Roommates
The office was deserted by the time she finished her project. In a way it was finished. She typed out the last portion of the proposal and ran it through spellchecker and then emailed the whole thing to Hatchi. Not her best work, but she was past the point of caring anymore. Hopefully, Hatchi could look it over and fix any glaring mistakes for her.
Nami got home very late, close to midnight, with things still left to do. She dug out her old duffel bag and packed her toiletry, extra underwear and whatever clothing she thought she could wear at a wedding. Frankly, she didn't know the rules or etiquette of weddings and hoped for the best. She then called the car rental agency and confirmed her reservation for the morning and re-checked her maps. The stupid internet couldn't locate Alabasta. It simply didn't exist on any of the map search engines.
After it was all done, Nami crawled into bed, not bothering to change out of her clothes. She couldn't sleep and ended up tossing and turning. She was anxious. She didn't know what to expect and she prayed she didn't make a fool out of herself. When the alarm sounded, she moaned after she stared at the clock. Only four hours of sleep. Nami managed to drag herself out of bed and headed to bathroom to take a quick shower.
Nami found Sanji cooking in the kitchen. Where did he always find the time and energy to cook all the time?
"Good morning," Sanji greeted her with a dazzling smile.
"Coffee!" Nami demanded as she took a seat at the table. She was busy drying her hair with a towel.
Sanji complied immediately and set a small cup down in front of her in seconds. It was his usual expert creation: cappuccino topped with steamed-milk froth and dusted with cocoa powder. How he made it without the use of an espresso machine was a mystery to Nami.
"Excited?" he asked.
"Not particularly," Nami said simply. She took a carefully sip and shut her eyes. The coffee was so soothing.
"No?"
"It's just a wedding." She shrugged her shoulders. "People get married all the time."
After finishing her coffee, Nami got dressed and left the apartment to pick up the car rental. It was a lime-green, compact, two-door sedan that she hoped was good enough to get them to where they needed to go. Nami hopped in and adjusted the seat and rear-view mirror. She turned the ignition on. The gas tank was full and the engine sounded good to go.
Nami must have circled the block three times before she finally found a parking spot. Jumping out of the car, she ran in the apartment to grab her things and Sanji. He was ready with all his things: a long garment bag, an expandable carry-on and an upright luggage. All matching of course.
She stopped to stare at the things he was bringing. "This is only for one weekend. What do you have in there? A kitchenette?"
Sanji flashed her an annoyed expression.
It took two trips for Sanji, but they managed to get everything down to the rental and crammed all of it in the trunk. Nami settled in the driver seat and pulled out the maps. Sanji brought along a lunchbox and set it on the back seat.
"Okay, here's the plan. I'll drive for the first half and you can take over the last half. I calculate it'll take us six hours to get to Alabasta. If we push it, we could be there in five. Just follow the route I marked on the map and we should be okay." She handed him the map and he examined it carefully.
"One small problem," Sanji said, returning her map back to her.
"What is it?"
"I don't know how to drive," he stated.
Nami paused, not sure if she heard him correctly. "How is that possible?" she asked incredulously.
He shrugged. "Never needed to learn."
Nami's head hit the steering wheel. She would have to drive the entire way. Not that it was an extremely long drive, but she knew once the effects of the caffeine wore off, she was going to be tired. She wanted a little nap before arriving at Vivi's home. It looked like that wasn't going to happen.
The car got them out of the city in poor time. The traffic was at its heaviest and they were crawling. A turtle moved faster than them. Nami was already dozing off, watching the vehicle in front of them lurch every few feet. All Sanji could do was handle the radio, changing stations every time there was a commercial break. Nami breathed a sigh of relief when they finally reached the interstate and they picked up speed.
"You don't like weddings?" Sanji asked suddenly. It was two hours into the drive.
Nami swallowed first before replying. Her mouth was full of quiche. Thank goodness for the lunchbox that Sanji packed. Eating kept her awake and alert. "I never said that. I've never been to one so I can't say I have much of an opinion of them."
"Ah, I see. I can tell you, they are a lot of fun."
"Fun? I suppose to those who are invited to attend." Nami turned on the right turn light and eased the car into the next lane. The driver behind them honked loudly at her. She ignored him.
"For everyone." Sanji suddenly gripped the dashboard. "What's not to love about weddings? Wonderful food, drinks, music, flowers, and decoration. All your family and friends dressed in their best. It's the most romantic day of a girl's life. One of the most important."
Nami snorted. "It's expensive. People pay too much money. More than they can afford. I've seen those reality shows. Those girls waste thousands of dollars on their dream dress, wear it once, and then it's gone into some attic or closet, where it never sees the light of day. If they're lucky, their marriage won't end in divorce. You know half of them do."
"Such a pessimist," Sanji chuckled.
"Better to be practical," Nami retorted as she chewed off another bite from the quiche.
The terrain had taken on an arid and flat appearance. The sun turned glaringly bright and hot. Gone were the lush vegetation and rolling green hills. It was well past noon when they took their first pit stop at a small gas station. A bathroom break and a short smoke break for Sanji. With the gas tank filled, they climbed back in the car for another fun-filled drive under the merciless sun.
Somewhere between Willie Nelson and Carrie Underwood, Sanji became quiet and dozed off, his head leaning against the side door window. Nami eyed him angrily. How was it possible not to know how to drive?
Nami heard all kinds of stories of Alabasta, but none of them did any justice and nothing prepared her for what she saw. Vivi lived in a goddamn palace with giant stone statues dotting the landscape and a spectacular water fountain at the entrance. The place was busy and alive with people unloading vans and carrying in flowers, furniture and boxes.
