Whoopa! Another chapter.
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"Do you think we should tell her about it?"
Eddy did not reply Christie's question as he drove down Austin Parkway to drop off Charlotte at her sitter's, then turn back and head for Baker St. The commercial yesterday evening bothered the couple and they were unsure weather or not the others, or yet Miharu, had seen it.
Christie looked back from glancing at her husband toward the road in front of her. "She didn't even return my call…"
Eddy sighed and took a hold of his wife's hand. "It's gonna to be alright. Mi's a big girl. We have to believe she could take care of herself. She probably had no time or was busy yesterday evening."
"Or something unfortunate happened…" Christie said dully.
"Dearest, please try not to think things negatively. Problems will never be solved by worrying about them. Mi might be fine you'll never know. We'll find out how things are going when those two arrive." He kissed her hand. "Besides, if he hurt Mi in any way the six of us can always bust his ass."
His voice didn't sound uncompromising or stern. It was soothing. And that made Christie feel better. She smiled and pulled Eddy's arm toward her and hugged it tightly. For a moment there he didn't expect her action, and he almost got dragged to the passenger's side. Thank God he stopped the car awhile back to wait for the traffic light.
"I love you." She said.
"I love you too."
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"Sorry we're late!" Jin called out to Hwoarang and Julia as he came running toward Baker St. with Xiaoyu, his hand holding hers.
Hwoarang saw the gesture. "What, busy making out in the car?"
Julia burst out laughing while Hwoarang merely grinned as he took a swig from his cigarette, satisfied by his rival's reddening cheeks.
Jin glared daggers at the ex-gangster. "Nothing happened you moron."
"Yeah, we're just happy that we got some time to spend together so we…kinda had a little personal date before this big date that we're gonna have." Ling said.
Hwoarang rolled his eyes. "Sheesh…can't even take a joke." He took one last swig, then dropped it onto the ground and stepped his foot on it.
Julia tapped his shoulder. "Hwoarang…"
"Yes dear?" He turned toward her.
Julia pointed her finger downward.
"Hmm?" Hwoarang glanced down and removed his foot, revealing the now flat cigarette. "Oh…so?"
Julia slapped the back of his head.
"Ow! Yes ma'am, I'll pick it up right away!"
Jin and Ling burst out laughing.
"He needs to be taught not to litter." Jin said.
"Shut up!"
Julia rubbed Hwoarang's arm. "It's okay honey."
The redhead sighed. "Kazama, you're lucky I'm not in the mood for sparring." He dumped the cig into a nearby garbage bin and looked around. "Where are the others?"
"They should be here by now…" Ling wondered out loud.
"What time is it?" Julia asked.
Jin checked his watch. "Quarter till four."
"Hey, there's Eddy's car." Hwoarang pointed out.
Indeed, Eddy waved at them as he drove by the group into the parking garage right beside the pub.
"Okay…now that Eddy and Chris have arrived…" said Ling. "Mi and Preston have yet to turn up."
"Hey Xiao, you should know why Miharu's late. Aren't you two sharing a house?" Hwoarang asked.
"Yeah, but I left earlier to meet up with Jin."
"Did she tell you how she'll get here? Is she driving?"
"No. She told me Preston will pick her up at three-thirty."
"I see…then he's not too punctual."
Christie walked up to the group. "Hey guys."
"Hey." They all said at once.
Eddy strode up next to his wife. The first thing he did was to look for the two people he needed to see, but did not find them.
"Where's Mi and Preston?"
"Not here yet." Hwoarang replied tediously.
Eddy and Christie looked at each other apprehensively, as if urging one another to bring up the topic they did not want to speak about.
"Um…" Christie started.
"There she is!"
Julia's voice caught them off guard.
Miharu came running and stopped in front of her friends, panting heavily. "I'm…so sorry we're late!"
"Where's Preston?" Jin asked.
"Someone called him when we got here so he told me to go ahead and meet up with you guys here. He said he'll catch up later."
"Is everything okay?" The question that popped from Christie's mouth got everyone staring. Probably because the way it was asked made it seemed like a life-threatening emergency happened, or something close to it.
Christie was a bit stunned herself. She didn't mean for it to sound that way. It was supposed to be asked in a more calmly fashion. At least she wanted it to be like that.
"I'm sorry…it's just that I was wondering how you two are doing. You and Preston I mean…after all I was the one who introduced him to you. I just want to make sure you're happy with him."
All eyes are now on Miharu. They all wondered about the same thing.
