Then welcome to my bakery, Miss..."

"Constance," she said to fill in the blank, reaching out to shake Darla's hand to seal the deal.

- - -

"So how was your day?"

As Constance sat in her apartment later that night, she was still trying to wrap her brain around everything that had happened to her during the course of the day. She kept her phone tucked up against her ear as her mother waited on the other end to hear about how her day went.

"It actually went really well. I got a job."

"You got a job?!"

Constance couldn't help but to laugh at the shock in her mother's voice.

"Yes, I got a job today. I start working at a bakery tomorrow."

"I'm so happy for you, sweetie!" said her mother with a squeal. "I hope that you'll be able to find happiness there."

"I'm sure I will," assured Constance. "Honestly - in this moment - I couldn't be happier."