Chapter Eight
As the sun outside went down for the evening, Rena looked at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. Already, she was wearing the outfit she had chosen to wear for her date with Guy tonight; a blue jeans jacket over a white turtle neck sweater, and an ankle length black skirt. On the left side of her skirt is a slit that went up to her knees.
She was applying her make-up on when Maki came into the bathroom. Maki was still wearing her work suit.
"I hate my job!" Maki complained, almost growling.
Rena looked at her little sister through the mirror. "Maki, I'm pretty sure it's not bad being a secretary."
Maki growled again. "I do so much paper work. I don't get why my boss doesn't do any of them. All he does is sit by the computer and play pinball or solitaire."
"I'm pretty sure that he was on his break," the older sister guessed.
"Rena, NO ONE sits in their office during their break." That's when Maki noticed Rena's outfit. She was already aware that her sister was going on a date with Guy, but she didn't think that she would look classy.
"Rena, you look so pretty," Maki said sincerely.
"Thanks," Rena replied.
"You know, it's been a while since you've gone out with any men. I'm so glad to see that you are doing that again."
Rena sighed as she applies strawberry flavored lip-gloss on to her lips. She remembered how men would act like great gentlemen when she first met them. Then when she got close to them, they end up acting like the biggest jerks in the world. She hoped that Guy would be very different from all the others.
Rena placed her lip-gloss down on the sink stand. "I really do hope Guy is not like all those other jerks I've met in the past. Hopefully, he's the one."
Maki smiled. "I hope so, too."
In his apartment, Guy was all ready to pick Rena up from her place. He was wearing a green and gray strip shirt under a black leather jacket, khaki jeans, and white tennis shoes. In the bathroom, he briefly checks on his hair through the mirror before stepping out.
Then he heard the door knock. Guy sighed and went over to the door. He peeked through the peek hole, wondering who was here.
'Damn!' He thought as he only saw a brown smear. 'I need to get that peek hole cleaned.'
He opened the door. Standing there were the Travers brothers, Cody and Kyle, both with goofy grins on their faces. Kyle was holding a white bag in his left hand.
Guy sighed. 'Now I really do need that peek hole cleaned.'
"Hey Guy," said Cody. "We came over here because we figured that you needed help with getting ready to see Rena."
"I'm fine," Guy said.
Cody sniffed. "I don't smell any cologne."
"Cody, you know that I'm-"
"Guy," Kyle cut in. "We know that you need some good stuff for your date, so Jessica brought some cologne for us." He started taking out the various bottles of cologne. "We got Tommy Boy, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, and my personal favorite, Romance for Men." He sniffed the bottle.
"But-"
Kyle pointed the Romance bottle at Guy. "Here, let me spray this one on you."
"Kyle, no!"
Unfortunately, Kyle sprayed the contents on Guy's chest, the contents piercing it through his shirt. Guy jumped up as he felt the cold liquid on his chest. "NO!"
"You don't like it?" Kyle asked. "Let me put on Ralph Lauren."
Guy growled and smacked Kyle upside the head.
"OW! What was that for?"
"Have you forgotten that I'm allergic to cologne?"
Cody's mouth dropped open. "I thought it was Kairi who was allergic to cologne."
"Wrong brother!" Guy cried in anger. "Now I'm going to be itching like hell, and it had to happen when I have a date with a girl."
Kyle and Cody immediately got down on their knees and pulled down on Guy's shirt. "Forgive us!" Cody cried. "We'll do anything!"
Guy sighed feeling his anger go away. "I know you guys were trying to help, but do me a favor and please don't try to help me unless we're in a complicated situation."
The two got up. "Okay," Kyle replied.
Guy looked at his watch. "I better get going or else I'll miss the subway."
"All right buddy," Kyle said. "Have fun."
"But don't have too much fun," Cody said with a wink.
"Ha, ha" Guy replied sarcastically. "I'll see you two bone heads later." He walked out of his apartment. "And don't hang around my apartment!"
Cody and Kyle immediately sprinted out of the apartment and ran passed Guy. Guy looked back at his apartment, seeing the door wide opened.
'Morons,' Guy thought. He went up to the door, closed it, and then locked it with his key. Then he made his way towards the elevator.
Guy walked quietly down the streets of Metro City after getting off the subway. He looked around the city and saw all kinds of different people by the way they dressed, looked, and even acted. He could smell steel and debris where there was construction going on nearby. Guy paced himself slowly, trying his best not to slip on the slippery sidewalks and streets the weather had previously left behind.
