Mrs.Smith greeted me at the reception with her usual wide smile and bright, gleaming face. She seemed more than ready to give me a tour around my father's hotel, but unfortunately, I wasn't in the mood for an inside tour - I'll do that sometime later. Right now, what I needed was some fresh air and an escape from the freezing air conditioner for sometime. I need to see the streets around here, as well as buy an outfit for me so that I wouldn't have to use Jasper's shirt for a lot of time and wear it out.

"Hey, June, had a good rest?"

"I did, and I'm much better now," I replied with a nod. The closeness I had felt with her at first, especially after she told me everything, was suddenly a bit hard to regain and I was trying hard to think of something to ask her back when she suddenly sighed heavily.

"You know, you've really changed a lot. Back then, you were the most talkative kid I'd ever known."

I smiled at that, not just because of nostalgia but because the sigh Eli had heaved meant that she realised why this change had taken place in me. People change over time, especially from being a kid to a teen and further to an adult. And the most evident change? Their way of talking. Some people tend to become very talkative and outgoing over time unlike their childhood days while some others, like me, become a bit awkward and shy with people we're meeting for the first time or after a long time - like an ambivert. Some others lose their entire interest in talking and become completely introverted and won't talk much even to their friends or family. I don't have an example for such a person, though, and the only introvert I know is Dorian but he talks a lot with us. That makes him far from being a completely introverted guy. He's an ambivert who's more to the introvert side, I guess. I'm the type of person who gets intensely awkward whenever I'm talking with a person but suddenly has nothing to talk about. I just can't find a good topic then.

"Who says that she still isn't?" Said Jasper as he approached us, glancing at me and winking, "She just needs time to get used to you again, Mrs.Smith - then she'd never stop talking. You'll probably regret what you said, then."

Ah, let the party start, I thought, rolling my eyes away from Eli while smiling widely at Jasper. He smiled back in the exact same way, and though we both knew what our 'wide smiles' meant, Eli didn't. She just shrugged curiously at what Jasper said and said, "Really? Is that so, June? But nevermind what this guy says; I won't get tired of you. In fact, I talk a lot too. You can always tell me anything you want to, and spend hours with me. I don't mind."

"I told you, you'll regret it later," Jasper warned her again, and this time, I just nudged him with an annoyed look. He chuckled at me, whispering, "What? I'm just stating a fact."

"Anyways, how's your school life?" Eli asked me, leaning forward on her arms in interest and gesturing for me and Jasper to be seated on two chairs in front of her. Well, that's a hell lot of a story, Mrs.Smith. But I was happy that we finally got something to talk about. School is something I can ramble on about for hours without getting tired or awkward, and I know that most adults - except our own parents - love to hear about our school life and listen to all the studies and 'other stuff' we have over there. Eli too loved to listen to school stories; I know that from when she babysat me and I always told her my stories at kindergarten. Yeah, I was a star at my kindergarten class. Much smarter and talkative, like she said. Every single one of the kids there were either my friends or enemies. No in-between.

"Perfectly alright," I said, absolutely not meaning that, "I've got great friends here, great rivals, great teachers, everyone."

"Great rivals, huh?" She snickered, probably remembering my days back in kindergarten when I was a a very villainous and active little girl, "I see you haven't changed at all, young lady."

I shrugged, "You know me, Eli."

"Do you still pinch your 'enemies'?"

"Nah, she has taken a step forward from that," Jasper added. Before I could stop him, he said it, "She prefers wrestling now."

Ugh. There he goes again.

Why does he have to embarrass me in front of literally everyone we see? Not that this is something very embarrassing, at least some very few adults like teenagers who are good at fighting especially for self-defence, but Eli is a person of non-violence. She wouldn't scold me for this, but she'd not get much of a good impression about me from this either. And she's seeing me after so long - I didn't want her to have a bad impression about me.

When we reach home, you're dead, Jasper.

When Eli's eyes widened suspiciously at what Jasper said, he took his time and patience to explain everything to her while I took my opportunities in between his explanations to stamp his feet from under the desk or nudge his side, trying my best to stop him from saying any further. But it was too late anyways. I tried my best to think of a good outcome to this, something like a prize for my immense bravery, but unfortunately, I'm a pessimist and can't think of anything good. At the end of the story, Jasper was controlling a laugh at my blank face while Eli had a terrified expression on her face. When she finally regained her voice, she caught my hand and said in a whispery voice, "I didn't know that you'd moved on to wrestling, June."

