Chapter 12: The Truth Is Out
Mimi slowly opened her eyes and rolled over the bed. The bedroom's walls and furniture were too light to be her room and she struggled for a few seconds to realize where she was. Once she did, her eyes went wide and she quickly threw the sheet away, jumping out of the bed right after. She took a long and careful look around the bedroom, trying to memorize as many details as she could. She didn't know why it mattered to her, but she just convinced herself she wanted to remember it.
She carefully twisted the doorknob open and peeked outside the bedroom, as if she didn't want to meet anyone on her way out. She slowly tiptoed on the hall and immediately froze in her place when she heard another voice. A male voice.
"Oh hey, you're up already."
"Who are you?"
"You don't remember me?"
"If I did, I wouldn't have to ask."
"Wow, that's rude."
"Wait, weren't you at the bar a few weeks ago? You're Koushiro's friend, right?"
"That's right. Taichi."
"So I assume this is your house."
"Yes, it is."
"So where is he?"
"He went to the bakery to buy some food for us, but he should be back soon."
"Great, thanks. Ah… do you happen to know where my purse is? I really need to go."
"Aren't you going to wait for him?"
"No, no. I really have to leave."
"I'm sure he's gonna want to talk to you after last night."
"Last night?" She asked alarmed. "What happened last night?"
"You seriously don't remember?"
"Not exactly. I probably drank too much and blocked out everything that happened."
"I suppose that's good, because you were a little loud and I'm pretty sure our neighbors upstairs and downstairs heard you."
"Oh God, we had sex?" Mimi slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand. "It can't get any worse than this."
"Not unless you were me." Taichi laughed for a moment. "You were so loud I woke up and couldn't sleep anymore. And I'm a heavy sleeper."
"Geez, this is so embarrassing. I'm so sorry."
"Don't worry about it."
"Will you tell him I had to go." Mimi tried to go away desperately.
"Sure, but you can tell him yourself. He's already back."
.
The delicious smell of food filled Sora's nostrils while she still sleeping peacefully in her comfortable bed. She squinted and slowly opened her eyes, coming across a tray full of yummy food placed on her bedside table. When Yamato walked in for the last time, she was already sitting and eating a toast.
"Good morning." He greeted her with a wide smile and sat beside her. "I hope I didn't make much noise and wake you up."
"You didn't." She replied after swallowing the bite of the food. "You made all of this for me?"
"Yeah. I thought I could surprise and pamper my fiancé today."
"I wouldn't be against it at all." Sora leaned towards him and kissed him briefly.
"Didn't think you would." Yamato placed his hand over her stomach and both adults stared at it for some minutes. "Sometimes I still can't believe you're carrying my baby."
"You wanted it to be someone else?"
"What?! Where did that come from? There's no one else I'd rather be my child's mother than you."
"I know, I was just joking."
"You better be."
"So, are you going to share this food with me?"
"No, this is all for you. I've already had breakfast."
"Oh come on, I can't eat everything in there. There's too much food."
"Sure you can. You're eating for two now."
"But Yamato, it's too much. I eat barely half of it, if I'm really hungry."
"Fine, I'll help you eat it. But as long as we eat everything."
"Alright. I think I can do that." She grabbed the tray and placed it over her legs. "So what do you want?"
"The orange juice and a toast."
"Only this?" Sora asked a little nervous. "Come on, you eat much more than just a toast."
"I'm just warming up, Sor." Yamato gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek.
"You've already eaten and are warming up? That's odd, even for you."
"I can't risk eating too much at once and then feeling sick."
"When you put it like that, it makes sense." She looked at the tray towards a small bowl with something that looked strange and resisted her urge to throw up. "What's this?"
"It's peanut butter."
"What the hell? It doesn't look like it at all."
"That's because it's homemade."
"You found someone who makes it?"
"No, I looked for a recipe online and tried it myself." He looked at her feeling extremely proud of himself. "It's also another way to surprise you. I know how much you love it."
