She's a homemaker

"Hey Cam'" He spoke into his phone. "I'm taking the car now, how are ya’ll getting home? Okay cool, is Cary there with you? Where is she? Well, how is she getting home? Some sister you are. Yes yes it’s all my fault bye-bye now." He got into the car and typed Rina's address into his phone. He sent her a text to let her know he was on his way.

[Hey! I'm leaving school now, I’ll be over there in 15min. I thought i would catch you at school before but i didnt see you]

[hi watson! sorry i leave very soon after the bell rings. Lots to do at home, as im sure you know by now. Yes i will see you soon!]

He parks on the street. He's parked outside of a small house. Probably only 800sqft. A house made for 2 at the most. Old but maintained enough to live in. A small front yard (lawn un-mowed, perhaps another job for him to do), but behind the house lies miles of trail with manicured paths, bridges over streams, and little stations to refill your water bottle and take a shit. It was a small old house in a nice part of town. He expected as much given the situation she’s in with her parents. They wouldn’t want her to feel unsafe.

He walks up and rings the doorbell. A few seconds later a petite Korean girl he partially recognized answered the door. This morning she was plastered in white. White flats, white stockings, white skirt, and white shirt with long sleeves and a collar halfway up her neck. Now: he looked at a girl with her hair down. Her long black, beautiful hair is out of its bun and flows down over her shoulders onto her chest. A plain white T-shirt. It looks like an undershirt. She may have been wearing it under the long sleeve she wore this morning (one would expect a tank top, but Rina would probably not wear a tank top around anyone she wasn’t related to). Her arms are so beautiful, her skin is perfect. No dent, no scratch, no scab, zero imperfections from her bicep down to her wrist. The rings and such on her fingers had been taken off. Small delicate hands. The nails trimmed, but you can tell she bites them and then files them down again. Off come the stockings and out goes the skirt, replaced with a pair of those tight black spandex shorts all girls have and wear around the house. Innocent on the girls’ part, but to Watson, a vicious attack on any mode of purity he had inside. He would have tried to glance at her crotch to see for a camel toe, but her shirt came down too far and there was nothing to see. Her legs are shaven and smooth; skin to match the arms. Cute small white socks cover her feet; she crosses them over each other as she opens the door for him. He's staring at a vision of innocence, a shining light of beauty and perfection. Not a hair out of place, no pore closed, and no freckle drawn.

"Hi Rina..." He was taken aback by how pretty she was dressed down like this. Those two words were all he could muster at the moment.

"Hi Watson! Come inside!" she said excitedly, unaware of her divinity.

He stepped inside and took a look around. The kitchen and lounge were essentially the same room. An open and homey feeling. There was a closed door to the right, and another closed door to the left of that. Presumed a bedroom and bathroom. He looked out the window that was above the sink and saw her beautiful backyard. Flush with trees and plants and flowers of all kinds. The house was very neat. No old cups or plates left in the sink. No old magazines thrown around the coffee table. No overflowing trash can or coffee-stained counter tops. Rina really maintained her home well; except she didn’t know how to fix dry-wall.

There’s an awkward silence of hospitality. Rina wants him to be comfortable but doesn’t know how. He doesn’t want to impose or be rude and doesn’t know how to act. If Watson just acted as if this was his own home, everyone would feel better. Nothing he could do would offend Rina or make her mad at him. She was only grateful for him being there.

“So! Where do you want me to start?” He managed to find his voice somewhere.

“Okay! How about the sink first?” Rina blushed. She led him over to the cabinet under the sink. She knelt down and opened it. Watson, tool bag in hand, knelt down next to her and peeked in over her shoulder. She pointed to a part in the pipe and explained that when the sink turns on that part leaks. Watson stood up and turned on the faucet a little so the pipe would leak. He knelt back down next to her and observed the pipe.

“Hm. It seems like I’ll just have to tighten it a bit.”

“You know that from just looking?”

“Yeah, I guess.” He didn’t know from just looking. He was speaking right out of his ass. But she didn’t know that, hopefully he could mess around with it and find a way to fix it. “Do you have homework or things to do?”

“No…I thought I would sit here with you while you do your things. I do have homework yes of course, but…”

“No, I would like I company yeah.” He smiled at her, and she smiled back. He began to fix the pipe. He went through a series of poses where he would squat and crouch and kneel and prone. He lay on his back and on his elbows and every way the human could be configured on the ground with a wrench in hand. All the while not really sure what he was doing or how to fix it. While he did this, Rina sat cross legged on the ground in the kitchen with him and watched. He could feel her eyes on him as he worked, quiet and attentive. Engaged, present, and very happy he was here. He could feel her eyes on him as he fiddled around. She seemed entranced by it. She sat silently just breathing in and out. Perhaps not even caring if her sink got fixed, but just thrilled he was here trying.

“Rina, how would your parents feel about me being here right now?”

“Oh. I’m sure they wouldn’t be too happy about it.”

“No?”

“No. They would be very skeptical about me having a boy alone in the house.”

“Why would they be skeptical?”

“Well…”

“Oh. Ha ha I understand, sorry that was a dumb question.”

“Waston…”

He turned around from his crouching position to look at her. She was staring down at the ground, terrified. “Rina? What’s wrong?”

“My parents are very strict you see. They’ve had a husband chosen for me in Korea since I was ten. When I go back at the end of this year, I’m supposed to marry him. I’ve never met him. I only know his name is Joon.”

“Rina…I’m sorry” He turned around and sat cross legged opposite her. Their knees touching. This seemed to tense Rina a little, but she didn’t pull away. “Do you want to marry him?”

“Well…While I understand that it would be good for me, and for the family if I did.”

“Would it be good for you?”

“Well… I don’t think so, but that’s what they tell me. I would like to know the man I’m marrying. I’ve never…”

Watson paused in the silence for a moment.

“You’ve never…”

“Kissed…” Rina finally looked up at him, her eyes drifting up from the floor. Her eyes told him that she was a mushy ball of ignorance. She desperately wanted to be close to someone, but did not know how, or if that was even possible. The shame that would be brought upon her by her parents clashed against her desire to be known by someone.