"You've got to be kidding me…just how?" Izzy pressed his lips together in frustration.
"Hey! Don't you dare disappear on me like that again!" Mimi ran up to Izzy and smacked him on the arm.
"I know you told me, but does Mimi know you're not together?" Tai muttered in Izzy's ear.
"How did you even find me?" Izzy asked.
"You never turned your location off on your phone! I thought an IT genius would know better than to make a rookie mistake like that," Mimi haughtily smirked.
"My bad, turning off location was the last thing on my mind. I would have never thought in a thousand years that anyone would actually want to find me- hell, I wouldn't want to look for me," Izzy sighed.
"So what brings you to this part of town, princess? Long time, no see," Tai waved.
"I was just trying to chase after this guy! He ran off on me," Mimi wrapped her arms around Izzy's bicep.
"You can cut the act, I already know," Tai laughed.
"You told him?!" Mimi brought her hand up to smack Izzy.
"Nuh uh uh, put that hand down. You shouldn't be hitting people, especially someone who was trying to do you a solid. Not cool at all," Tai jabbed his finger at Mimi's direction.
"Sorry," Mimi gingerly brought her hand down.
"Of course. You didn't really mean it anyways…the apology, obviously," Izzy sighed.
"Well, sorry, what do you want me to do?" Mimi put her hands on her hips.
"For starters, stop saying sorry! You clearly don't know what that word means, nor do you take it seriously!" Izzy snapped.
"Ouch," Tai winced.
"Second of all, keep your hands off of me! You know, what you do is borderline assault. No wonder you can't keep a boyfriend, you smack them away!" Izzy yelled.
"Oh…," Mimi held herself.
"Why did you even follow me? So you can smack me around some more?" Izzy asked.
"Ahemmm, Izumi…," Tai cleared his throat loudly and subtly held up three fingers.
"You've got to be kidding me, Tai…," Izzy sighed in defeat. "Fine Mimi, I shouldn't have lashed out on you, but why are you here? It's not like we ended the night on great terms."
"I don't blame you at all, you should be mad at me. I was being a selfish jerk…but that's why I was trying to find you. I didn't want to end things on bad terms," Mimi bit her lip.
"Neither do I…so where do we go from here?" Izzy shrugged.
"How about we grab a drink somewhere and catch up?" Tai suggested.
"Yeah, that sounds great. Anything to get out of here, it smells like skunk…," Mimi scrunched up her face in disgust.
"Oh yeah, how weird…," Tai flicked the remaining cigarette to the side and coughed.
"What a nice view," Mimi commented.
"I know it's nothing like the fancy skyline lounges you frequent now, but this is what the people at the bottom get. And you might not like the view, but I like it. Nothing like an empty dock at night. You guys thinking of getting anything? I'm feeling mozzarella sticks," Tai glanced at his menu.
"They have a special on oysters, I might get a couple," Izzy said.
"You know what they say about oysters, right?" Mimi winked.
"That you get what you pay for?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"No silly…oysters are an aphrodisiac," Mimi teasingly nibbled his ear.
"Okay, you can cut it out…Tai knows about us, remember?" Izzy moved away from Mimi.
"Why did you tell him?" Mimi huffed.
"Hi, I'm right here. And don't worry, mum's the word. Who would I even tell? Kari? And who would she tell, if she even cares? She's a photographer for the newspaper, but I think they cover real news…not your celebrity crap, so yeah," Tai shrugged.
"See? Everything is fine…well, depends on what you call fine," Izzy sighed.
"I know, I created a PR's dream right now. Such a disaster," Mimi sighed.
"Hey, your life isn't the only one that's been affected," Izzy snapped his fingers.
"Oh yeah…that's true. On the bright side, it sounds like my ex and my former friend are already on their way to getting their marriage annulled. Wow, that didn't last long at all," Mimi scrolled on her phone.
"Hey asshole, I don't think Izzy was talking about your little celebrity crew here," Tai flicked his straw wrapper at Mimi.
"Oh…Izzy, I'm so-so, I…," Mimi stuttered.
"It's fine, can I expect any less," Izzy shrugged.
"No, it's not fine! I really do mean it, I'm really, really sorry…I've been such a huge jerk. I shouldn't have dragged you into this at all! I didn't even think about how this was gonna affect you," Mimi gasped.
"Yeah, you didn't," Tai scoffed.