Jasper finally burst out laughing at this and I groaned, smiling underneath, "I-I swear that I'm not a wrestler, Eli!"

"I know," Eli giggled, "Well, it'd be a lie to tell that the girl didn't deserve something from you for breaking your phone and saying those things to you. But a physical fight? I wouldn't encourage that."

"No one would," I nodded agreeably, "But you don't know my situation then, Eli. I was literally exploding in anger and I couldn't control my urge to punch her. And when she began fighting back, there was no turning back."

Jasper suddenly moved his chair away from mine. When both of us looked at him questioningly, he 'secretly' pointed to me, "I'm scared of her. Don't know when she'd 'explode', do we?"

Rolling my eyes, I pushed my chair closer to his just to annoy him while Eli laughed at this. Jasper pretended to be scared of me for sometime before chuckling and ruffling my hair playfully like he always did, "Of course I'm not scared of this blushing tomato."

I instantly blushed again. Fuck.

"Well, and what about your car? When will you be able to take it back?" Eli asked. I shrugged, unaware of what exactly was going on out there, and Jasper answered instead, "Probably by today evening."

"But it's still heavily crowded out there, Jasper," She shook her head in disagreement, "You won't be able to get the car through it. In fact, the rush has actually increased."

I sighed internally. Am I really stuck in Jasper's shirt until then? Not that I don't want to wear it, it does smell great -

Not this shit again, you creep.

Fine! It's pretty comfortable. But I'd want clothes my own size over this one anyday. This almost feels like it'll come off on its own at anytime, and y'know how uncomfortable that feeling is. Besides, one shoulder of it is practically hanging on the edge and I've to keep bringing it back to the right position because my bra strap would end up being visible otherwise. Not that I care about that, but the one I'm wearing right now has a pretty ugly strap. Also, I wanted to return this to Jasper before it got sweaty and worn out.

"Really? How come they're not gone yet?" He asked, glancing at the clock which showed half past eleven. I rolled my eyes at that; those people out there are really some jobless fellows. How come they can waste their time in waiting for a mall to reopen? Just wait at your own damn house till it opens up, duh.

"Gone by now? Not a chance," she said, knowing much more about the malls and crowds here than we do, "It might take upto a week for the crowds to start disappearing."

A week? But we should be back home by then. I definitely can't wait till then, I've got school right after some days. Wait, what if the crowd is too large then that we can't even go home? What if we get trapped here for about a month or more? What if we can never go home again? What if we -

Okay, that's it - stop your drama, June.

"A week? Please tell me you're joking," Jasper said, his eyes widening. Well, we finally agreed on something. I hope so too.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not. Since this is a small city, malls are considered a luxury to the locals here and they'll crowd around to wait until it opens," she shrugged, "You've no other choice than to wait till they start to go. There's no other way to your town."

So there's no chance of us getting our car back anytime soon, neither will we be able to go back home before one week either. Stupid mall, it's all because of that one dumb thing.

Why on earth am I cursing a mall?

Well, whatever. Fuck the mall.

I shook my head in frustration and stood up to go, "Um, anyways, see you later, Eli. I've to explore a bit more around here."

She nodded, "Sure, bye. It was fun talking to you both."

We smiled and nodded at her before I trotted back to my room with Jasper right behind, following me with a curious face that I could see from the corner of my eyes. I was planning to roam around, sure, but this news had frustrated me a lot. I just couldn't chill without thinking about being stuck here.

Inside the elevator, we were pretty silent. I stood at the far corner of it, picking my nails tensely at times or just rubbing my hands in frustration, wondering about what I'll do if we have to stay here for more than a week. I mean, maybe I can manage going to school and other stuff somehow, but the other unsolvable problem is that I've lost more privacy here than at my house. At home, we had more rooms for changing and other personal needs. But here, it's kind of too exposed. The rooms here are meant for either single persons or a family or a couple or a group of friends, where everyone is comfortable with each other. But Jasper and I aren't like that and I can't manage being in the same room with him for so long. And I've totally no idea about how I'll manage my personal needs in here, in such a small space - like changing pads, dumping them in the trash and stuff like that. Besides, my cautious attitude acts up more than usual over here since we're together for almost the entire day. At home, we didn't have to lock my bedroom door after the lights were out because it was my own house and nowhere else. However, we have to lock the door here after we get in everytime and just when I hear the click of the lock, I start to get a bit tensed. I'm not scared of Jasper doing anything, obviously not, but like I told you - I'm always too cautious. He may look and be very decent till now but no one knows what a person thinks deep beneath, about how people change so fast and so unexpectedly. But did I trust him? Sort of.

