Now that Bonnie understood why Emi chose to sunbathe at 2 p.m., she couldn't keep her composure. She had figured it out; Emi had been waiting for her. That's why she'd pushed back her usual beach routine from morning to afternoon. It was perfectly reasonable on the surface... and yet, Bonnie couldn't shake the strange feeling that she meant something to this new housekeeper. Temporary, sure, but still. Emi could've easily gone to the beach first thing in the morning, soaked up the sun, and been back before Bonnie even arrived at the door. It was her house, after all.

Three days after their first encounter, Bonnie came to realize that Emi usually biked down the path to the beach in the early morning, around 6 a.m. And Bonnie always found herself following her down there, to the same sunbed she'd picked on her first day. From a distance, she'd steal glances at the slim figure stretched out on that thin mat, completely at ease, lost in her book.

And whenever it was time to leave, Bonnie would always sneak behind her temporary housekeeper. She walked slower than the speed of Emi's bike, which is super slow. Emi seemed to take her time on the bike; she would hum her favourite song that Bonnie couldn't catch a beat of; her fair skin always glowed so hard under the sun, to the point that Bonnie felt like her eyes were burning just by looking at it.

"What do you want for lunch today?" Emi asked as Bonnie stepped through the front door, a cup of coffee already in her hand. "Also, what do you want for breakfast? Do you want a coffee? Or milk, considering that you're still a kid."

"You know that I'm already in my senior years in university, right?" Bonnie arched an eyebrow, irritated.

"Oh, is that so?" Emi chuckled. It always amazed Bonnie how Emi could look so soft like that; it burned her eyes to watch. "Alright, what do you want for breakfast and lunch?"

"Cereal and milk for breakfast is fine. And can I have chicken curry for lunch? I want it with rice, please." Bonnie said, her eyes sparkled with joy whenever she spoke about food.

Emi just nodded, saying nothing about the fact that Bonnie, after all her bickering about being a senior in university, still chose milk for breakfast, just like she had teased.

Emi turned to fetch the milk from the fridge and the cereal from the cabinet. Behind her, Bonnie had already claimed her spot at the dining table, sitting there like royalty, patiently waiting to be served. Emi admitted to herself right in that moment, the sight was oddly adorable. Emi brought Bonnie her breakfast, and then she proceeded to sit across the table, facing the younger girl. She nursed her coffee, each sip unhurried and deliberate. The newsletter of today spread on the table, she read it attentively, without noticing the younger girl's glance.

"You seem to read a lot," Bonnie spoke out of nowhere. "What is your favourite book?"

Bonnie always had this urge to know more about her housekeeper. She looked at Emi until she looked up from her newsletter. Emi rested her chin on her left hand, her right hand still holding the coffee cup she was drinking.

"What is yours?" Emi had this habit of answering questions with another question, which would pissed off anyone who gave questions.

But Bonnie was not someone who got angry easily.

"I like Haruki Murakami," Bonnie answered honestly. She wanted to know about Emi, and also wanted Emi to know more about her. "So you don't eat anything for breakfast? Only coffee will make your stomach ache."

"I will go to the local market in a few minutes. I will grab something to eat there." Emi spoke while looking down at her newsletter again. Most of her coffee was gone by then, only a few sips clinging to the bottom. "Wanna join?"

"Yes."

.

Bonnie had assumed Emi would bike her to the market, but no. Emi claimed she didn't have the strength for it. So they'd have to walk instead. To Bonnie, it didn't matter. Either way was fine. Emi put on a flannel outside of her fitted tee; she was wearing grey sweatpants, too comfortable, too warm. Bonnie couldn't navigate her mind out of what lay underneath her pants; she happened to look at her sun-burned legs a little too much these past few days. Somehow it appeared to Bonnie like she was a pervert, but it was really not it, it was just her appreciating beautiful little things.

It was a 10-minute walk to the local market. A fruit stall stood at the market's entrance, its baskets brimming with ripe peaches and bright red strawberries. Bonnie was overjoyed; she hadn't expected to find peaches and strawberries here, so close to the shore. Without thinking, she darted toward the stall, her voice rising with excitement as she asked about the price. Emi followed behind at a slower pace, quietly listening to Bonnie's gentle bargaining over the fruit. In the end, Bonnie walked away with a small bag: three peaches and half a kilo of strawberries.

Emi stopped at the meat stall to buy some chicken for lunch, as Bonnie had requested to have chicken curry later. Bonnie happily waited for her to finish buying.

