Mako presses the on button yet again. Her scowl deepens once the air conditioner makes no sound. She throws the remote on the bed and retreats to her living room.
It has been four days since her air con stopped working. At first, she was able to tolerate it with the windows open and her electronic fan, but then the weather became all too unbearable with the constant heat waves. The night was cool, but her body suffered so much during the morning and afternoon and it still wasn't enough.
She would just sleep in the living room, but the fact that her air con is broken would bother her endlessly. She had the air con in her bedroom for a reason.
She grabs the cordless telephone and dials the landlord's number.
After exactly three rings, he answers, "Choi speaking."
"Mr. Choi, good morning," Mako greets politely.
"Ah, Miss Mori, how may I be of service to you?"
She glances at her broken air con. "My air conditioner has been broken for four days. I was wondering if you could call up someone to take a look at it."
"No problem-o, Miss Mori. I know someone who's pretty good at fixin' stuff up. I'll give him a call for you. Expect him in a day or two, all right?"
Mako smiles, immensely grateful. She's fully aware Tendo Choi is moonlighting as the landlord ever since his wife gave birth. His primary job is a technician under her father's firm. Once he heard she was looking for a place to live, he informed her of him and his wife's condominium and offered her to be a tenant under low charges.
Although Tendo has been working double jobs, he still maintains that positive attitude.
This is also the reason why she didn't call him up earlier. She doesn't want to be a burden on him especially on something that she could do herself. Unfortunately, her skills do not include fixing an air con.
"Thank you very much, Mr. Choi. It is greatly appreciated. I am so sorry for bothering you at this time," she says.
"Like I said, no problem-o. And you don't need to call me 'Mr. Choi' considering your position at the firm, Miss Mori." He lets out a chuckle.
"There is no need for you to call me 'Miss Mori,' as well."
"Pentecost'll fire me on the dot once he hears me disrespecting his daughter."
She shakes her head at that, amused. "You exaggerate, Mr. Choi," she still says.
"You know I don't, Mako. All right, I'll ring him up after. Bye!"
"Goodbye, and thank you again." She hangs up.
She heads over to her kitchen table where the blueprints are laid out. She places her hands on either side of it and leans over, eyes carefully analyzing every single bit.
A whoosh of cool air passes over her from the window. She considers sleeping in the kitchen tonight.
As soon as she opens the door, Raleigh Becket is not someone she expects to see.
He nods his head in acknowledgement. "Good afternoon, Miss Mori. I'm not late, am I?" he wonders.
Okay, so she does not know exactly what she expected. If she did have a clear visual on what she expected, it certainly wouldn't be a tall, blonde, and handsome man with the warmest of blue eyes.
She takes a hold of herself before replying, "Of course not. Mr. Choi said that you would be here today or tomorrow, but he didn't say a specific time."
He chuckles slightly. "Yeah, but it must've been hard managing your day. I mean, you can't really do much if you were expecting someone, y'know?"
She smiles at that. "Do not worry, Mr … ?"
"Becket. Raleigh Becket. Just call me 'Raleigh,' Miss Mori."
She nods. She is about to tell him to call her "Mako," but hearing him call her "Miss Mori" is really, really nice. It doesn't give her a sense of superiority; it just flows well with his voice.
What is wrong with you, Mako? You're acting like a complete schoolgirl, she scolds herself internally.
She holds the door out open for him and motions for him to come in with her arm. He nods at that and enters, muttering a quick, "Shitsurei-shimasu."
Mako's eyes widens. "Nihongo wo hanashimasu ka?" she questions, clarifying.
Raleigh is taking in his surroundings before he answers her. "Yeah, sukoshi dake." He rubs the back of his neck. "I'm not that great, but it's enough."
His accent is heavy, but she is able to understand him. Mentally, she adds able to speak Japanese to the list of things Raleigh Becket possesses that surprises her.
She directs him to her bedroom. As soon as she does, she panics internally. What if she didn't clean her room well enough? What if her paperwork is strewn all over her bed and floor? What if he sees her underwear poking out of her dresser?
It's too late, though. She opens the door, and he comes in with his toolbox. She walks behind him and pays attention to what he is wearing: ratty, navy blue overalls with an equipment belt around his waist. The overalls aren't loose around his form; because of that, she can see that he is incredibly masculine.
He places his toolbox on the ground. He lifts his head to examine the air conditioner, hands on hips.
Taking advantage of that, Mako's eyes whizzes around her bedroom to see if anything unusual or humiliating is within eyesight — not that she owns anything considered unusual or humiliating.
"Oh, I see the problem here," Raleigh announces. "Your vents are filled with a lot of dust. It won't take that long, but I still need to … "
However, she is no longer listening. Her brown eyes zero in on the bra on the floor, sticking out from her closet. Her bras don't even belong in the closet; they belong in her dresser.
She takes a quick glance at Raleigh, who is still examining her air con and talking about what he's going to do with the vents. If he turns around, his blue eyes will catch sight of it immediately. The bra is dark purple with black trimmings — it clashes with her cream-colored carpet.
The only way she can get past him is in front of him, but that would be much too obvious. She couldn't walk behind him, because he is directly in front of her bed. The only way is going over her bed. Luckily, her bed is somewhat new, so it won't make any squeaky noises or groans.
Raleigh takes a step forward, eyes squinting. "I think I see — nah, just a clump of dirt," he continues saying.