I reached our room, opened it and walked in lazily. Jasper closed the door behind me while I sat on the bed, switching on the news channel on TV, desperately waiting for the crowds to start disappearing from the way.

"What happened?" Jasper asked me, and I looked at him with a blank 'huh'.

He narrowed his eyes at my reaction, "Uh... Just thought that it's weird for you to have stopped talking for so long."

"So long? It's been only two or three minutes," I responded.

"Exactly," he grinned. Getting what he meant, I rolled my eyes, "You can't live without arguing with me, can you?"

"Definitely not. Now, back to topic, please - why are you being so silent?"

I groaned and rolled my eyes again, "Jasper, what's up with you?"

"You know I can understand when you lie, don't you? You're too transparent."

"Fine! It's just that, I'm worried if we'll have to stay here until those crowds are gone. Like for more than a week."

"Yeah, we may have to. So what?"

So what? Is he crazy?

"Jasper, I've got to go to school after one week!" I said exasperatedly, "How am I supposed to go from here?"

"That's what I'm here for," he shrugged simply, "I'll drop you. The school isn't that far, it's less far than from your house, actually. And the route to your school from here is a different one from the crowded street so no big deal."

Makes sense, but...there are more problems.

"What about my books and other stuff? Everything I need except my school bag is kept at home."

He nodded in realization and then sat thoughtfully for sometime. So did I; I thought a lot about how I could go to school from here and somehow get my school supplies. There's no way, totally no way. As long as the crowds last, we'll be stuck here. Had I been in ninth grade or something, taking a leave for some days would've been the best choice in such a situation. But tenth is too much of a crucial grade for me to take unnecessary leaves and miss important things at school - both academic and otherwise. I'm an active person in sports too, so.

"That's true, I guess," Jasper said at last, "I mean, if we get to somehow take your school supplies from home, that means we got a way to go home as well. But if we don't, then..."

"Then?"

"I don't know."

I sighed, "So we're stuck here. See? I knew something like this -"

"Don't be so pessimistic, June. I'm sure we can go back home like we planned to," he said, interrupting me, "Whether the crowds go by then or not."

I do hope we can.

"Fine," I shrugged and settled back on my bed, getting back to watching the news again. I soon got bored and changed the channels.

"What about my suitcase, though?" I asked, suddenly remembering the suitcase I'd stupidly left back at my car.

"We'll see about that. There's no way to go through the street right now," he shrugged.

"So I've to wear your T-shirt until then," I pointed to the shirt I was wearing, "I mean, it literally feels like I'm not wearing anything."

He chuckled, "Not my fault that you're tiny."

I frowned at that and started to respond, but he continued before I could start an argument, "And about that, do you want to visit a nearby mall tomorrow? You can get some outfits from there."

"Yeah, I'm fine with that," I nodded, sighing internally in relief. Finally, I can get to have clothes my own size! Plus some new ones too. And then there'd be the next argument about who pays for me, which obviously Jasper would win. Well, I'll take caution to at least make him share the money than let him pay entirely for me. If he does that, I'd be feeling guilty about it the entire day afterwards.

As I was lost in thoughts, the sound of the clock striking seven woke me up. Almost time for dinner, which means - I get to see the restaurant here! Of course, it's not an outside restaurant, I'm talking about the buffet restaurant inside this hotel itself, because obviously, most large hotels have inside restaurants. But I'm pretty excited about it because I've heard from Mrs.Smith about the specialties here and mainly, I get to have a great dinner at my father's hotel.

~'~'~'~'~'~'~'~'

By half past seven or something, I had just gotten ready - and that means I wore a spare red jacket I had in my suitcase, over the white shirt I was wearing, tied my hair into a high ponytail with my favorite lavender scrunchie and wore my watch.

Jasper, on the other hand, had only one thing to do and that was brushing his already neatly kept hair. I chuckled at him internally; he had already done that a gazillion times by now. Does he really think that his hair getting messy might diminish his 'good looks' and 'charm'?

Honestly, no. In fact, it might just add to it.

Shut up.

"Can we please go now?" I asked after a few more minutes of waiting for him to take his phone, shoes and other stuff, "I had more things to do than you did and I'm already done."