"Alright everyone, let's all simmer down. Unfortunately, what's done is done…so unless anyone has any solutions, I think the best thing to do is to just calm down, lay low, and maybe this will all blow over. We'll be yesterday's news before we know it," Izzy said.
"You know what? That's not a bad idea…I'll take a mini vacation, just lay low. I do have a couple of draft videos I can upload in the meantime, but otherwise, I think I'll pack up and go somewhere nice. I'm thinking Mexico," Mimi smiled.
"Running away, that's always a great idea. No one will talk about that," Tai smirked.
*buzz buzz buzz*
"Oh no…," Izzy glanced at his phone. "It's my mom…"
"You gonna answer?" Tai smirked.
"No. What am I gonna sa-hey, Mimi, what are you doing?" Izzy gasped.
"Ahh, yes. Really? Mmmhmm, that's so funny you say that because my friend was literally saying the same thing. Well, I guess it just took us a while to figure it out…I know, for a smart guy, there are some things even he can't figure out," Mimi giggled.
"Hey, give me that!" Izzy hissed.
"I'm on the phone with your mom…," Mimi mouthed to Izzy. "Alright, Mrs. Izumi! It was a pleasure talking to you, I'm gonna pass the phone to your son so you can talk to him. Bye! We'll see you soon!"
"Are you serious?" Izzy whispered.
"You're welcome. Here," Mimi mouthed back and handed the phone to Izzy.
"Hey Mom…I think she hung up," Izzy looked at his phone.
"She must have been so happy that her little man finally got a girl, she forgot to stay on the phone to actually talk to him," Tai snorted.
"Hey…shut up. And you- again with the lying! I can't believe you lied to my mom, are you crazy?" Izzy looked at Mimi incredulously.
"What? Your mom was probably going to keep on calling, and what? Were you gonna keep on ignoring her calls? It's harmless…we'll go to dinner at your parents' house one night, just to make them happy and then that's it!" Mimi shrugged.
"And then what happens when we inevitably break up? You're going to break their hearts," Izzy groaned.
"But what if you guys don't break up?" Tai smirked.
"Aren't you a wise guy," Izzy rolled his eyes.
"Let's just go along for the ride, and see where it takes us! What could really go wrong? I'll let you break up with me…," Mimi pleaded.
"Oh, so I can be the one to disappoint my parents. That will be awesome," Izzy sarcastically smiled.
"Well, I don't want your mom to hate me. I forgot how nice she was…," Mimi pouted.
"Always a motive," Tai snickered.
"Mozzarella sticks…and oysters. Anything else?" a waiter came by and placed food down on the table.
"Just a refill," Izzy held up his empty beer glass.
"Ditto," Tai nodded.
"I'll be back," the waiter said.
"Help yourselves guys…I didn't expect them to pile on the sticks," Tai nodded.
"Likewise. I can always order more," Izzy reached out for an oyster.
"Thanks," Mimi timidly grabbed an oyster and squeezed some lemon juice on it. She watched as Izzy managed to take down his oyster in a slow, fluid manner.
"So, I see everyone's enjoying their pickings," Tai gave Mimi a teasing smirk.
"Uh, yeah…," Mimi bit her bottom lip, feeling her face turn red.
"Look at the time, I think I should turn in. Here should be enough to cover me and the tip. I'll catch you guys later," Tai tossed some cash on the table and winked.
"Alright, good night," Izzy said.
"It was nice seeing you again," Mimi flashed him a timid smile.
"Right back at you. Stop being a stranger," Tai nodded and walked off.
"Has it really been that long? Am I that bad at keeping touch?" Mimi said.
"You've always been a little out of touch with reality, but don't feel too bad. It's been a while since any of us hung out with each other. It's the first time I've seen him in three months," Izzy smoothly slurped down another oyster.
"Oh," Mimi bashfully tucked her hair behind her ear.
"It's just what happens as we get older. We have jobs, families, other obligations- it's not like being kids where we could spend all of our free time hanging out," Izzy sighed.
"If only we could be like kids again. I wish I could go back…maybe if I did the things I was brave enough to do in the first place, I dunno," Mimi shrugged.
"What do you mean? You're a pretty audacious person- you probably made ten ballsy moves tonight alone. What was the one thing that was too daring, that even you couldn't do it?" Izzy smirked.
"It…was some silly high school nonsense. But I wonder what could have happened if I went for it, you know?" Mimi shrugged.