After passing through security gate, Nami carefully followed stone-paved road to the front and stepped out of the car. The heat smothered her like a blanket. She wanted to scrambled back in and soak in the car's fantastic air conditioner, but it was too late. Vivi appeared and squealed at the sight of her.
"You came! You came! I'm so happy you're here!" Vivi pounced Nami and gave her a huge hug. Mande followed right behind her along with a tall man with curly blond hair. Igaram, if Nami remembered his name correctly.
"Wow!" Nami shook her head and stared at Vivi's home. "You have an amazing...palace."
"Silly, it's just a mansion," Vivi said, laughing.
And Buckingham was just a cottage.
"Who is this person?" Vivi directed Nami's attention to the car.
Sanji climbed out of the car and smiled at them.
"Ah," Nami said. It was time for the unavoidable introductions. "Vivi, this is my roommate, Sanji Kun. Sanji, this is Vivi Nefertari."
"Roommate... Really?" Vivi quickly forgot about Nami and hurried over to meet Sanji.
Sanji gave Vivi an extravagant bow and took her fingers to kiss the back of her hand. "The pleasure is all mine, mademoiselle."
"Why thank you." Vivi blushed and giggled excessively at Sanji. "You two must be tired. Come inside and settle in."
Nami threw Sanji a funny look like he was an alien from another planet.
"What?" he said innocently.
After a quick exchange with the rest of the group, Sanji unloaded the car. Mande had no problem carrying all their luggage and a man named Pell took the rental to be parked elsewhere. Vivi dragged Nami away to somewhere inside the mansion. Nami lost sight of Sanji as they climbed the grand staircase.
"We have to hurry and get you fitted, Nami. We don't have much time," Vivi said in a solemn voice. She rushed Nami into a room where six people waited with measuring tapes, needles, thread, scissors and fabric. When they saw her, they attacked and swiftly stripped her down to her underwear.
What seemed like forever, Nami stood as they measured, poked, trimmed and draped fabric all over her. Nami couldn't tell if they were sewing a dress or creating the world's first human pin cushion. Vivi watched the entire process, biting her bottom lip.
"Can you get it done in time?" Vivi asked nervously.
The eldest woman only nodded and issued orders in a foreign language that Nami couldn't identify. They swarmed all around her, moving this way and that way. Nami had to hold her arms out sideways and slowly her arms would sink back down only to have them lifted up again. To her annoyance, the tattoo on her shoulder raised a few eyebrows from the seamstresses. They spoke briefly among themselves and agreed on something by nodding their heads.
Nami was exhausted. The long car drive and little sleep the night before were taking their toll on her. She looked over to Vivi for any signs of mercy and pity, but she was too busy speaking to the head seamstress to take any notice of her.
"Almost there, Nami," Vivi said encouragingly. Her head was buried in paperwork, signing receipts and documents left and right.
Nami forced a weak smile and held on. Sure, why not stand for another hour or two or three. It was not like her knees were ready to give out at any second or she lost all feeling in her arms.
It took years before head seamstress was satisfied with the work, but they were done. The torture was finally over. Nami was proud to admit that she didn't give in and blab away any state secret. As fast as they undressed her, they dressed her back in her clothes and vanished, leaving no trace of their activity. Like ninjas.
Vivi shooed away the rest of her staff, leaving the two of them alone. There was still a lot commotion outside her room, but it was quiet and peaceful.
Nami took the opportunity to collapse into a sofa chair, kicking her feet up on an ottoman. "My feet hurt and I'm beat. You know, it was a lot work getting here."
"I'm sure you'll charge me for it." Vivi handed her a nice glass of ice tea, which Nami gladly accepted.
"Consider it your wedding gift," Nami said. She leaned back and rested the glass on her forehead. It felt nice and cool.
"You're lucky you only have to deal with the last few days of it. Imagine how much I had to go through. Months and months of planning." Vivi landed on her bed and hugged a pillow.
"Please spare me anymore torture. I'm too delicate to survive."
"I'm sorry there still one more day left of it before the big day. Blame it on Igaram, if you must."
"You're so mean!" Nami pouted.
"I tell you what. I'll let you skip the dinner party tonight. Just a bunch of boring people. Mostly associates of my father."
"Really? That would be great. I hate dressing up. I didn't bring that many formal clothes with me."
"Tomorrow will be much better," Vivi promised. She got off her bed and strolled over to her desk, looking for something.
Saying Vivi's bedroom was spacious would be an understatement. It was the size of Sanji's entire apartment. The ceiling had to be at least twelve feet high. It was filled with carved furniture, crystal lamps and polished antiques.
"So...tell me about your roommate," Vivi asked, interrupting Nami's quiet observation. "How did you meet him?"
"Don't get any wild ideas. Sanji is gay," Nami stated as she sat up. She finished her drink and place the glass on the side table.
"Oh, that's too bad. He seemed so charming." Vivi seemed disappointed. Too disappointed in Nami's eyes.
"Right, he's so charming," Nami muttered.
Their rooms, Nami discovered, were connected by the bathroom. Vivi left her after she making sure Nami was comfortable.
"I have to hurry and get ready for dinner. Kohza is useless at these dinners without me. You'll be okay? Are you sure you don't want something brought up to you? It would be no trouble."
"It's fine. I'm full. Sanji made too much food for the car ride. I just want to sleep."
"All right. I'll see you tomorrow." Vivi waved good-bye and shut the door.
Nami looked over her temporary room. It wasn't as big as Vivi's but it was still bigger than her own room. Her duffel bag was left sitting on the bed. She headed to the bathroom and knocked on the opposite door. There was no response.
Carefully Nami opened it and peeked in. "Hello, Sanji?"
His luggage were propped open and his clothes were neatly put away. Other than that, there was no other sign of him.
Where did he go?