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CHAPTER 13
"Gohan: The Bride That Got Away"
Gohan rushed into the men's restroom once his coworker, Brandon, arrived to take over his shift. The men's restroom was small compared to any other Gohan had used, equipped with a single toilet, a urinal, and a sink, leaving barely enough room for a guy to get changed into a new set of clothes. At least it was clean. Gohan had made sure of that, even going as far as giving the walls a good scrub.
Gohan watched his reflection as he took off his work clothes and changed into a clean collared shirt, a blue suit jacket, and matching blue slacks. He encapsulated his work clothes and stuck the small capsule into the inner pocket of his jacket.
"Oh, no. I forgot to bring my new shoes." Gohan cursed, glaring down at the shoes he wore every day, which were worn out and probably had a little bit of foot odor. "Of all days to forget something! Darn it! Do I still have time to go back for my shoes?" He pressed a button on his watch, lighting up the screen with a blue LED light. He quickly calculated he'd be five minutes late to his date if he went back for his shoes.
"There's no time," he murmured sorrowfully. Maybe the smell of fresh movie theater popcorn would overpower the stench of his feet. He didn't know much about women, but even he knew that nothing bothered a wife more than waiting for her husband to show up on time for an event. Tardiness was unforgivable.
.
.
"Are you on your way to a wedding?" Brandon chuckled.
Gohan looked at his coworker with a confused expression.
" No. Um, I'm going on a date."
Brandon wasn't convinced. " A date?"
Gohan selected a couple boxes of candy and a container of mints, then placed them on the counter. "Yep. I have a date with my…" Gohan trailed off, stopping himself from calling Videl his wife and exposing their marriage. He licked his lips and finished saying," With my girlfriend."
"But you pedal a bicycle to work," Brandon pointed out. Unlike Gohan, Brandon wasn't working to send money to his family. Brandon was saving up for a car. He talked about it all the time and had stacks of car magazines spread out in their little break room.
"I'm leaving my bike here. I'm going to take a Z-Uber and meet her at the movie theater. I hope that's okay?"
"I guess it's true, there's really someone out there for everyone," Brandon bitterly muttered to himself, unaware of Gohan's above average hearing. He quickly – loudly – followed up with," Yeah, it's fine if you leave your bike here! I'll make sure no one takes it."
"Thanks."
Gohan frowned and paid for his stuff. He quickly pushed back the bubbling self-doubt and nagging feeling that he'd never be able to fit into Videl's complicated world. "It's too late to back out now," he told himself.
.
.
The busy city lights lit up the night sky, making it easy for Gohan to see as he flew towards downtown Satan City Cinema, the best movie theater in the district according to the reviews he searched up on his cell phone. He was starting to get the hang of having a cell phone. Although Videl had downloaded the Z-Uber app for him a few days ago, he had no idea how it worked exactly. Which was okay with him. Flying was quicker.
Gohan stopped directly above the cinema, spotting Videl waiting for him in front of the glass doors. He smiled. Videl had arrived early. His body relaxed slightly. He'd been worried that she wouldn't show up at all, or that Sharpener would sabotage their date somehow.
"There's something different about her." Gohan said, cupping his chin while leaning back in the air. "Oh, I know! She's wearing a white shirt with purple sleeves instead of her usual white shirt. " He guessed that was dressing up for Videl. Although, he would've preferred to see her in something cuter, like a dress. He circled around the block, searching for a good place to land, but found none. There were too many people out. They would see him for sure if he tried to land on the ground, and he didn't want to cause trouble for Videl.
Gohan gently landed on the lonely cinema roof. He liked the idea of coming out through the front doors and surprising Videl. Girls liked surprises, right?
Gohan walked to the center of the rooftop. There was a little door in the floor, reminding him of the reverse side of an attic. He slowly opened the little door, revealing a dark room below. An ordinary person would need a tall ladder to reach the floor safely, but Gohan had superhuman strength on his side. He lowered himself into the room, landing with the gentlest tap as his shoes met with the tile floor.
It took only a second for his eyes to adjust to the dark room, which was just a storage space. He confidently strode across the room. The light on the other side of the storage room door glowed between the cracks, making it easy for him to find the way out. Gohan shut his eyes, focusing on the energy of the people in the cinema. He couldn't just waltz out without knowing if someone was directly outside. The last thing he wanted was to leave the storage room and walk right into a security guard and get thrown out.
The people in the cinema had weaker energies than what he was used to. He shut his eyes tighter and forced himself to concentrate. Faintly, he was able to make out the shapes of the people on the other side of the door. It was a Saturday night and the place was packed. Perfect.
Gohan slowly twisted open the door, then stepped out of the storage room. No one noticed him. He squinted across the room as his eyes adjusted to the bright lighting. People were lined up at the concession stand, hordes of people were leaving a movie that just ended, and dozens more were waiting in line with their friends to buy their movie tickets.
In Gohan's eyes, only one person stood out to him the most. Past all those people…standing with her back facing the glass doors and windows, wearing a T-shirt and black shorts…was none other than Videl.
