This is the longest chapter for this story yet, and possibly the largest event in several chapters
Ulrich entered his apartment and threw his car keys on the table as we walked by it. He opened the fridge, grabbed a beer from inside and then closed it again. With a new found bounce in his step he hopped over the top of the couch and landed perfectly. He grabbed his house phone and dialed a number that started to ring once he pressed the last number.
"Hello?" Aelita asked on the other side of the line.
"It's me," Ulrich said then took a sip of his beer.
"Ulrich, how did the gym go with Yumi, did she even show up?" Aelita asked, eagerly wanting to know the results of this morning.
"Perfectly, we laughed, flirted, talked about being kids again, all the while of me being seemingly supportive of her marriage," Ulrich said then leaned into his couch a little more. On the other side of the line Aelita took the phone away from her ear and jumped once with joy, then remembered she was pregnant so avoided a second jump.
"And you doubted me," Aelita said then smiled to herself about her perfectly done plan, "When's the next time you two are getting together for something, or you were stupid and didn't try to set up another gathering?"
"Tonight, at my apartment," Ulrich said to Aelita. Aelita was examining a toy at a baby store with Odd when she nearly dropped her cell phone. At the last moment she snapped back and kept her phone from hitting the tile floor below.
"What did you set up?" Aelita asked.
"A laundry date," Ulrich said then told her about how that happened. Aelita was silent for a few moments as she scanned the shelves for toys she thought Francis would enjoy.
"Interesting development," Aelita said then checked the price on a teddy bear. It was a decent price so she threw it into the cart along with some shoes, a toy car, and a blue blanket with a puppy on it.
"So, how do I go about this?" Ulrich asked then took a gulp of his beer. Aelita leaned onto the cart a little trying to think. Odd showed Aelita two items for her to compare, and Aelita pointed at the left item which was a blue shirt with a penguin, over the elephant and Odd placed it into the cart.
"I don't know, I didn't plan this far. I didn't think you'd do this well on improvision," Aelita said then sighed because for once in Ulrich's plot she couldn't help.
"And you doubted me," Ulrich said with a smile, throwing Aelita's earlier comment back at her.
"Shut up," Aelita said then looked at Odd who nodded in agreement that they were done, "Just try being funny, women love funny. If a fat man is married to a beautiful woman, seventy percent of the time he's funny," Aelita said then let Odd push the cart.
"What about the other thirty?" Ulrich asked.
"He's rich," Aelita said with a giggle then watched the cashier start to ring everything up.
"Well I'm not fat, or rich," Ulrich said then took a sip.
"You're handsome, and if you could work on the comedy portion of your personality almost any woman would fall in love with you," Aelita said then watched the final price appear on the digital screen of the cash register. Sixty five dollars and eleven cents.
"Should I try to end this here?" Ulrich asked, to make sure that wasn't too bold.
"Only, and only if she initiates it. If she leans in for a kiss first, don't lean in until you're damn sure she wants it. I think it's too early, but you're on a tight schedule so it would have to be a little rushed. Try to consider the aftermath, not the immediate result. You can kiss her tonight, but next morning she'll try to forget about it, say it was your fault, and leave it at that and no progress will be made, or possibly we'll even be backtracked."
"But, if she initiates it, the only person she can blame is herself, and start to weigh her options, instead of thinking she's already to far into this commitment to break it," Ulrich said then smiled, "God, you're a genius," Ulrich complimented Aelita.
"Duh," Aelita said then walked out of the store with Odd, "I need to go, good luck," Aelita said to Ulrich.
"Thanks, bye," Ulrich said then hung up the phone. He smiled to himself them checked the time. It was four thirty, only a mere half hour before he could expect a phone call.
Yumi was walking around her bedroom while gathering her laundry and placing it in a black basket that she balanced on her hip. This was her third basket already and she was loading them up into her car to take them to Ulrich's. Yumi placed the basket on the bed then bent over to pick up two bras, a pair of panties, and a blue thong. She placed the thong towards the bottom so it wouldn't be seen when she arrived at her destination.