He scoffed, "No one's going to kill you if you don't reach there on time. So yes, I took my time."

"But I'm hungry! That can kill me."

"You just had a large packet of pretzels."

I paused, then shook my head in disagreement, "Whatever, that doesn't matter here."

He turned to me with a mocking smirk, then finally rolled his eyes in defeat and followed me out the door. Many people were out of their rooms and there was a lot of noise, which made me feel better than before. I like crowded, noisy places. They always gave me a feeling of security and safety.

But not big crowds in front of malls, blocking the damn street, which consists of perverted guys, though.

The restaurant was at the first floor, and it was open by now, which is why everyone was rushing down for dinner. They had to catch some seats, after all. I rolled my eyes; some people are so thirsty for seats and can't wait for sometime, just like in the case of the mall. I can't disagree that I'm not like them either, sometimes.

"Over there," Jasper pointed to a seat at the corner and we rushed to it, since a corner seat is always both of ours' preference - something we agreed with.

"Whew, finally," I said, rubbing my hands and sighing at the cool atmosphere as I sat down, "So, have you come here before?"

Dumb question.

"Obviously," he shrugged, "I work here, June."

I nodded, knowing very well that Jasper is part of the business. Then, when what he said striked me, I suddenly had a moment of confusion.

"Wait, you work here?"

"Yeah - wait, no. I mean that I look after this hotel too, so, y'know. Just like your dad, I and some others know most employees here and have visited this place several times. Doesn't mean we work here daily, though. We're not employees here."

A bit confusing, but okay. Maybe I'm too young to understand this complicated shit.

"Oh, yeah, I get it."

"Before I came to your house, I actually worked here."

"As a what?"

"Bodyguard."

I frowned, "Um, bodyguard...for a hotel? Why?"

"Because it has multiple threats from your business rivals. This hotel is - or used to be - pretty much everyone's target, since it's one of the most successful hotels around here."

"Oh...," I murmured slowly. I never knew that dad had such threats from others, though by Jasper's tone, they didn't seem to be so serious. And he did mention that it was earlier and not anymore. "Have they tried to steal it from dad or something?"

"Yeah, of course they have," he nodded, then saw my face and continued, "I mean, that's completely normal in business. No one has seriously tried to harm your dad or anyone else while trying to capture this hotel; they've tried once and just left. They just try to get the hotel by breaking the law but end up failing."

"How about now? Do some of them still target it?"

"Well, most people have left, but I'm not sure about the rest one percent. Some of them are determined to make this hotel theirs, but that's nearly impossible - both legally and otherwise."

However, he didn't exactly say that it was completely impossible, he said that it's nearly impossible, which means...it can still be captured by others if they get the perfect opportunity to.

No, June, don't you dare start worrying about that too. He already told you that it's okay now, I told myself, shaking my head. Such topics always concerned me, especially when it came to my dad, my only family.

"That really wouldn't happen - right, Jasper?" I asked tensely, fiddling with my fingers under the table and trying hard to conceal my growing worry.

However, glancing at Jasper's face made me feel much better. He looked absolutely casual about this, completely nonchalant, and I figured that he'd know much more about this than any others would know. So I had to trust him and his opinion that this hotel is safe now, that the hotel my dad had made up with his hardwork wouldn't be taken by other businessmen. He smiled, "Don't worry, June. It wouldn't happen as long as I'm here with your dad."

I smiled back, convinced by what he said. Well, if this issue was actually something very serious, I would've sensed more tension in both Jasper's and dad's tone when they talked to each other or to me, and Jasper would've been more busier with trying to solve this issue than taking up the job of being my bodyguard. He doesn't need to lie to me about it either. It's clear that it's not under threats anymore; besides, like he said, it's just business. If I feared that dad might get harmed during such a situation, then that might've happened way before because dad has had tons of clashes before and it's been years since he started his business. I'm worried just because I'm young and not into this field yet. I'll learn even I'm older. However, with the kind of reaction I have to even the least dangerous situations, I don't know how I will hold up in dangerous business rivalry and stuff. Will I even survive?

Waiting for our order, I watched as others slowly caught their seats and others left it after having their meal. In between, I noticed a little red-headed boy following Mrs.Smith around, glancing around confusedly, and I assumed he was looking for his parents who'd probably gotten lost in between the rush. When Eli finally found them, the little guy ran upto them and jumped onto his mom's shoulders, eager to have seen them after such a long wait of overwhelming worry. I and Jasper smiled at that just as Eli approached us with a hurried look on her face, expressing how tired out she was while having to look after such a large restaurant here. Someone else was managing the reception, I guess.