When he was a few buildings away from Rena's place, he saw a small Portugese man sitting by a few bins filled with roses of different colors. The roses caught Guy's eyes. He stopped to take a look at them. He noticed that one of the red roses was more bloomed than the others. He turned and saw the price of the roses. Guy then took the rose and paid for it to the Portugese man who wrapped it in a clear foil decorated with Christmas trees. The man thanked Guy, who nodded to him before making his way towards Rena's apartment.
Later, as Rena put on her black knee-high boots, she heard the door knock. 'He's here!' she thought with excitement. She slowly walked over to the door and peeked through the peek hole. Indeed it was Guy standing by the door. He was looking around the hallway and slightly shifted his body from side to side.
Rena smiled and unlocked the door. Guy heard the door open and turned his head. He starts to feel his palms sweat as he stared at Rena, noting how beautiful she looked. He clutched on to the rose, which he hid behind his back.
"Hi Guy," Rena said.
"Hey Rena," Guy replied, smirking a little bit. "Are you ready to go?"
Rena smiled, showing off her perfect teeth. "Yup, I've been ready since you asked me to go to dinner with you."
"So have I," Guy admitted.
Rena turned to Maki, who is sitting on the couch watching a documentary on TV. "I'll see you later Maki."
"Have fun!" Maki called out. Rena stepped out of the apartment and locked the door.
Guy quietly took a deep breath and gave the rose to Rena. "I saw this on my way over here, and it made me think about you."
Rena smiled as she took the rose. "That's so sweet of you. Thank you."
"You're welcome," Guy replied. "So, what restaurant do you have in mind?"
"Guy, I've only been living here a few weeks," Rena replied. "The only restaurant I know about is the one I work at, but tonight, I think I prefer something other than Asian food."
"All right," Guy said. "Then I know just the place."
"Howard's Steakhouse?" Rena asked. "Sounds like a good place to go."
"It's one of my favorite restaurants. My friends and I always come here whenever we're in a mood for steak. They don't just have steak here, of course. They also have the best chicken cordon bleu in Metro City."
"Then let's eat here," Rena said.
As they walked into the restaurant, Guy started feeling tingly. Not in his stomach, but his collar-bone.
'Damn!' Guy thought. 'The cologne's taking effect.' He quickly scratched his collar bone while Rena wasn't looking.
They meet up with the hostess who soon led them to their table. The table was near the back corner of the restaurant. It was a square-shaped table with a fake rose in a small vase and a lit candle in the middle of the table. The table was also covered with a white cloth. The restaurant's lights were dim, setting a romantic mood. Guy pulled the chair back for Rena. As she sat down, he brought the chair forward so she would actually sit in the chair instead of falling flat on the floor. Then Guy sat himself down across from her. Once they were settled, the hostess gave them the menus.
"Your waitress will be with you in a moment," the hostess said before leaving.
Guy and Rena looked through the menus. Rena spotted the chicken cordon bleu in the menu Guy mentioned about. After looking through the rest of the menu, she decided to order the chicken cordon bleu.
As Guy looked through the menu, he started to feel even more itchy in the chest. He tried to ignore it, but after a while, he gave up and started scratching it.
Soon, a waitress came and took their orders. After she took the menus away, Rena looked at Guy. She could smell the cologne on him. "I love that cologne you have on. What kind is it?"
Guy swallowed. He was hoping that she wouldn't smell the nice scent of the cologne, but unfortunately for him, she could. "Um, it's called Romance for Men. It's not one of my favorites, to be honest."
After saying that, Guy wanted to smack himself upside the head for that. 'Damn! Now I'm lying to her.' He scratched yet another itch.
"So," Guy said deciding to change the subject. "How was work today?"
"A little boring," Rena replied. "But at least your sister was there. She's the only person I talk to. I mean, everyone is really nice, but she's the only one I seem to connect with compared to everyone else."
Guy nodded at the comment. "Yeah, back at the dojo, Cody is the only other employee I talk to as well. Aside from Kyle, I do talk to my students of course, but there isn't a real bond, you know what I mean?"
Rena nodded before she found herself looking into his dark eyes. Their color reminded her of a dark chocolate candy. She also noticed that he has yet to dart his eyes downward.
'He's not even taking a quick peek below my neck,' Rena thought. 'This is very unusual for any men, at least to me.' She then continued to looking into his eyes.
Guy stared at Rena's face and sometimes looked into her own dark eyes. The dimness of the room made her more beautiful, making Guy's heart threaten to explode. 'She's beautiful like that,' he thought.
Rena then realized that she has to do something about the silence. She smiled. "So, um, what did you do today before coming to my apartment?"
