Nineteen
By Tarts Wardrobe
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or any recognizable brands/songs/lyrics/games/etc
He woke up alone. This kind of agitated him. Normally when he had women stay over night, he was sure to wake before them and sneak out of his apartment for the day. Taking the hint, the woman would leave (occasionally taking something with her) and never contact him again. That is how he liked it.
But, this morning was different. He had planned to stay in, maybe even make her a coffee. But, she was gone. He rolled out of bed and walked out into the main room of the apartment. The counter top was still a mess. Crumbs from toast sprinkled here and there and an assortment of empty glass bottles lay on their sides, lucky not to have rolled away. However, amongst the mess of debris was a notebook. A notebook which was normally covered in a messy scrawl, or a rude illustration in ink by Jiro. However, when Matt's azure eyes fell onto the white page, it was unfamiliar loopy, cursive writing. Her writing.
Sorry to have left without waking you,
Mimi
Although it was merely seven words and a signature, Matt could not help but smile at what this meant. This was not like him with the other women. She cared.
-x-
The bookstore was very busy that day. When Mimi checked the watch around her wrist she was satisfied to see that the time had passed somewhat quickly. Her head stopped pounded around the time she had her third coffee and she was ready to go home and crash. She made her way to the staff break room, pulling her phone from her vest pocket as she did.
The blinking red light signalled she has messages to read, and quickly scanned through them. Several messages were from Sora, begging Mimi to divulge the previous nights events. There was a message from one of her girlfriends in America who was namedropping the celebrities she had met in a New York City club that night. She scrolled down, expecting the final message to be from Matt. However, it was from an unknown number.
Hey Meems
Just texting you so you have my number, too.
Sorry I couldn't hang out on your break.
Let me make it up to you?
Btw, it's Tai
Smiling, Mimi quickly typed a reply and hit send.
-x-
It was only the middle of May and already on the streets below, people were walking around like zombies in the excruciating heat. Tai slumped on his family sofa, too hot to move. A wooden popsicle stick dangled from his mouth, chewed up and splinted. The icy cool treat long gone, but definitely not forgotten.
"Kariiiiiiiiii…" he whined.
"What?" snapped Kari, her head poking out from her bedroom.
"Can you get me another popsicle?"
The younger sibling scoffed. "No! Get it yourself!"
"Pleeeeeaseeeee…" He moaned.
Silence.
"It's too hot for me to move." He continued.
More silence.
"Kari? I'm begging you."
Nothing.
Sighing loudly, Tai peeled himself off the couch. His bare legs sticky on the hot leather seat. He slowly moved into the kitchen and stuck his head into the freezer, fishing for another treat.
He emerged a moment later with a purple popsicle and a small carton of ice cream. As he did, his mother appeared from the den.
"You're not really going to eat that whole tub of ice cream, are you?" she asked, watching as her first born dug a metal spoon into the carton. The contents were already quickly melting.
"Mhm." The spoon hung from his mouth as he unwrapped the popsicle. Alternating between spoonfuls of ice cream and licks on the popsicle, he took his place back on the couch.
"Your telephone is buzzing." came Mrs. Kamiya's voice.
"Mom, it's a cellphone. Not a telephone" Kari said, her head popping out from her room once more.
Mrs. Kamiya tossed the phone on the couch next to Tai, muttering something about not being a technology wiz under her breath.
Tai set his ice cream down and grabbed his phone and unlocked it. He clicked his inbox and read the newest message. It was from Mimi.
What do you have in mind?
He thought for a moment before sending back a reply.
I'm thinking ice cream.
-x-
As Mimi crossed the bookshop's parking lot to her car, the late afternoon sun poured down on her. She almost instantly felt beads of sweat form on the back of her neck. She pulled open her car door and got inside. the interior felt like an oven and the leather seats were warm to her touch. Rolling down the windows (the air conditioning system was even more temperamental than the engine), she drove out of the parking lot.
Mimi had agreed to Tai's ice cream suggestion. She was going to go home and change and have a quick dinner before meeting him down at Seaside Park. She drove down the streets, feeling the warm breeze caress her face and the sweat rolling down her back soak her cotton button down top. Pulling into her designated parking spot, Mimi climbed the few flights of stairs to her apartment.
She threw her bag on the kitchen counter and went to her bathroom to undress. She peeled the dampened shirt off her back and pulled down the borrowed sweat pants. Folding them neatly, she sat them on the toilet seat and got into the shower.
-x-
On the opposite side of the Rainbow Bridge, Tai knocked madly on his apartment door. Upon leaving his family home, he had grabbed his old set of keys and could not get in. It took nearly twenty minutes of coaxing the concierge to let him inside the building. His fists were balled and pounded against the hardwood, but the sound of compact was no match for whatever was happening on the other side. He could hear a phone ringing, music blasting and the familiar sound of Jiro's wahoo!'s and oh yeah!'s as he sat before a video game.
He knocked louder, kicking the door with his foot as well. "Come on you, assholes! Let me in!" he yelled, ignoring the menacing glares of their neighbour who had stuck her head out of her front door. Tai pulled out his phone and browsed his contact list and stopped on Matt's name and called. It went instantly to voice mail.
"Fuck!"
He tried his luck calling Jiro.
"Sup man, where are you?" Jiro's voice came like a Hallelujah chorus on the other end.
"I'm outside the fucking door. Just like I've been for the last fifteen years, knocking and waiting for your dumbs to open up!"
Jiro laughed.
"Woah, man! Calm yourself. Don't you have your keys?" he asked. Tai just knew he was still stationed on his spot on the couch.
"If I had my keys, I'd be in there beating the shit outta you!"
More laughter.
"Yeah, yeah I got it." giro switched his phone to the other ear. "Listen man, I was on World of Warcraft and I met this chick and she said she'd be willing to show you her tits for some weapons and shit. Want her screen name?"
Tai rolled his eyes.
"What the fuck are you doing? trying to get naked pictures online? Don't you have a girlfriend?" Tai asked, half disgusted and half amused.
"No, man! Kimiko provides me with all the pictures I need!" Jiro began. Tai rolled his eyes, and leaned his back against the door, he really did not want to hear where this was going. "So, I figured since Matt's hung up on this chick - man, I totally forgot her name… Abi? I think. No, maybe Mira? Hmm, it may have been Amanda… Anyways, Matt's got her, I got Kim and you have no one. So I thought-"
"So you thought I could use topless pics of a girl on World of Warcraft?" Tai cut in. "I would bet serious money that she isn't even a girl."
"Woah, now!" Jiro spoke, sounding appalled. "No blood elf would ever lie to Jiro the Great." In the background Tai could hear what sounded suspiciously like a running faucet.
"Jiro, are you taking a piss?"
"Guilty."
Tarts Wardobe/ Hi I am back after being gone for sooo very long. I don't know if people are even interested in this anymore but if you are, this is dedicated to you! I did this quickly and didn't even read it over yet so I apologize for any stupid mistakes on my part. Enjoy!