Holding the basket with both hands and using her hip for balance she carried the basket into the kitchen then placed it on the table. As she did William walked into the apartment and placed his keys on his hook then watched Yumi trying to collect last seconds items. He leaned against the table and waited for her to come into the room and throw one of her white undershirts in the basket.
"Did you find a laundry mat?"William asked.
"No, I'm doing laundry at Ulrich's," Yumi said then started to shift articles on clothing around in the basket so they wouldn't fall when she carried it.
"Ulrich's?" William asked.
"Look, I'm tired of having no clothes, I'd bring some of yours if my car wasn't already full," Yumi said then grabbed her car keys off of the hook.
"I noticed that," William said then sat at the table, "When are you going to be home by?" William asked then leaned into the chair.
"Probably about ten to eleven," Yumi answered then picked up the basket and opened the door.
"See you tonight then," William said then kissed her before she left. When the door closed he sat on the couch then looked at the ceiling. 'This can't be good.'
Ulrich had gotten off of the phone with Yumi about ten minutes ago which meant she could be here any moment. The intercom in his apartment buzzed and Ulrich hit call. It was Yumi with a basket, so he unlocked the door on the ground and unlocked the door to the apartment after telling her it was open. Ulrich had been bouncing with joy the entire day and had forgotten to gather his laundry before she arrived.
Yumi opened the door and walked into the apartment. She placed the basket on his table then put the shirt back on top of the pile that had fallen off. That was the heaviest basket Yumi had so she decided to take care of that one first. Looking around for Ulrich she figured he was doing laundry so just walked out to get the next basket.
As Yumi walked out Ulrich walked into the room and saw her basket on the table so knew she had arrived. He smiled to himself then walked through the living room grabbing socks, shirts, pants, jeans, and a few other clothing articles before he placed his basket on the couch. He sat on the couch and waited for Yumi to come up with the second basket. In the hallway he heard the elevator arriving at the floor so figured it was Yumi and got up off of the couch. He walked to the door and when he did Yumi slightly opened the door.
Ulrich went to open the door for her but Yumi didn't know Ulrich was behind the door. She rammed the door with the basket to open the door, making it collide directly into Ulrich's forehead. The hit made him wobble back and fall over the edge of his couch, knocking his laundry basket onto the floor and spilling it everywhere.
"Oh my god Ulrich," Yumi said then placed her basket on the table. She ran to the couch and saw the red mark already forming on Ulrich's head. His legs were still thrown over the top of the couch with the rest of his body on the cushion. His basket was on the floor and Yumi was just covering her mouth with her hands in shock.
"I'm fine," Ulrich said then started to try to wiggle back to an upright position. Yumi grabbed his hand to pull him back up, and Ulrich took her hand to let her help. It took an effort by both of them to get him back onto his feet. Yumi put her face next to his to look at the mark, and them realized how close she was. She blushed a little then ran her finger just over her ear to hold up her hair.
"Sorry about that,"Yumi said then walked over to her laundry and pretended to move items around to make it less obvious she was nervous about that situation a moment ago.
"It's okay," Ulrich said then walked around his couch and started to gather his laundry off of the ground. Yumi sighed then walked toward the door backwards.
"I'm going to get the last basket, be right back," Yumi said then exited the apartment, jogging once she was out of sight. Ulrich just shook his head then sat on his couch again while rubbing his head.
"Damn that hurt," Ulrich said then pressed his finger against his head. It stung a little but he just groaned then carried his basket into his hallway were his washer and dryer were stacked on top of each other. He'd let Yumi do a load first since that was the reason she was here to begin with. After he placed his basket down he sat at his table till Yumi came in and placed her third basket on the table.
"You go first," Ulrich said then pointed at the machines. Yumi tried to talk him into doing the first load, it was his apartment after all, but Ulrich used that as his excuse to let her go first. He lived here, and he could do it whenever he wanted to, Yumi only had a few hours.