Guy replied, "Just slept until the afternoon, then I got ready to see you. Basically, you can say that I slept most of the day. I don't work at the dojo on Friday's."
Rena nodded. "I gave myself Friday's off too at work. It's just one of those days when you don't want to work, I suppose."
Guy nodded in agreement. "I suppose so."
They mostly talk about work while they were waiting for their food to arrive. When the food finally showed up, Guy smirked, "Ready to try the best chicken cordon bleu in Metro City?"
Rena nodded. "I'm ready."
She cut a couple of pieces of her food, then took a bit of one piece with her fork. After chewing it and swallowing it, Rena smiled. "That was delicious."
Guy smirked more. "I'm glad you like it."
Then, the itching got worse, making him scratch again. Noticing this, Rena raised an eyebrow. "I've noticed that every ten seconds you scratch your chest. Are you all right?"
Guy sighed. "It's a bit embarrassing, really."
"You can tell me," she said assuringly.
Guy sighed. "Well, before I left for the subway, Cody and Kyle came by with a bunch of bottles of cologne. Kyle sprayed one bottle on me, and, well, um, I'm allergic to cologne. They thought it was Kairi who was allergic to it, but I can forgive them since we're brothers. The cologne makes me itch like crazy."
Rena laughed a little. "That's so cute. No man would ever admit something like that. When we get home, I have a bottle of Gold Bond you can use. That should relieve the itching."
Guy nodded. "Thanks."
"No problem," Rena replied.
A half hour after leaving the restaurant, Guy and Rena returned to the apartment where Rena lived. Guy would soon find himself walking inside her place for the first time.
"We just have to keep it down," Rena whispered. "Maki's working pretty early tomorrow and if someone walks her up, they'll get a beating of a life time."
Guy nodded. "It can't be any worse than waking up Cody too early." Rena laughed in reply.
They made their way to the bathroom. Guy took off his leather jacket as Rena searched for the Gold Bond in the cabinets. 'Where is that bottle?' Rena thought while rummaging through every inch of the cabinets. 'I just wish Maki could be more organized with things. It would make things so much - aha! Here it is!'
Rena pulled out the Gold Bond bottle and closed the cabinets. Through the mirror, she could see Guy without a shirt on. Not expecting this, Rena almost dropped the bottle in surprise. Although Guy's chest was a bit red from the allergic reaction, he has a perfect built. Just seeing his biceps and six-pack makes Rena want to melt to the floor.
'Whoa!' Rena thought. 'Am I dreaming?'
Regaining her composure, Rena turned to Guy trying to keep her reaction inside of her, though she was sure that her face was red at this point. "It took me a while, but I found it," she said.
Guy went up to her to take the bottle, but Rena quickly pulled it away from him as an idea came to her. "You've been so nice to me all night, so I want to pay you back." Then she thought evilly, 'I am going to enjoy this!'
She opened the bottle and began to shake the contents over the palm of her hands. Now seeing what she had in mind, Guy was speechless, unsure of what to say at this point.
Rena walked up to him. "Give your hands a break for a little bit," she said. She looked into his eyes and started rubbing the powder on his chest.
Guy could feel his heart hammering against his chest as she touched his pectorals with her soft, delicate hands. He looked into her eyes, suddenly feeling the urges to kiss her.
'Should I?' he thought. He swallows hard. 'It's not the right time. Not yet…'
Rena could hear him swallow. 'I must be making him nervous,'she thought. 'I hope that is a good thing.'
Guy started to feel his body go numb, especially every time her hand passed his heart. 'Can I control myself any longer?' he found himself thinking suddenly.
Before he knew it, Rena pulled her hands away. "Better?" she thought.
Guy sighed, feeling a bit disappointed that the moment came and went so fast. "Yeah, it's better."
As Rena washed her hands, Guy placed his shirt and jacket back on. The Gold Bond has definitely relieved the itching, but he almost liked to think that maybe it was really Rena's hands.
The two walked towards the front door. "Thank you for the evening," Rena said. "At least we'll see each other again on Sunday."
Guy nodded. "At the dojo, of course."
"Of couse," Rena said as Guy opened the apartment door.
"Thank you for the Gold Bond treatment," Guy said.
Rena nodded. 'But which treatment? The powder or my hands?'
"Good night Rena," Guy said.
"Good night," Rena replied. Guy looked at her one more time before making his way down the hall. When he turned a corner, Rena closed the door and locked.
Down the hall, a man watched Guy leave the apartment. He stared at Guy until the elevator doors closed.
He turns on his walkie-talkie. "The woman we attacked previously has united with the man who saved her. It seems like they won't be seeing each other tomorrow. Tomorrow night, we'll attack."