"I do." Sora tried her very best not to make a grossed-out face and disappoint him because he had put so much effort into that, but she couldn't help but feel like it tasted terribly.
"So try it. I want to know what you think."
"You didn't try it before?"
"No, I wanted to see your opinion first."
Great, Sora mumbled internally. She was definitely caught in a dead end and there was nowhere to escape that. So she grabbed a spoon and filled it with the peanut butter. Her eyes immediately went wide when she tried it on.
"This is actually pretty good."
"Of course it is. I made it."
"Silly." She laughed and then grabbed another spoon and handed it to him after she filled it up. "You should really try it now."
"Okay."
.
Koushiro put the bags he was carrying over the table, looking at Mimi the whole time. "I'm sorry for not being here when you woke up. I thought I would be back before it, but I took longer than I expected to."
"It's okay." Mimi replied rather uneasy. "Can we talk?"
"Sure. Do you want to have breakfast first?"
"No, I want to talk first. It's important."
"Alright." He approached her and placed his hand on the middle of her back, but she dodged it away. "We can go to my room."
"Okay, so what exactly happened last night?" Mimi asked right away as soon as Koushiro closed the door behind him.
"What do you mean? You don't remember it?" He sounded almost disappointed with it.
"I wish people would stop asking me that." She said annoyed. "If I'm asking, it's because I don't remember."
"You showed up here last night. I think you wanted to end things with me for good, but you were a little drunk and things turned the other way when I opened the door for you."
"I was drunk?" She repeated, visibly embarrassed. "And you didn't try to stop me?"
"I did, several times. But you didn't take no for an answer. That's why you're wearing my T-shirt."
"Oh God." Mimi looked down at her body and finally noticed she was only wearing a long gray T-shirt. "Your roommate saw me like this. This is so embarrassing."
"It's not like he hasn't seen any other of my dates wearing my clothes anyway."
"But they weren't married, were they?"
"No, they weren't."
"Exactly. I can't believe this happened. You should have stopped me!"
"Hey, I already said I tried. Just ask Taichi. Besides, you shouldn't be blaming me. You came here, I didn't chase you."
"I know, but still. Jou is going to kill me, I shouldn't have done this. I shouldn't have done this." She looked up at him. "Where are my clothes? I need to go home."
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for breakfast? I bought…"
"No!" Mimi exploded. "I just really need to go and be by myself. Things are already messed up a lot. Don't make things worse."
"Alright, I'm sorry. I was just trying to be polite."
"No, I apologize. But I can't really be around you any other second."
"Ouch."
"It's not you, it's me. I get impulsive and that's usually not good."
"I get it." Koushiro said simply. "Your clothes are on the chair. Just pull it away and you'll find them."
"Thank you."
"I'll let you get dressed and walk you out after that."
"I appreciate it." She sat on his bed after he left and sighed deeply.
.
"We should really stop meeting like this." Hikari stated lightly when she saw Takeru coming in her direction. "It's getting too predictable already."
"Is that so?" He asked with a smirk.
"Yes."
"So what did you think of our group reading session yesterday?"
"I think it was great. It was actually the first time I participated in one, so it was a new experience for me."
"Really? Would you do it again?"
"Why? Is this an invitation?"
"Maybe."
"Well, I would definitely go again."
"Great. We have a date next Saturday morning then."
"It is a date."
"By the way, I'm sorry I had to cancel our date last night. Something came up in the last minute and I couldn't postpone it."
"That's okay, don't worry about it."
"But it's definitely up for tonight. That is, if you still want to go out with me."
"I do." Hikari smiled. "I'm anxious to see what you have planned for us this time. Last time we went to give away food for homeless people. I wonder what kind of charity you'll invite for me to join you at."
"There won't be any charity this time around, so it's just dinner."
"Ah, I was looking forward to it."
"Sorry to disappoint you."
"That's okay. Only dinner is good too."
"Great, so can I pick you up at seven?"