"Pardon me," Gohan occasionally muttered as he made his way through the crowd, eyes transfixed on Videl. She looked smaller, more delicate from far away. He hardly ever got the chance to stare at her without getting one of her annoyed scowls or a gentle teasing from her best friend, Erasa. Would she somehow feel him watching her as she so often did, and turn around? He was so focused on Videl that he didn't see the short, fat man standing right in front of him.
"Hey!" The short, fat man snapped after Gohan bumped into him with his knee.
The lid on the man's drink popped off. Gohan sucked in his stomach as far as he could, avoiding being splashed by the man's drink. "That was close," Gohan sighed. The short, fat man wasn't so lucky. Although he'd held his drink further away from his body when he felt the first splash on his hand, most of his drink had spilled all over his expensive gold watch, rings, and the sleeve of his white suit jacket. He was the only other person in the cinema wearing a suit jacket, besides Gohan.
"Oh, no baby! Are you alright?" A pretty redhead in a sexy black dress rushed over to the short, fat man. She reminded Gohan a lot of Hot Wife.
"No, I'm not alright. This watch cost me six thousand zeni!"
Gohan gulped." I'm sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going…"
"Forget that. What are you going to do about my watch? And look at my sleeve!" The short, fat man waved his suit sleeve in the air. The soda stain was no bigger than the size of a small coin, but to the man it was a big deal. " My suit is ruined! You're at least going to help pay for dry cleaning, right?"
"I…I'm in high school," Gohan stuttered. Everything the short man was saying sounded expensive. He only had enough money in his wallet for his date, but still…he had to give the man something.
The man eyed Gohan from head to toe. Most people didn't believe he was in high school because of how tall he was. The suit probably made him look much older too.
Gohan took out a few bills from his wallet." Um, I'll buy you another drink. It's the least I can do." He held out the cash, but the man didn't take it.
The man thoughtfully stroked his chin." You look familiar. Don't I know you from somewhere?"
" I don't think we've ever met. I don't get out much," Gohan responded. His routine was the same everyday: school, library, work, home, repeat.
"No." The man shook his chubby finger." I definitely know you from somewhere. Does your father work for me? Ah, I know, you must be Uchida-san's boy!"
"My father is dead, sir," Gohan bluntly responded. He gently shook the money in his hand, wishing that the short man would just take it. He needed to get to Videl.
Surprisingly, the man didn't take the money. His attitude completely changed once he insisted he knew Gohan from somewhere.
"Don't worry about it kid. I've got plenty of watches and suits, and more money than I need." He turned to the redhead in a sexy black dress." Let's go. I think our movie is starting soon."
"That was so sweet of you, baby," The redhead said while kissing the bald spot on the man's head.
"That was weird," Gohan sighed. He stuffed his money back into his wallet. He was much more careful as he maneuvered his way around people, oblivious to the pair of eyes now watching his every move.
.+.+.+.+.+.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, Gohan's watch went off, signaling he'd reached Videl right on time. Videl heard the timer and turned to face him. She let out a sound of surprise.
"Gohan! You're here!I had no idea you were inside waiting for me." Videl's shoulder's slumped." I'm sorry. I hope you didn't wait long. I thought I got here early."
" You are early. I just needed to use the restroom first," said a red-faced Gohan. He didn't mean to make her feel bad.
"So…"
Videl smiled. "So…?"
He glanced down at her T-shirt, then quickly looked up." You look nice."
"Thank you," she giggled," I like the color of your outfit. It matches my eyes."
"Yeah? I, uh, didn't notice." Gohan's face turned redder.
Silence.
Silence….
"What movie are we seeing?" Videl asked.
Gohan smacked his forehead." Shoot, I almost forgot about the huge line at the concession stand. Let's go," Gohan gently took Videl's small, gloved hand in his and they entered the cinema together. He thought he saw the short man he'd bumped into earlier watching him, but the guy turned away so quickly he couldn't be sure.
. + . + . + . + .
"Who was that boy?" The sexy red head asked. She was a model Gordo Lotus had met at a party the other night. She was easy on the eyes, so instead of kicking her out of his place after spending the night together, he decided to treat her to dinner and a movie. Maybe even keep her around for a week before finding someone different.
Gordo Lotus looked at the sexy model. They still had a twenty-minute car ride left before reaching his house. He'd rather spend it in silence.
"Was he the son of someone important? You can tell me. I'm great at keeping secrets," prodded the sexy redhead. She scooted closer to him, placing her gentle hand on his knee. He trembled at her touch.
"His name is Gohan. He's truly a remarkable boy. He doesn't come from money, so seducing him would be a waste of your time."
The sexy red head nervously laughed. She pulled her hand away from Gordo Lotus' knee and looked at him. "I'm not that kind of woman. I don't care if a man is rich or not."
Gordo Lotus shrugged. " I kind of like it when a woman tries seducing me. It gets tiring doing all the chasing. I tirelessly chased my ex-wives, but none of my wives stayed married to me for long you know. They had 'other' offers."
The sexy red head went silent.
Gordo Lotus didn't try to keep the conversation going. He didn't care. He was too busy thinking about Gohan, the bride that got away.
Hi everyone!
I have an important announcement to make...
*takes deep breath*
*exhales*
I'll make that announcement in the next chapter.
Thanks for reading! Don't forget to leave a review! Stay safe!