"Let's buy some basil and seasoning as well," Emi said in a neutral tone. Bonnie nodded and fell into step behind the older girl.

After buying all the ingredients for the chicken curry, Emi double-checked her list to make sure she hadn't missed anything. When she looked up, she spotted Bonnie lingering near a small bookstore nearby. The younger girl had likely grown bored waiting while Emi sorted through seasonings and had wandered off a little on her own.

Bonnie always looked like a cute puppy, bounding around under a cheerful sun. Even when she was sulking, usually thanks to something Emi said just to get a rise out of her, she still had that soft, harmless energy. She forgot too quickly for Emi to ever truly make up for anything. And by now, just four days in, Emi was already getting used to it. Sulking had become Bonnie's default reaction to every tease Emi threw her way.

"Wanna go inside?" Emi asked. Bonnie agreed right away with an excited nod.

Emi casually opened the door for the younger girl, letting her inside first, and she followed. Now that they were inside, the air was warm and still, thick with the faint, comforting smell of paper, aged pages tinged with dust, ink, and something almost woody, like dried leaves tucked between covers long ago.

The small bookstore felt like a secret hideout from the heat outside, with ceiling fans lazily turning and sunlight dripping through slatted windows, casting golden stripes across the shelves. This might be a memory of someone stepping into, or one they were only just beginning to create.

"Oh, Emi?" Someone called out the older girl's name with a glimmer of delight, which successfully caught the attention of both Emi and Bonnie.

"Love?" Emi smiled. It was a smile Bonnie hadn't seen in the four days she'd been here, not even a hint of it until now. "How did you get here? Oh, and this is Bonnie, the daughter of the family I'm working for."

Love lit up with a grin, too bright, too easy. Bonnie responded with a shy, awkward smile, which only made Love laugh louder, like it was the most natural thing in the world. It was all a bit too friendly for Bonnie's standards. She found herself oddly craving someone colder, someone sharper, someone like Emi. Weird, right?

Honestly, who would sign up for that kind of self-inflicted misery?

Emi and Love talked for a while, while Bonnie went to retrieve some old books. She glided through the old bookshelves, stopping now and then to skim through worn pages. A few titles caught her eye, ones she vaguely remembered seeing on Goodreads. By now, she had three books stacked in her arms.

Emi's laughter always found its way to Bonnie's dull ears. She hated it at first, but somewhere between the creak of wood beneath her shoes and the lazy hum of the ceiling fans, it had started to become a melody—so oddly comforting she almost wanted to save it on SoundCloud.

"I'm done," Bonnie murmured as she appeared, hugging five books to her chest like they had chosen her.

"Let's pay then." Emi nodded. Her eyes soften a bit to the sight of happy Bonnie. "Mind if I steal one or two to read later?"

Bonnie caught the teasing in Emi's tone but chose to ignore it. She was more than happy to share her books with her. Maybe Emi would like some of them. Maybe they would exchange thoughts afterward. The thought alone made Bonnie feel happy, just purely happy, nothing more, nothing less.

Emi thought to herself that Bonnie was nothing but a kiddo.

.

"How is it?" Emi asked, watching Bonnie dig into the chicken curry she had just cooked. Bonnie always seemed to come alive around food, and sometimes books. Her eyes shimmered with delight, the kind of glow that made Emi feel like she had done something right.

"Good," Bonnie said between bites. "You don't look like someone who knows how to cook, though."

Emi giggled. They were getting along just fine now, if constant bickering counted, and Bonnie had begun to push back. Emi stood to clear the dishes, her back to Bonnie. The late afternoon light traced her silhouette, calm and deliberate, and something about the quiet curve of her shoulders made Bonnie feel a strange kind of peace she didn't know she needed. Bonnie closed her eyes; that last piece of chicken suddenly tasted so good, she wanted to cry.

"So what are your plans for tonight?" Bonnie suddenly asked when Emi was drying the dishes with towels.

"Is there anything you want to do?"

"I don't know," Bonnie murmured, her voice barely rising above a whisper, heavy with something she couldn't name. She didn't do anything when she was with her family and her old housekeeper. "How about movies?"

"You want to watch it at home, or somewhere else?"

"There's a somewhere else?"

Ah, Emi kept handing Bonnie little pieces of nostalgia wrapped as first times, and Bonnie kept pocketing them like seashells.

"See you at 5."

Emi disappeared upstairs in a blur, and all Bonnie had left was a silly little hope, buzzing quietly in her chest.