"That sounds perfect to me."
"Oh and make sure to take your book, so I can sign it."
"Alright. I'll see you later tonight then."
"Of course. See you then."
.
Mimi opened the door from Koushiro's bedroom and walked out after having changed into her own clothes. She found him and Taichi sitting on the table already having breakfast.
"Where can I leave this?" She asked and looked down at the T-shirt in her hands.
"You can throw it on the floor and I'll pick it up when I'm finished.
"On the floor?"
"Yeah, it's okay. Today is laundry day, so I'll be collecting it soon."
"Alright." She dropped his T-shirt on the floor and looked at Koushiro. "Thanks for lending it to me."
"You're welcome."
"So… I should go."
"Okay, I'll walk you to the door."
"Koushiro." Mimi said after she made sure no one else would hear her. "I hope you forgive me for being impulsive. But this can't keep happening."
"Well, you're the one who came to my house and threw yourself towards me the moment you saw me."
"You have a point, but I can guarantee it won't happen again."
"Okay."
"I'm married and I love my husband."
"Why are you trying to convince me about this? Are you sure you're not trying to make yourself believe in it?"
"Ugh, it's impossible to talk to you." She began to lose her temper and get nervous.
"You know what? I think you are running away from your feelings. You want to be at peace, but it's clear you are confused."
"I'm not confused. I love my husband, that's a fact."
"Alright. So go be with him."
"I will." Mimi half turned around, but looked at him again. "Why are you doing this?"
"What am I doing exactly?"
"Not trying to make me stay."
"You just said you love your husband. You don't really want to stay."
"You really have no clue, do you?"
"Goodbye, Mimi." He rolled his eyes and closed the door, as much as it hurt him to do so.
Mimi began to head towards the elevator. As much as she was frustrated for Koushiro not getting her signals, part of her was also relieved he didn't beg her to stay. She leaned against the wall and looked up at the elevator ceiling, wondering when everything got so confusing. She knew most of it was her fault and her feelings were indeed all over the place. She closed her eyes and let the tears fall silently from her eyes, only wiping them when she reached the ground floor.
.
Mimi walked into her apartment after spending a couple of more inside her car, gathering the courage and strength to go upstairs. She turned on the lights in the living and immediately went to her bedroom. She walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet from the bathtub, letting the water fill it. She stepped out of her pants and inside the bathtub, sighing deeply as she dove into the warm water.
About an hour later, she got out of the tab and put her lavender robe on. Then she combed her hair and left the bathroom. She was completely taken by surprise when she saw Jou lying on the bed looking at her.
"Jou? What are you doing here?"
"I was missing my wife and decided to come see you. Surprised?"
"A little bit." Mimi sat down on the bed and looked at him. "I just wasn't expecting it. But it's a good surprise."
"I'm glad to hear that."
She leaned down and kissed him, resting her chin on his chest. "I missed my husband."
"I missed you too." Jou stroked her hair gently.
"How long are you going to stay here?"
"I don't know, maybe a week or two. I have something else to tell you."
"Okay, what is it?"
"I'm trying to be transferred here."
"What?"
"I have some interviews in some hospitals here in New York, but I'm really confident about it."
"That's really great news!" Mimi smiled and then bit her lower lip.
"What is it? Is something wrong?"
"There's something I need to tell you."
"Alright."
"First, I want you to know I'm not proud of what I did. But I do feel embarrassed about it."
"What did you do?"
"I… I cheated on you?"
"What?"
"I'm sorry." She held his arm in desperation. "I was wrong, I couldn't control myself. It was bigger than me."
"You couldn't control yourself?" Jou took his arm away from her reach.
"I know this is a lame excuse."
"You're damn right, it is." He stood up and walked to the chest of drawers to grab some of his belongings.
"Where are you going?"
"Anywhere. I just can't stay here tonight."
"Can't we talk about this?" She begged, climbing out of the bed.
"Not right now. I can't do it." He walked through the hall and out of her apartment.