"Oh, dirt? I believe I saw more than just dirt in there, Mr. Becket," Mako stalls, slowly heading towards her bed. "I'm much too short, and I tried using the bed to help me take a look, but it didn't work. Could you please check it out closely?"
She stops once he faces her. She relaxes and attempts to look natural. He smiles kindly at her. She adds his smile to the list. "Of course, Miss Mori." He turns away and stands closer to the air con for better examination.
Immediately, Mako seizes the opportunity. She doesn't jump on her bed, though. She sits on it to test the noises just to make sure. It makes a slight noise, but that's about it. She brings her entire weight onto it — still, only slight noises. She moves to the center and then the edge until her feet reach the floor —
"How are there rocks in here?" Raleigh asks all of a sudden.
Mako pauses, halfway standing. "Um, I'm, uh, I'm not so sure, Mr. Becket. Perhaps the previous tenant liked … playing with rocks." She almost slaps herself.
He laughs. "Yeah, maybe. I can still take that out."
"Thank you very much. C-Carry on."
"Will do, Miss Mori."
Mako stands up quickly and curses when her bed makes a noise much louder than previous ones. She glares at her bed for a while before remembering her mission at hand. She whirls around to face that godforsaken bra. She kneels down to retrieve it.
"Miss Mori?"
Damn, Mako curses mentally. Her heart starts racing, and she feels a warm flush form on her cheeks.
Still kneeling, she awkwardly turns around from her position. She smiles rather nervously. "Yes, Mr. Becket?" she replies.
He looks rather perplexed by her position but makes no comment, which she is grateful for. "I'm going to start cleaning out your air con," he tells her. Other than his perplexity, he also looks amused. She can't imagine how ludicrous she looks.
She nods more than she needs to. "Please do."
He bends down to open up his toolbox. While he's down, she turns around and grabs her bra. From her peripheral vision, she sees him stand up and so she does the same, hiding her bra behind her back.
Her expression must be entertaining to him, because he lets out a laugh.
"Sorry for laughing," he says, shaking his head, "but, uh, you look like you committed a crime, Miss Mori."
A sheepish look forms on her face. "I'm just here, standing. You may proceed." She uses her hand — luckily not the one that's holding her bra — to gesture him to continue.
"Well!" Raleigh says, putting his tools back. "This would've been a hell lot faster if I brought the vacuum. Go easy on my service rating."
Mako smiles. How many times has she smiled today? "No promises, Mr. Becket," she jokes.
"Please. Call me 'Raleigh,' Miss Mori."
"It shouldn't matter, should it? I mean, it's not like we'll see each other again." Despite that, she does want to see him again. She hopes she doesn't sound as if she doesn't want to see him again.
He clicks his tongue and holds his toolbox. "I dunno. Your door hinges look a little rusty to me. Best to change them for, y'know, safety purposes." He gives her this look that almost ceases her lungs from working.
"My kitchen sink tends to get clogged every now and then," she returns, stepping closer to him.
His eyes darken at that. She notices their close proximity and revels in it. She tilts her head up, eyes never straying from his. He leans down, foreheads touching, and —
"It's a pleasure being of service to you, Miss Mori," he whispers against her readied lips.
Mako instantly takes a step back and feels herself petulantly glaring at him. He laughs shamelessly at her expression and grabs a hold of her waist with one hand.
"If I do, Miss Mori, I won't stop wanting more," he explains, eyes still dark with intensity. His hand tightens around the side of her waist.
Her jaw locks at that. She stands on the tips of her toes and captures his lips, though briefly. When she pulls back, his eyes open oh so slowly, strong lust and admiration clouding his eyes.
"Too bad," she simply states to which he grins widely at.
She grabs his hand and leads him to her door, opening it. Without letting go of her hand, he passes the threshold and turns around to face her. This time, his eyes are warm. She thinks of the calm seas.
"Weird how we've only known each other for about two hours, and I feel — "
"Yes," she agrees, "I understand." She truly does.
"Ja, Mako."
She nods, her ears loving how horrible he sounds at her native language. It's also the first time he says her name. It sounds right, hearing it leave his lips almost as if they are meant to say it so naturally, so comfortably.
"Ja ne, Raleigh."
Their hands slide out from each other's grips gradually and then release. She takes one more look at his handsome face and smile before he heads towards the elevators.
Mako's smile is practically cemented on her face. A breathy sigh escapes her mouth. She starts closing her door but stops once she hears his heavy footsteps. He places his hand on the doorframe and bends down until they're eye-level.
"By the way, you look really good in purple," he compliments. He kisses her cheek chastely before departing.
Eyes wide with shock, Mako closes the door. The familiar warmth pools over her cheeks. She turns around and leans her back against the door. Her eyes travel down to the purple camisole she is donning.
He was clearly talking about her purple camisole. Clearly. There is no way he could've seen her bra or see her trying to hide it.
Wait a minute, she thinks. She pushes herself off the wall and speedily walks to her bedroom. She groans once her eyes catch sight of it, the humiliation beginning to her alive.
The bra that she tried so hard to hide is sticking out of her dresser.
— lawl, poor Mako. but, hey, Raleigh will have trouble sleeping. first the bra, now the kiss? lawl times two.
translations:
"Shitsurei shimasu." - "Excuse my intrusion."
"Nihongo wo hanashimasu ka?" - "Do you speak Japanese?"
"Sukoshi dake." - "A little bit."
"Ja."/"Ja ne." - "Goodbye."/"Bye."
(if you see any mistakes, do not hesitate to correct me. still in Japanese I. heehee.)