#ml:interactions

location ➝ farmer’s market, morning, may 29th

The farmer's market was crowded even in the early morning hours of a Sunday. Mei walked past a stand for flowers, smiling at the older woman making bouquets politely and admiring the colorful petals displayed. Even though Spring was slipping away into stifling heat, today was pleasantly cool and allowed the lawyer to wear her sunhat and still enjoy the breeze while she perused the market.

Although she could always get her fruits and other produce from the grocery store, Mei had been going to the farmers market with her grandmother since she was younger and had carried on doing so even after she moved out. It was nice to see the familiar faces, at the very least. She came to a stop in front of a stall, next to another person browsing, looking over the items and offering a quiet greeting.

“Good morning.”

“I can’t believe you moved here,” Mei was saying as she pushed open the door and held it for Mack, “Be honest; you missed me.” She grinned, feeling comfortable in her skin and relieved to finally be catching up with one of her closest friends from college. Talk about a blast from the past. It felt like it was just yesterday they were parting ways and Mei was going off to law school. So much had happened since then but with small towns, there was a time and a place to talk about private things and grabbing lunch was unfortunately not one of them. 

For as much as Mei wears them, she could say in this moment she absolutely hates heels. Especially when she’s walking downtown, and the modest four inch pair she’d chosen to wear that day, suddenly snaps out from under her when she steps forward. Luckily, she finds a seat nearby to inspect the damage. Unluckily, she has nothing on her to fix it until she can get back to her office to put on her gym shoes. She wasn’t very well going to walk downtown barefoot. That was just asking to get some type of infection, or her mother calling her about so-and-so seeing her in such a state. 

Fortunately, it was lunch hour. 

“Excuse me?” She tried to grab the attention of a woman passing by, “Do you by chance have glue or tape or anything of the sort?”

Mei had nothing against dogs, despite refusing to get one when asked by her family. By their reasoning, being alone in her house was simply depressing to imagine. 'A dog would keep you safe if someone broke in’ and ‘you’re going to get lonely without a husband’ were among the other reasons given.

But she was perfectly content with how she lived. She went to work, came home, made dinner with her roommates, and spent the weekends painting or dancing the evenings away. Mei had no experience taking care of a pet, much less being able to spare any time to do so. She barely could take care of herself as it was. 

Which begs the question: how did she come to be designated dog sitter while her cousin was on his honeymoon? A poor idea, but Mei blames herself for agreeing to the arrangement weeks ago as she sits on a bench at the dog park, soaking up the sunny afternoon.

It was fairly busy, and she was lucky enough to have arrived earlier to secure a spot off to the side while other pet owners milled about chatting. If anything, the whole thing reminded her of playdates. Parents, in their own little world, while their children ran amok. Her gaze ventured back to Hunter, her cousin's German Shepard, running around the enclosure and being one of the most prominent coercers of tug-a-war.

Frankly, Mei was annoyed.

She’d spent all morning already in a bit of a mood, maintaining an act of being civil for her clients and ignoring her hunger pains in favor of treating her shaky hands and headache with some painkillers from her desk drawer. She was on the cusp of being done with her scheduled appointments, eager to get something in her stomach and go home for the evening. Her roommate had finally agreed to watch Hereditary with her at last and she was looking forward to it.

But then came her last appointment. 

It should have been cut and dry. Mei reviewed the allegations brought against the man, what they were looking at for a court date, and a potential verdict. She could practically taste her freedom until he laid out all the evidence the opposition could find and bring up against him. The lawyer spent the last two hours weeding through it all, dread sinking in as one incident report turned to three and then seven. He was a repeat offender and was expecting her to be able to get him off with some community service and a slap of the wrist. After assuring him she’d get back to him the following week, Mei finally escaped the office and began walking down the street when she smelled the most delicious thing.

She followed her nose into a bakery she’d walked by several times but had yet to venture into, taking in the lovely atmosphere. It smelled divine. Her stomach growled loudly in agreement, and without adieu, she walked right up to the counter.

“Hello, sorry to bother you, but what is that amazing smell?”

It wasn’t the first time Mei woke up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat and it most certainly would not be the last. She’d been dealing with nightmares for most of her life; one would think she’d have gotten a handle on them by now. But as she sat in her bed, panicked breaths echoing softly in the emptiness of her room, she was gripped with memories she couldn’t quite shake. 

Instead of falling back asleep, she accepted she wouldn’t be getting any more rest and rose from the tangled sheets to get dressed. A short time later, in the dead quiet of the night, her feet were carrying her away from her home at a light jog, intent on running until she couldn’t anymore. It wasn’t something she often did, taking a night run, but she didn’t have the patience to sit in her office reviewing case files until the sun came up. 

Several streets over, Mei found herself almost completely zoned out to the sound of her shoes hitting the sidewalk steadily. Movement out of the corner of her eye caught her by surprise, and she stepped poorly, tripping over her own feet. She went down with a yelp, trying to land on the grass instead of the concrete, and partially succeeded by ending up in a bush instead. 

Huffing and cursing under her breath at her lack of coordination, she assessed she hadn’t injured herself outside of a couple of scratches and turned her attention to trying to wiggle out of the bush’s branches.