"Not really, since I have no idea what you're talking about," Izzy shook his head.
"Fair enough," Mimi blushed. "What about you? If you could go back to high school times, what would you do?"
"I wouldn't go back. I don't need to relive those years," Izzy said.
"What? Why? Wasn't high school fun? Hanging out with friends, going to parties, homecoming, prom?" Mimi smiled.
"We might have had some of the same friends, but we had different experiences. While everyone was having fun after school, I was juggling my extracurriculars with a job that was so demanding, I was skipping class. I was never invited to parties, and oh…I was hired to set up all of the audio equipment for all the school dances, so I couldn't really attend the dance, even if I wanted to," Izzy crossed his arms.
"I didn't even know…," Mimi paused.
"It's fine," Izzy sighed.
"I think you need to stop saying that. I don't think you know the meaning of fine," Mimi lightly tapped her foot against Izzy's and flashed him a small smile.
"Touche. I guess we both need a vocabulary lesson," Izzy smirked. "I think I'm done here. What about you?"
"I guess I could call it a night," Mimi stretched her arms up and yawned.
"I'll walk you home. It's dark," Izzy shrugged.
"Thanks. I appreciate it," Mimi smiled faintly.
"Of course," Izzy said.
"Hi!" Yolei opened the door.
"Oh my god, you scared me…," Izzy gasped.
"And you guys left me all by myself. I was lonely," Yolei nodded.
"You didn't wait at the door the whole time, did you?" Mimi bit her lip.
"Don't be silly! I took a break to have some Oreos and wine. Come on, partake!" Yolei grabbed a packet of Oreos out.
"I'll pass…," Mimi winced.
"Fine. But Izzy, don't be rude. Take. You need a fork? They taste great with a glass of red," Yolei held up a glass of wine.
"That sounds like an interesting combo, but I'll just stick to the cookie. Thank you," Izzy twisted the cookie in half and started eating the icing.
"That's an interesting way to eat a cookie," Yolei remarked.
"Is there a problem? The icing's the best part," Izzy blushed.
"No, no problem at all," Mimi turned red as she watched him slowly brush his tongue around the cookie.
"At least cookies are meant to be eaten with your hands. No offense, but this fork business is unnecessary. Just use your fingers," Izzy brushed the crumbs off on his coat.
"We all have our preferences, but it's good to know that Izzy likes using his hands. Isn't that right, Meems?" Yolei nudged Mimi.
"Um, so Izzy…thank you for walking me home. I'll see you around, okay? Text me," Mimi cleared her throat.
"Come on, you guys don't have to be shy around me anymore. Just stay the night, it's late!" Yolei winked.
"Uh, thanks for the invite, but I probably should head out. I have to go to work early in the morning and I-"
"All I'm hearing is excuses! We're all adults here, and come on…you're teasing the poor girl. Especially after the way you ate that cookie," Yolei flailed her tongue out.
"Oh my god," Mimi could feel her face burn a million degrees.
"Come on, admit it. You're teasing me at this point…just stay the night. You could both use it. You'll thank me," Yolei pulled Mimi and Izzy by their wrists and shoved them into Mimi's bedroom. "You're welcome!"
"Well, that was interesting…," Izzy blushed.
"Yeah. After tomorrow, I'm gonna start looking for new apartments that I can rent by myself," Mimi pursed her lips together.
"It's Yolei, just disregard it. She eats cookies with a fork- and that's probably the least crazy thing about her. Everything that comes out of her mouth is nonsense anyways," Izzy sighed.
"As true as that is, I think she has a point too. You also eat like a freak," Mimi tugged at her dress.
"I do not. I just like to enjoy all parts of the cookie. Is that a sin?" Izzy raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, can we drop this topic? It's freaking me out," Mimi fanned herself as she propped herself onto her dresser for support.
"Fine. Topic dropped, but what now? Should I stay overnight? I don't know if that's a good…," Izzy paused, getting distracted by Mimi's heavy breathing. It was almost as if her body was struggling to stay contained inside herself, but then all control was lost.
"I'm sorry. I tried my best, I really did," Mimi tackled Izzy and pinned him to the bed. She stuck her tongue in his mouth, and tugged at his hair, roughly bumping against his body.
"It's fine, honestly…," Izzy said, as he reciprocated the favour, pulling her closer towards him.