"Fine," Yumi said then grabbed the basket filled with her dark clothing and filled the washer the best she could. Yumi had brought her own detergent so filled the cap with the blue liquid then poured it on top of her laundry, set the water level, temperature, timer, and type of wash before starting the machine.
"What do you got for entertainment?" Yumi asked, the walked over and fell onto his couch. She stretched then grabbed the remote to the television and started to skim through the channels to see what was on.
"Just tv, radio, and a photo album," Ulrich said then opened his fridge, "Drink?"
"As long as it's light," Yumi said then leaned up. Ulrich grabbed the light beer from the fridge and carried both with one hand. He handed one off to Yumi who took it, and used her shirt to crack it open and placed the cap on the coffee table.
"So, let's see that photo album," Yumi said with a smile. Ulrich just shrugged and turned around to get it out of his closet, and when he wasn't facing her he smiled to himself. Part of his plan was to talk about being kids again, what better way to do that than a photo album.
Ulrich took the photo album off of his bed where he had put it only half an hour ago. He knew Yumi would want to look at it if he mentioned it so kept it out. It had been years since he even knew the album existed so the timing was perfect when it fell from the top part of his closest and hit him in the head a month ago. He picked it up and then looked out through the hall to the living room where Yumi was. The only thing he could do was cross his fingers this would work.
"Here we go," Ulrich said then placed the album on the coffee table in front of Yumi. Yumi placed her beer on the table then took the album with both hands and opened it. The first page was a copy of the picture Odd drew that included Aelita in the group. That picture alone was over ten years old.
"I remember this, Odd drew this for Jeremie," Yumi said then flipped a page. This page had several pictures on both sides. They weren't over fifteen in any of them, but xana was gone by then. School and just their lives in general had become carefree and fun loving. Not soon after that phase in their lives Ulrich would get the balls to approach Yumi.
Yumi turned the next page and saw a picture she hadn't seen in a very long time. Somehow Odd had managed to get the picture of Ulrich and Yumi's first head on first kiss. Yumi tried to quickly turn the page but Ulrich held the page down.
"Hold up," Ulrich said then smiled at the picture, "I was so nervous that day."
"You were shaking scared as I kissed you Ulrich," Yumi said then smiled as well, "The only thing going through my mind at that moment was, it's about time."
"It was delayed a little bit," Ulrich said then turned the page. The pictures on this page showed them about sixteen, seventeen in some. At that point Yumi and Ulrich were going out heavily, and so was Aelita and Jeremie. Most of the pictures had captured them cuddling, or kissing.
Yumi turned the page again and saw a picture of herself smiling. She looked carefully at the picture and knew why her smile was so strange. It was the picture Aelita took of her after Ulrich proposed when he was eighteen. On the other side of the page were pictures of them organizing a wedding. She turned the page again and saw pictures of her with her stomach growing from being pregnant, and ultrasounds of the baby about five months in. Ulrich saw a tear hit the book and Yumi start to shiver a little.
"I'm sorry," Ulrich said then took the book away from her. Yumi held onto it tightly then turned the page. She was pregnant still, and trying on wedding dresses. On the other side Aelita and her were trying to find brides maids dresses. Then she turned the page again.
Yumi hadn't felt the baby kick all day, and she hadn't had morning sickness. It happened that it was also her weekly visit to the doctors to check on the baby. They the normal tests they normally did, urine, blood, blood pressure, pulse, and vitamin tablets. When the doctor came back with the results he wasn't smiling and telling her the baby was perfectly healthy like he normally did. That time he had a expression of restrained sadness, like he had to say something, but had no idea how to say it. Then he told Yumi the worse news she had every heard in her life, the baby was dead.
