"You feelin' better on week three, lil' lady?"
"Ehh, I'm over it." Honestly, I wasn't.
"Get some sunshine Kimiko. It's the first sun since we've been having a cold hog-killin' weather. "Clay grabbed his hat and boots getting ready to leave. "You've been cooped up like a no-good varmint!"
Reason why im being a cooped up varmint?
I was cheated. A homewrecker came into my happy life and screwed it all up.
So dad thought it would be nice if I left Japan for the summer and visited my friend in the states; Texas.
"Yeah, Yeah." I waved my hand, signaling for him to leave. "Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. Go pick up Omi already."
"Cable's out so I called a specialist for you. I reckon' he'll be early today."
"No worries. I'm not going anywhere."
"I mean it Kimiko, I want you outta this house once he's done, ya hear me?"
"I Got it Clay! I Got it~"
And out the door he went.
I sighed and looked at the reflection of myself through my PDA screen.
I was a complete mess. No make-up, just pajamas, and I think I gained weight the past three weeks since I just lay around the studio apartment.
Dad rented it out for the summer for my benefit, and Clay has been taking care of me since I got here.
Of course I feel bad, but it's difficult getting over someone.
And it makes me wonder… "Where did I go wrong?" I felt another tear escape from the corner of my eye as I continued my daily routine of lounging on the couch all day.
When I saw her, I felt ugly and short
When I saw her, I felt dumb and talentless
And when I saw her, I knew right then and there, what was going on.
I balled up my fists and suddenly felt heated. But then, my anger converted to sadness and I just let it all out.
I could've sworn that he was so perfect for me.
We clicked together in sync.
Dad and my friends loved the guy. Clay and Omi saw him as one of the gang
But I guess… Things don't turn out the way it should seem
"I HATE YOU! YOU STUPID ARROGANT IDIOTIC-"
Doorbell rang.
I angrily sighed as the doorbell interrupted my rant. I quickly cleaned up the small living room, my bed, and myself.
Usually, I would make a good impression. But, lets face it. I'm not on my game today.
I opened the door and this guy in a dark blue pantsuit was just waving happily and smiling. "Hi Miss Kimiko Tohomiko! I'm here to fix your cable!"
I almost didn't let creepy guy in.
"Yeah. Sure. Come in."
"So I hear that the problem is the pixilation and color. Is that all?" And he moved my T.V, getting right to work.
"I guess. It was my friend who called you." I sighed and just lazily plopped myself on the couch.
He seemed to be talking to himself, which I found quite creepy and amusing. I suppressed a chuckle.
"Aye, Aye, Aye." And his head poked out from the T.V and the cable guy just took off his hat so he could scratch his head. "Você tem um problema , Menina belo…"
W…T…H?
"Uhm, I'm sorry. I didn't understand that?" At least, I don't think.
He just grinned and turned red. "O-Oh! I'm accustomed to speaking in my language when I'm thinking out loud."And he took some tools out from his belt and got right back to work
How… Interesting.
"What language did you speak?"
"Portuguese."
"Oh." Very interesting. "What'd you say?"
His head popped up from the T.V and all I saw were his eyes. "Uhm… Just that, you do have a problem… Menina Belo…" He grunted and just chuckled.
"What's that mean?"
"Uhmmmm…" And he just nervously laughed. "You're Japanese I assume?"
Obviously, my name gives it away, But, I nodded.
He looked straight into my eyes and gently smiled. "Utsukushii desu… Tohomiko-san."
Red ran across my face. "Oh, uhm… Thank you…" I blinked and turned my head away embarrassed
…He called me beautiful.
"I-I didn't know y-you could speak Japanese." I played with my hair and fingers to drown out my awkwardness.
"I don't." he laughed. "I only know that phrase. I started learning Japanese, and then I quit cause it was too hard."
I laughed too.
… And stopped myself since i havent laughed for awhile.
"By the way, you have a nice place."
My head shot up. "Th-Thank you, I rented it out. I'm just visiting my best friends Omi and Clay here for the summer and heading back to Tokyo in the fall."
"Really? Are you at least having fun here?" I could hear and picture his face perfectly even though he was behind the T.V.
"So-So. More or less. Nothing to do here in Dallas."
And his head rose behind and I saw a curious face. "Texas is fun… You just have to be with the right people to have fun with. Actually, any place- even the boring ones- are fun as long as you're with people. What my friends and I do, is that just before the sun sets, we bring chairs up to the roof of the tallest building in Dallas and watch it."
"That sounds fun." It really did; something so simple seemed fun
"Like said, everything's fun with the right people.
I scoffed and narrowed my eyes. "Oh so you're having fun fixing the T.V"
He laughed. "I am! I'm talking to you aren't I?"
And those green eyes killed me. Plus that quick-wit of his was attracting.
"Here. Why don't you help me?" He gently signaled me to come over.
"You make your customers help?" I followed anyway.
"Only when they want to." He cheekily grinned. I avoided that cheeky face and looked at the cable cords and gadgets. "Just hand me the tools I need."
