Dedication to You

Chapter 3

Not According to Plan

The next morning was an early one. The two of them got ready and immediately headed to the beach. Eli was definitely the most excited about this whole thing. Today was her day to be with Umi and she was going to make it the best she could. On the other hand, Umi was a little absentminded. She was busy thinking about her upcoming test that she needed to study for.

However, when they made it to the beach, the two of them were immediately taken away by the view. Going to the beach was kind of luxury for them so witnessing it in person was almost like a dream come true. The big blue sea spanned as far as the eye could see. People were everywhere with smiles on their faces. That was when Eli grabbed Umi's hand and pulled her towards the beach. They got ready in different changing rooms, but once they came out, they were not disappointed.

Eli was wearing a bikini that was very revealing; something that a model would wear. Umi, on the other hand, decided to also wear a bikini, and for Umi, it was pretty revealing itself. She walked out with a red face and covered most of her body as best as she could.

"Umi, you look so cute. Bikinis are definitely your thing."

"Be quiet. You know I don't look good in these."

"Are you kidding me? You look incredible. This is part of the reason why I fell in love with you. Your body is so perfect. You should model with me."

"Yeah right. I've got way too much on my plate to do something as silly as modeling."

"So what? Are you trying to say that my job is stupid? May I remind you that it is the job that allowed us to come here."

"I know. I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. It's just… never mind." Umi's face got even redder as she turned away in embarrassment.

"Umi, you're so cute. Come on. Let's go have some fun."

The two of them started with the water. The water was nice and cool. they splashed around and simply had a fun time in the water. Once they were finished, they headed back to the beach where there were a few food stands. That's when things started to heat up. Out of nowhere, a whole bunch of guys started to crowd around them with curious eyes. Unfortunately, their eyes were only looking at Eli.

"Hey baby, you seem familiar."

"Yeah. Are you that sexy model?"

"Dude you're right! She's the sexy bombshell that does everything."

"Everything, but nudes. Hey, would you consider doing nudes? I'm sure you'd look incredible."

"Hey, don't talk to her like that. Who do you think you are?" Umi stuck her foot into the horrible conversation to defend Eli.

"We're not talking to you. Get out of here." The guys cut in front of her to make sure that it was just them and Eli.

"Sorry, but I'm supposed to be here. She's with me."

"Well, we don't care." At that moment, the guy forcefully pushed Umi to the ground and continued to try and talk to Eli. "So where were we?"

"We were right here." Suddenly, Eli stood up, clenched her fist, and punched him across the face. Everyone was stunned, even Umi as she walked over his body and knelt down in front of her. "Umi, are you okay?"

"Eli, I'm fine. I totally had the situation under control."

"I know you did. I just needed to get out here. Come on. Let's go somewhere else."

"Alright." Umi grabbed Eli's hand as she was pulled back to her feet. The two of them grabbed their things and decided to head into the city.

Immediately as they walked into town, eyes were all attracted to Eli. Eli was completely unaware of it, but Umi realized what was going on. Eli was becoming super popular so more and more people were starting to recognize her as a famous model. A few people occasionally stopped them for an autograph, but they were little girls so Umi didn't mind. In those situations, she knew that it was Eli's school idol background as well as her current modeling career. Once it started getting to the older girls and guys, Umi became annoyed with the whole idea. When it got late, they settled down at a restaurant that was happening.

"Wow. This is place is awesome, don't you think?" Eli was busy looking around the place, but when she turned her head back towards Umi, she knew that something was bothering her. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"I'm pretty sure it's not nothing. You're super easy to read Umi."

"Well, then I'm mad that at you for not realizing it sooner."

"Wait, what…"

"You told me that we were going to have a day out together and all of these people asking you for attention is annoying. Would you really call this a special day? I know I don't see you a lot because I'm in school, but when I do see you, I devote everything to you. Can't I get the same treatment from you?"

"Umi, are you jealous?"

At that moment, Umi stood up in frustration.

"How could you say that? I'm done here. I'll see you at home." Without another word, Umi turned around and stormed out.

After that, Eli was left alone in that busy restaurant. Once Umi was gone, people started to flock around Eli. They wanted to know if she was the model they were thinking of or just wanted to get autographs and take pictures with her. She decided to go with it, but deep down, she knew that she did something horribly wrong. The longer she was there, the more people started to crowd around her. it only took her a short time to snap out of her trance and head home.

On the way home, all she could do was look down to the ground. In most situations, Eli knew exactly how to handle it, but when it came to Umi, it was almost like something out of a mystery story. She thought about it the entire trip until she finally arrived back at their place. Before she even stepped inside, she thought about it once more. Umi is a very unique person so she wouldn't be bothered by something so simple. It had to be more complicated than any usual showing of frustration. She took a deep breath and walked inside.

When she walked inside, the place was dark and quiet. Eli looked around, but didn't see her in the living room. that's when she walked into their room and saw Umi sitting at her desk with only her desk lap turned on. Eli opened her mouth to say something, but quickly decided to be quiet. Instead, she walked over to her and placed her hands on her shoulder.

"Would you like a massage?"

"Is this your attempt at trying to say sorry?"

"Not at all. I tried thinking about what to say, but I just couldn't come up with anything. I know you're mad at me, but could you please tell me what's going on? If it's my fault, I'm so so so sorry."

"Ugh Eli… I'm not mad. It's just… I'm happy for you. I really am; seeing you be so successful in what you do. I just feel that you don't really think about me. It's selfish of me to ask so much of you, but I just feel like we've lost connection from back then. Don't you agree?"

It sounded so horrible to hear, but deep down, Eli did feel the same way about it. She was full-time modeling and Umi was full-time schooling. That combination couldn't be any harder to see each other on a normal and recurrent basis.

"Umi, I really am sorry. I never knew that you were thinking about it so much."

"Of course I would think about it so much. You're the only one I've ever wanted to be with. I want to make this work."

"And I do too. I promise I'll do everything that I can to make sure that you don't feel this way anymore."

"You're not saying these things because I was forced to bring it up, are you?"

"No." Eli grabbed her chair and spun it around to have it face her directly. "No… From now on, I will always keep you in my mind, even when I'm modeling. I don't want to see you sad anymore. I promise you." Eli leaned forward and kissed Umi on the lips. "Do you believe me now?"

"You're lucky you figured out my weakness," she said with a sigh.

"And what weakness is that?"

"Kissing me." Her face was so red, but she didn't even try to hide it. There was no reason for her to do that in front of Eli. After all, she was the one who knew her the most.

End of Chapter 3