"Oh, everything's fine Chris. I'm sorry I didn't get to reply you yesterday. I fell asleep on my couch. Xiao didn't wake me up when she got home and, well, when I woke up it was already one and I didn't want to bother your sleep."
Christie nodded. "That's alright. So you're fine with Preston? Was he good to you?"
Miharu smiled. "Yes, he's been really nice to me. Oh, I still have yet to tell you guys why we're late."
She took a deep breath, the smile still on her face. "Um…yesterday, after our second date, he invited me to his house. He…err…he said…"
"He what? He what?" Hwoarang impatiently cut it.
"He said he love me."
The whole group went silent. Mixed thoughts filled each mind, Christie and Eddy especially.
Miharu looked at the ground. "I didn't reply him at first. After I got home I did a lot of thinking…all through the night…after I awoke at the couch. I thought about all the gifts he sent and kind words he said to me…all of them meant so much to me…I felt special when he was with me because of his constant compliments. And so today…when he came to pick me up, I told him about what I thought of him and I…I think I love him too."
Miharu looked up and saw that everyone had the look of awe and surprise.
When none of them said anything it made Miharu uncomfortable. "Um…you guys…say something."
"Err…" Hwoarang started.
To tell the truth, no one knew how to reply her. Miharu seemed happy and all but…it happened so quickly.
"Hello." Preston's cheerful voice could be heard from behind Miharu. All looked past her toward the man she came to love.
Xiaoyu decided to break the tension and behave with polite mannerism.
"Hey there," she said, hand stretched out. "I'm Ling Xiaoyu, Miharu's friend."
"Hi." He smiled and shook her hand. She found his smile contagious.
Jin followed suit. He waved at Preston. "I'm Jin. Jin Kazama."
"Hi. The name's Julia Chang. Nice to meet you." Preston saw the brunette and greeted her.
"Hwoarang." The Korean nodded casually. Preston waved at him and smiled.
Miharu gestured toward the Brazilian couple. "Um, you already know Christie. That's her husband, Eddy."
Preston smiled at them and bowed slightly. "Miharu told me many great things about all of you. And from my own judgment, I think you're all nice people. Pleased to meet you all, I'm Preston Kilburne."
The kindness this man showed made everyone feel at ease.
"Why, thank you for your praise. You're not bad yourself." They heard Hwoarang say in a deep, witty voice.
The group broke into slight laughter. Hwoarang's amusingly comical tone lightened up the mood.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let go in and have a drink." Eddy said.
Everyone agreed, and was in high spirits for this gathering. With the exception of Christie.
Even though Miharu's reply was a positive one, it still bothered Christie how fast the relationship came to pass.
She knew Preston for quite some time now, ever since several weeks ago, when the photographer led her through the photo shoot and saw Preston posing for a cologne ad…with another woman. His dress shirt was unbuttoned and her hand was reached under it and placed on top of his chest. Her face was very close to his neck. Well, what can you do? It's for the sake of advertising. Besides they immediately got separated when the shoot was over. It's their work. It's his job. No harm done.
Christie herself was unable to ignore his charm when he walked up to her to say hi. If she hadn't fallen in love with Eddy she might have had a huge crush on Preston. She sees Preston now and then to appoint him with new tasks. Okay, you need to do this and that. You should be at this location at this time, etc. That was all the communication the two shared over the past few weeks.
Even though Christie was a bit bossy with Preston he never once been contempt of her. He would always smile and do what she told him to do. So she opened up a bit, flattering his work and buying him coffee. He would do the same in return. They had small chats whenever they meet. After awhile she decided that he might be a good man to introduce to Miharu.
But now she thought if she made the right decision. Preston is nice and all that but she noticed he was more involved with women than with men. She never met his male friends. Hopefully he'll make a few more today during this date. Jin would probably accept him because of his benevolence. Hwoarang was still inspecting Preston out. Eddy, like Christie herself, was watching Preston closely. After what the two saw yesterday on the television, Christie just hoped her assumption wasn't true, although there might be a chance of that to be a fact.
The problem is that Preston never shown any signs of being a womanizer. None that Christie saw herself. He was just too nice. Too friendly. Christie hoped that the others will soon see the commercial with their own eyes, even if it meant Miharu will see it, it might be best that way.
It was just a flash of adult-contented commercial so it might not be on the sports channel for long. She guessed they put it up by mistake when it was supposed to be on the Adult Wave. But why was Preston in it? Did he volunteer for it?
"Honey? What would you like to drink?" Christie snapped out of her thoughts when her husband asked her.
"What were you thinking about?" Hwoarang asked.
"Err…nothing, really. Just worrying about work tomorrow."