"Hey, June," she said, panting a bit, "You like this place?"

I nodded, "Sure, I love it."

"Believe me, I would've stayed here for some more time hadn't I been so busy with work around here. See? They're -"

She was interrupted when a waitress came in and told her something, pointing to another table. She sighed, looked at us and smiled forcibly, "Sorry, I got to go right now. A little emergency. Bye, you two, I'll see you later sometime."

We smiled back and then returned to the same awkward silence we had before, once she left. Jasper started to say something, but stopped and slumped back boredly. Well, that's weird, I thought, I feel like I want him to start a conversation with me now. It feels quite bare here without his typical insults and jokes.

A while later, our dinner was brought - much to my convenience, because at least we could talk about something now and not sit in awkward silence - and we ate it slowly, chatting about random stuff in between and remaining quite silent otherwise. Well, probably because we both were stressed about how we'll get the car back.

|||||||||||||||

The next morning, after I'd finished up with all my morning routine and got ready to go out to random places nearby, we went out of my room and met Mrs.Smith at the reception.

We'd planned to go to the mall first thing, since some outfits for until we got the car back was the only thing I needed right now, then get out of there and visit other places nearby - y'know, walk in some fresh air, lose calories and enjoy the atmosphere. Jasper told me that he'd get busy afterwards and that that's why he's bringing me out before he gets completely busy, but I knew better. He was already quite busy; I've woke up in the middle of the night a lot of times and seen him working on either some documents or his laptop in the living room, because sitting in the bedroom room means having to switch on the lights and disturb my sleep too. I knew that he was just pretending to be free during the daytime, just so that I wouldn't feel bored and lonely here.

It's just yesterday, at about four or five in the morning, that I finally got curious about where he is at night and crept to the living room slowly. There, I was met with the sight of Jasper leaning his head on the desk and sleeping peacefully but very uncomfortably. I felt bad for him, really bad, but deciding not to disturb him in anyway, I returned to bed as slowly as I'd came. After this, I just couldn't sleep anymore - I kept thinking about what I saw throughout, about why Jasper would do so much for me and waste his own energy. He could've just come back to the bedroom after he was done with his work. Why would he have to sleep in such an uncomfortable position? And I won't really complain if he does his work in the bedroom either. I'm fine with sleeping with lights on. Even if I'm not, I just don't care. I hated seeing the tired and sleepless Jasper so much that I preferred having my sleep ruined for him to be comfortable.

Though we argued a lot and I was always irritated by him, I think that somewhere in my mind, I knew that he has done a lot of stuff for me till now. Even the way he irritated me helped me clear off depressing thoughts about my life and my parents, and now, he was losing his sleep and time just for the sake of making me feel comfortable here and like he said, familiarising myself with him. I didn't want him to do that. Not at the cost of his comfort.

"So, I hope you had a good sleep yesterday night?" Eli asked in general. Jasper nodded immediately while I did the same and then looked at him weirdly; ha, sure he had a great sleep. None of them noticed my look, though, and I was glad they didn't.

"Of course. We're going out today."

"Getting your car from there?"

"No, that's still difficult," Jasper said, pointing to the TV above which still showed the news of the new mall which would open soon, "We're going to the mall."

Eli looked at us weirdly, "Wait, you -"

"Not that mall," Jasper shook his head, "The other one, the one which is right near here."

"Oh, that," Eli nodded in realisation, "Yeah, that's a pretty good place to visit. It has gotten quite popular throughout the years though it's a small one."

"Have you went over there?" I asked, not much curious about it but just to make some talk and not be too quiet.

"Yeah, of course I have, though just a few times. They've got a whole variety of items there."

"Oh, that's nice," I said slowly, unsure. Did I say it right? Was I supposed to respond with something else? Ugh, stupid awkwardness. Eli seemed to understand my awkwardness then, because she smiled a bit and then sent us off with a wave. I looked at my watch and saw the time. Almost fifteen more minutes to six. If we don't go right now and get the stuff we need, it might get very late by the time we return. And no, I definitely don't feel comfortable about walking at night in a strange place like this, though I did have Jasper with me. I'd think about night walks only after I've got quite familiar to this place.