"Oh boy, I feel special handing tools to you."
"You should!" He chuckled at my sarcasm. "Just thought it would be nice if we made eye contact while we talk."
How smooth of him.
"Pliers!" I handed it to him. "So, cable guy…" Since I didn't know his real name. "Where you from?"
"I come from the south side of Texas, where the beaches are. I'm staying with a relative here in Dallas for a month until he can get back to work. Im just filling in for his job. But I'm ethnically from Brazil."
Oooh, a foreigner… "Filling in? That's nice. How come you're-"
And my cellphone rang. I looked at the Cable guy and he smiled, excusing me to go get it. And I just answered without looking who called "This will only take a moment, sorry!"
"Kimiko…"It was my ex.
I froze and my anger flared up. "…What?" But I did keep calm since I had company over.
"I…H-How are you doing?"
"Im doing great!" I tried to sound happy. "Im in Texas!"
"T-That's great. Are you-"
"Im with Clay, Omi…" I looked at my cable guy who was just smiling up at me while fixing the T.V oblivious who I was talking to. "And my new boyfriend!"
Okay, so I lied.
"N-New B-Boyfriend…?"
"Yeah, he's….great…" I panicked internally since Im not great at lying.
"Kimiko, you're lying. We dated for years, I can tell when you are."
"Would you shut up?" I gritted my teeth. "Listen you… I'm sick of your voice and that homewrecker you're with. I don't need you calling me a liar. You're the liar" I kept my voice at a minimal volume.
"Cables fixed and all set!" It didn't work because I saw my cable guy look at me worried and he stood up wiping his hands from dust with a rag.
"C'mon Kim. I know you left because of me. Why don't you come back to Tokyo so we can talk about this?"
I was about to break down. "There's nothing to talk about with-"
My phone was suddenly snatched away from me. "Hello?..."
…By the Cable Guy.
My jaw dropped and eyes widened as I watched him talk to my ex.
"I'm Raimundo."He grinned at me while talking on the phone. "Yeah…. I am…. So?"
"Uh-Huh…. Uh-huh…. Okay…."
I started getting nervous watching him. What are they talking about? Why did Raimundo, the cable guy interfere? Why! Why! Why!
"I don't care." I heard him laugh. "So?... What's your point? She's here safe with us. What does it matter to you? She's having fun. She's happy- at least I think she is…. I like talking to her. "
He made a gentle smile to me… And I found myself smiling too with amusement.
"…to prove to you I am… I know she's…." And I saw him scanning my apartment. "…into fashion?" Then he looked at my pictures. "She's close friends with a cowboy and a…cheeseball-looking kid."
I suppressed my laugh watching the cable guy save me; by being my pretend boyfriend.
"Oh! And she's a technology freak?" I saw him spot my camera, my PDA, and my portable game system.
And lastly, he eyed my worried-self. We made eye contact and briefly stared at each other.
Instantly I felt sparks.
I blushed looking down, and I looked back at him nervously. Raimundo just nervously laughed too.
"You know what…. I'm hanging up. Thanks for breaking up with her. Now I got a fair chance."
I felt myself heating up, and my heart beating fast as ever.
I have to admit, Cable guy was pretty smooth.
"Later." he hung up the phone and handed it back to me.
"Th-Thanks." I played with my fingers since it was a little bit awkward.
"So I was thinking since I fixed your cable and you're no longer a company customer…. If I knocked on your door again, as a regular guy in a nice suit… and I showed up with flowers, asked you out and stuff… Would you accept?"
I tried to suppress a smile. "Uhmm…."
I stayed silent since I was so nervous. I wasn't used to being hit-on.
"Its okay. I understand." He bowed like a gentleman. "It was fun talking to you, Kimiko. I have to get back to the other customer calls." Raimundo started packing up his tools and started heading out the door.
I felt like I had to do something to stop him from leaving.
So I ran into the kitchen and tugged and kicked the microwave door until it ripped off. "I-I-…Uhm, its broken?..." I nervously laughed. I saw the blender from the corner of my eye and I shoved it off the counter, which also caused it to break. " … That too!" I pointed to the now-broken blender. "Will you stay and fix it?"
He laughed at 'clumsiness' and placed his tool bag down. "Its not job to fix kitchen supplies, but I'll see what I can do." He started cleaning up the blender pieces
I laughed along with him and helped. "… So Raimundo, is it?"
"Yeah. Raimundo Pedrosa. Just call me Rai."
"Rai… The cable guy?" A cheesy grin was plastered on me.
"Aye, Aye. Its only a temporary job I'm filling in for. I'm really a surfer."
I really liked him instantly; and I got to know him so well.
Once Raimundo fixed my blender and my microwave, I ended up breaking the cable and T.V again…on purpose, just so he'd stay and we could talk.
Wow! I was surprised on how many people liked the story "Eggs"! Hopefully i receive comments on this one since its been awhile since i updated.