"Oh. Everyone ordered except you. So…"
"Sorry. Um…" She quickly scanned the selection. "A Bacardi and diet Pepsi for me please."
"Sure thing. I'll have your drinks in a few moments." The waitress replied.
Christie was so deep in thought she failed to realize they're already sitting at a table.
Preston immediately started up a conversation.
"Oh Christie, I just wanted to thank you for introducing Miharu to me. She's such a wonderful lady."
Miharu smiled. Yet another admiring comment from Preston. She hooked her arm around Preston. He kissed her on the forehead.
"Your welcome." I guess.
"Where're you from, Preston?" Julia asked.
"Me? I was born in Greece, and moved here when I was young."
Everyone gawked at him.
"Greece?" Hwoarang repeated. "How diverse can we get?"
"I know Christie and Eddy are from Brazil, and Miharu's from Japan. What about the rest of you guys?" Preston asked.
"Well, I'm Korean. South Korean to be specific." Hwoarang said. "Julia here is Native American. Ling is from China and Kazama over there, is also Japanese."
"I see."
It turned out everyone took turns describing their work and a bit of their life. Hwoarang and Julia also talked about their oncoming marriage.
Christie momentarily forgot about the occurrence the day before and joined in the chat along with the others.
Just when everything was going along smoothly, numbness was felt again on Miharu's body. Preston had his arm over her shoulder but she couldn't feel that either. Terror swept over her once more. She glanced around at her friends. Thankfully no one noticed her edginess yet.
She needed an excuse to leave the group.
"Um…I'm sorry. I need to use the restroom."
"Oh, go ahead." Preston released her and continued listening to Hwoarang's talk about his wedding plans.
Miharu picked up her purse and got up. The need to share this with someone was great. Miharu felt sorry as she tapped Xiaoyu on the shoulder.
"Xiao?" She whispered.
Ling turned around to face her friend. "Mi? What is it?"
"Can you come with me? I need to tell you something…it's pretty urgent."
The tone of Miharu's voice told Xiaoyu that she is in need for some kind of help. And Miharu knew Ling wouldn't abandon her like this.
"Jin, I'll be right back."
"Where're you going?"
"To the bathroom with Mi…just girl stuff."
He nodded. "Sure."
She picked up her own bag and walked toward the ladies' room with Miharu, who couldn't feel her legs at all. She stumbled as she walked. It was horrible.
Ling came to help support her. "Mi! You alright?"
They reached the restroom door and shut it, locking it tightly. No one was there at the moment, thank God.
Ling kept her voice at low volume as she spoke. "Mi, tell me what's wrong! Why are you acting this way?"
"Xiao…there's something you need to know…and it's about me…" Miharu's numbness was still present. She leaned against the sink counter.
Xiaoyu began to panic. "What is it?"
"It's…been happening for quite some time now…I don't know what's going on but…sometimes parts of my body would feel numb and…glow in a strange light while becoming transparent…when I reach out my hand to touch that part of my body…it would just go right through…"
"Mi, what are you talking about? That's impossible!"
"I know it's hard to believe but I have no idea what is wrong with me either! It happened just now but this time I felt numb through my entire body!" Miharu said. Her voice kept at minimum but with intensity and fear. "It's getting worse, Xiao…I don't know what to do…" Her eyes began to glaze up with tears. "I don't know what to do…" She whispered, lips trembling slightly.
Ling was beyond shocked. This was a situation she never handled before and it frightened her of what's happening to her friend.
"Oh Mi…" She hugged her shivering friend. "It's okay…you need to see a doctor…I'll tell the others—"
Miharu quickly cut her off. "No don't tell the others! I don't want to trouble them!"
"But you need help! I can't stand seeing you like this!"
Just then Miharu's numbness died down and returned to normal. "It stopped…"
"What?"
"It stopped…the numbness…but it'll come back…I know it…"
"Okay, we need to get you home first. We'll try to figure something out."
Miharu nodded. "O…okay…"
Ling helped Miharu stand up straight. She unlocked the door and the two stepped out, unsure of how to pass this on to their friends.
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Hey out there. I was so happy to finish the third chap! All of you who reviewed gave me motivation. I don't want to let you all down.
To thunderxtw: Thank you for your review. Hope to see more of 'Nina Returns' soon!
To Karisan-Karisan: Steve comes in…lets see…maybe around two or three chapters later. I'll try to shorten the wait. Thank you for all your support!
To Skylight Angel: Thank you for writing that fic with all my favorite pairings in it! Continue with it please!
To MooNTeARZ: Yeah, long time no see. Thank you for your review.