Take: Eight
Word Count: 581
"Naru, you're just a self-centered, egotistical, self-absorbed, arrogant, haughty, conceited, vain, selfish, stuck-up, snobby British narcissist!" Mai stomped her foot for good measure.
Naru was leafing through his paperwork while sitting on the couch (he was apparently beginning to feel the effect the light was having on his vision, much to his dismay).
He wasn't surprised as to what Mai said to him. He had heard it all before.
She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Mai," Naru said, "I'm really glad that you've obviously have learned your synonyms. Now, what was it that I asked you to do five minutes ago? The things that I asked you to do that prompted your angry outburst?"
Mai's lips pursed and she narrowed her eyes. "You told me to go get you ice water with a hint of lemon."
"Ah, so you can listen. That's an improvement. Go on now. That's a good girl."
"I hate you, Naru and all your jerky narcissist problems!" Mai spun on her heel and ran to the kitchen.
In the kitchen, she pulled out a cup and put in three lemon water ice cubes into it.
"Stupid Naru," she said, as she waited for the ice cubes to melt, otherwise he would complain that he couldn't taste the hint of lemon. "Why do you have to be such a jerky narcissist?"
A book lay on the table, open. Since she is nosy, she pulled it closer to her and on further examination she saw that it was a dictionary. An old dictionary. Lin must have left it here before he had gone out to buy more notebooks. It could only be Lin's, since Lin was so old.
It was opened to the 'N' section. So Mai moved along so that she could find 'narcissist', so she could properly describe him.
She read the passage quietly to herself.
…
Narcissism: Sexual excitement through admiration of oneself. Self-love; erotic gratification derived from admiration of one's own physical or mental attributes.
…
Mai put the dictionary down and got up to peek around the corner of the kitchen. Naru was still sitting on the couch, doing whatever.
She looked back at the seemingly-innocent dictionary sitting at the table. She did not remember the narcissist passage going like that when she had read it before.
Mai casually crossed the living room to the bookshelf. Naru looked up at her – most likely wondering where his water with a hint of lemon was.
She found the book and read the passage out of the newer dictionary.
…
Narcissism: Inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love.
…
That's it? Mai thought as she shut the book and put it back onto the shelf. That was a whole lot less… unanticipated.
She returned to the kitchen and picked up the water with a hint of lemon, then carried the glass to him.
He took it without a word, but she couldn't help staring at him strangely.
"Is something wrong?" He finally asked, since she was watching him like some perturbed owl.
"No," she said. She had just been really hoping that he was the narcissist from the newer dictionary compared to the old one.
She returned to the kitchen. The dictionary still sat at the table, holding a lot more trouble than she had thought originally. She shut it and pushed it away from her.
Maybe she would have to rethink if she ever wanted to call him a narcissist again.
Note: True story. I have both dictionaries with the very different passages on the same word.