The doctor told her that sometimes, it just happens. Lack of vitamins, bad circulation, so many factors could have led to the miscarriage. Yumi had never cried more in her entire life the weeks that followed. So much planning, and just the fact she wanted to be a mother so bad, if the baby was Ulrich's. Ulrich and Yumi were living with each other, and since the baby had died, were growing apart. It was like a common ground between them, the best interest for the baby was them together. Then it died, and it seemed like it was no longer necessary to be together, and the wedding was suddenly canceled when the bride never walked the isle.
"I'm sorry," Yumi said then placed the album on the coffee table and left the room. She closed the bathroom door behind her, and Ulrich sighed then sank into the couch more. He just had to give Yumi a little bit of time.
After almost all of the laundry was done Ulrich and Yumi were on the couch together folding their individual piles. They placed the baskets next to them, folding the clothes and then placed then into the basket. Yumi was much more calm about earlier and they just made an unspoken agreement to not talk about that topic tonight. Hours had flown by, and this was actually becoming a productive and enjoyable evening.
Ulrich saw a clothing item fall off of the top of Yumi's pile so leaned downed and picked it up off the ground. When it unfolded in his hand he suddenly saw what it was. It was a lacy black thong.
"Holy shit," Ulrich said then waited for Yumi to turn her head. When she did the shirt she was folding slipped out of her hands and hit the coffee table. "You still have this?" Ulrich asked.
"Yes," Yumi said then started to reach for it.
Ulrich pulled it up and out of her reach still just staring at it, "I remember when you bought this, why do you still have this?"
"It was the first thong I ever bought, we have a history together," Yumi said then reached over him trying to grab them, "Didn't you take those off of me the first time we ever..." Yumi started to ask before she realize what she was about to ask. Instead of finishing she reached and only managed to lose balance and fall straight on him.
Suddenly both of them froze. It had been such a long time since both of them were in this situation. Over half of a decade. Yumi's entire upper body was resting on top of him and she had already forgotten about trying to retrieve her underwear. Ulrich could feel her trembling on top of him, trying to force herself away from him. She couldn't help but to start and lean her face closer to his. Ulrich felt his mouth go dry, and could feel Yumi's warm breathing on his face.
Ulrich began to second think this. This was an accident how they ended up like this. Last time Yumi was this close to his face she backed out immediately. Something was driving her to lean closer, some want, something she felt was necessary. This wasn't the moment he wanted with Yumi, and knew it wouldn't get much pass this if this was where he was willing to end it. Just before her lips reached his, he turned his head and made her kiss his cheek.
Yumi suddenly snapped out of her trace and pulled herself up and off Ulrich in less than two seconds. She was beat red embarrassed she let herself do that, and shaking in shock for the same reason. Not much longer later Yumi finished her folding and carried all of her baskets down and drove home with almost saying nothing more.
"Nights over," Ulrich said to Aelita when he called her later that night. Aelita was sitting on the couch in the living room eating ice cream with one hand, and with the other holding the phone to her ear.
"How did it end?" Aelita asked, hoping for some good news after they had spent five hours alone in his apartment.
"She tried to kiss me, but I didn't let her," Ulrich said looked at his floor. He wanted the kiss so badly but he didn't allow it, and now it was killing him.
"Perfect Ulrich," Aelita said, and surprisingly unsarcastic.
"Why?" Ulrich asked.
"You just made this a hell of a lot easier. Tonight was a test to see if you can actually pull this off, and you just proved you can. You needed self control and you had it where it counted. Five bucks says Yumi will be tossing and turning all night thinking about that kiss. You did the best thing you could have done. What were you two doing just before the kiss?"
"Fighting over a lacy black thong," Ulrich said then grinning to himself.
"Ooookay," Aelita said then got a mental image of that, "Not what I had in mind, but to each his own. Now, this is a two sided battle, you just revealed an entirely new level to this adventure."
"What did I discover?" Ulrich asked.
"Tonight, by resisting the kiss you prove you respect her marriage like I told you to be seemingly supportive of. Also you just proved something I didn't think we'd know until the final round of this fight."
"And that is?" Ulrich asked, a little frustrated that Aelita just wasn't saying it.
"Yumi still loves you."