chatters invading the four corners of this shop people glancing out the window watching automobiles passing by in the shop and people who sprinting with phones in their hands as if their lives depended on it and couples walking hand by hand with smiles reaching their eyes while talking to each other. this atmosphere screams the month of december

the month that a lot people anticipated like her, apart from celebrating the christmas. this is the year people will receive extra bonuses in their regular monthly wages and of course the day off from work until the new year arrives is what most people wants but it is also the busiest month, lot of people getting worked up to finish all the paperworks, families planning to go somewhere else, some choosing to return to their hometown or travel abroad and others choose to spent their christmas like a normal day and that others includes yoo karina

looking across the place, the shop is already well decorated with lights hanging and some pictures of gingerbread man, snowman and stars sticking in the windows. cookies and sweets in the counter then lastly the santa clause in the entryway. karina furrowed her eyebrows when she noticed one thing is missing, she looked around again but the tree and a star on top were still missing from her vision.

maybe they forget it?

well it is a little strange not seeing a green christmas tree with yellow star on top of it but nonetheless karina just shrugged it off maybe waiting inside the cafe shop makes her overly aware of the surroundings, so she taps her fingers beside the coffee she ordered ten minutes ago which is probably cold by now and stares at the entrance waiting for certain someone to come in.

why the clock is moving too slow?

karina is not obviously excited at all. arriving thirty minutes early? working extra faster so she could go home early just to get ready, using her brandnew makeup that she had never dared to use before because she still have a lot of other makeups is now freshly applied all over her face  and almost taking out all the clothes outside her closet just to pick a right outfit is a thing that you should call not excited at all

adjusting her clothes using her hands and correcting her posture karina watch the clock struck 9:05 to her phone when a sound of bell coming from the door to signals that there is another customer make noise. a smile crept into her lips when she recognized the woman she's waiting for-- lifting her right hand to draw the attention of the woman in the entrance who immediately looks at her way.

karina brought her right hand back at the top of her other hand gripping on it when she starts hearing loud thump in her chest

she suddenly gets emotional the urge to cry is messing her internal calmness. the sight of the woman sitting in front of her makes her weak that all she want to do is run towards the girl to hug and cry in her arms like she always used to. that is the effect giselle has on her.

karina smiles warmly at the woman who is also smiling at her after taking a long breath to settle her emotions or calm her heart.

that smile-- i really hates it

"you look creepy" karina says, rolling her eyes at giselle who had been smiling since they get in her car

the younger girl will occasionally look to her side and smile, causing her cheeks to doubled it size and turn her eyes into cresent-shaped

"what? why are you smiling?" karina ask

giselle just shrugged the question off but still wearing that damn smile causing karina to just simply look out the window and ignored the younger girl. the suns is shining brighltly, illuminating the trees they passed reminding her it is truly summer

"i'm happy" giselle says, eyes focused on the road, biting her lower lip to suppressed a smile that creeping across her face. the next word she wants to say makes her feel giddy because the woman of her dreams is sitting inside her car looking so stunning as ever

"why?" karina ask looking at her this time

uchinaga aeri puts her finger on the top of the driving wheel and starts tapping it before looking at the woman beside her, a smile plastered on her face before saying

"because you're going on a date with me"

"how are you doing?" the woman ask in front of her, smile never leaving her face as she observed the older girl who is directly staring at her

"uhm," karina scratches her cheeks, trying to come up with a good word to tell her she's fine, but is she really fine? she really has no idea how she felt these past few days aside from doing her workload papers in her office, returning home, and taking care of her pet cat it feels too empty and lonely but one thing is certain that she is very happy right now seeing the woman.

karina smiles again as the woman in front of her stares at her, waiting for any from from the older girl.

"doing great as always, how 'bout you?" giselle smiles as she hears the other girl's response and begins drumming her fingers above the table

 karina noticed it because she also adopted that giselle's irritating habit.

yoo karina looks at the younger girl sitting in front of her, head leaning in the left hands and other fingers drumming on the table, she would not lie it really irritates her when aeri does that thing that the younger girl claim as her habit that she cannot stop

"sorry," giselle quickly stopped what she was doing and sat up straight when she noticed the older girl's gaze on her

she chuckles nervously since the younger girl knows how much karina hates that habit of hers so she always refrain herself from doing it in front of her, but she does it unconsciously when she's nervous

who would not be nervous when you're in front of the girl you like right? even though they've been hanging out with almost two months, the presence of the older girl still makes her feel anxious and nervous

"do you have plan for tonight?" aeri asked

karina glances at her phone before returning her gaze to the younger girl and nods

"yeah, one of my friends are throwing a party tonight" the brunette nods already expecting the answer so she looks at her wrist watch, which is the only thing she can look aside from the presence of the older girl in front of her

noticing that the older girl will not add anything to her sentence she simply smiled, it's not like karina would invite her right? they have deal to not mess with each other businesses, which giselle doesn't mind because she will gladly to let the older girl to mess with her because in the first place the girl is already messing up with her feelings

"i guess my time is up? enjoy your party later!" giselle stands up, taking a step backwards away from the table

"i just wanted to say you did a great job there," she says, catching the older girl's attention who looks up and smiles

"thank you," karina says with a genuine smile causing giselle to reciprocate with cheekily smile as she waves goodbye to the older girl and skips down the corridor when karina is already out of her sight and just by that uchinaga is already happy.

"good to hear that, by the way do you want me to order something?" giselle ask

the older girl widens her eyes and panics, wondering how she could have forgotten to order for the both of them. karina was about to stand up and order when giselle grabbed her hand.

"let me handle this, the usual ri