Chapter 6 here we go…
Also...anyone speak Spanish fluently? It's going to be important in a couple of later chapters, and I don't want to use Google Translate. It's only going to be a bit of dialogue here and there. A couple of significant conversations but if you want to you will get spoilers in advanced hey, more power to you and you will have my eternal gratitude and' I'll think of proper compensation for the help.
Or I can just….say someone is yelling at someone in Spanish and then you get to wait and
Not to mention does anyone want to see a love scene or two in this story? If not I'm okay with it, I didn't plan on it, but if you guys want to see it, I'll write it if not we will go on with the story as is.
Soon we shall see the remainder of Mei's tattoos mwahahahahahaha. And possibly some of Mitsuko's, hopefully, that aspect doesn't weird you guys out.
I also hope this isn't feeling weird or unusual to you all. I'm playing with a lot of strange ideas, and it's got me on edge. But, I've been getting some good advice from people and it's helped me a lot. I guess the thing is that I screwed up a possible publishing opportunity once and I don't want to do it again.
I know how people feel about fanfictions and characterizations, I've been writing them for almost twenty years, not that I'm trying to gloat. I use them as a means of experimentation with story ideas and styles, and I know it makes me an acquired taste. But I want you all to know that I do care very much about how I write these stories and want you to enjoy them I always have that in mind.
Sorry, I bet some of you guys are sick of these notes but' here's the latest chapter and I hope you guys like it.
Chapter Six
"That's interesting," muttered Mei as she lifted her camera and began taking pictures of a flower in the garden at the park she had accompanied Himeko to so she could work on training one of her local clients dogs, a sleek, nearly all brown, Boxer in the section that had been quartered off for dogs.
For Himeko, it was an everyday experience mixing between vocal and hand commands while using treats and a small clicking device in her hand to get the dog to do what she needed it to, all while ensuring her dogs remained seated while she did her work.
But to Mei, a person who'd only seen the fruits of Himeko's labor, it was an impressive sight. Even with all the times she'd seen Himeko show off the progress Puuchi and Yukio had made, Mei had never truly paid attention to what she was missing out on and was starting to wish she had.
She'd always known how serious Himeko had been about her dogs, but even with that knowledge Mei thought of it more of like those pageant moms she'd heard horror stories about, but Mei was glad that she was wrong. As she watched Himeko work there was an air around her that Mei had rarely seen. Mei could sense the focus and determination in Himeko's voice and couldn't resist taking pictures of her. The way her brow furrowed when the dog began to go off course and how her smiled betrayed her when the dog would lick her hand in apology which led to Himeko spending a few moments playing with the dog before returning to work.
As she watched, Mei couldn't resist taking a few pictures which caught Himeko's attention, causing her to lose her focus and accidentally give the dog the wrong signal and causing the dog to take off at a run and leap over the fence and begin running around thinking it was play time.
It didn't take long for them to get the dog back under control, but the incident, along with a stern talking to from park security. After that, Himeko had strongly suggested that Mei go somewhere, which was why she was hanging around the large flower garden, an expensive camera hanging around her neck while taking pictures of petals in the hope that she'd be able to recreate the coloring when they got home, but not before Mei took a nice long nap.
Thanks to Himeko's adherence to a strict training regimen, not only with the dogs she was hired to train, but her dogs as well, Mei had somehow ended up getting swept up in the schedule, albeit not nearly as strict but she did try to wake up and join Himeko as often as she could.
Even though Mei spent nights burning the midnight oil and sometimes sleeping until almost two in the afternoon while Himeko was up at seven preparing a breakfast she'd developed for her dogs before cooking something for the two of them that didn't come from a box, the freezer, or consisted solely of eggs and bread.
Over the past three weeks, Mei had gotten used to waking up to the smell of freshly cooked meat, french toast, or some other meal that Mei hadn't had outside of a restaurant in the past several years.
Not that she was complaining.
Himeko had kept her promise to help keep the fridge well stocked, and when Mei wasn't drowning in work, she offered her what little help she could.
Even though she wasn't completely useless in the kitchen, Mei had only ever learned how to cook simple, but nutritious meals. This was due to her grandfather's waning health causing his stomach to become more and more sensitive the longer his illness went on and while it was filling, the meals weren't all that satisfying thanks to the lack of seasonings allowed. Even after his death, Mei had attempted to modify the recipes with things she found online making them tasty enough that she'd put in the effort to cook them so long as she wasn't recovering from one of her three-day work binges.
Thankfully, Himeko had expected this, and on top of making sure they were fed, when Mei offered to help in the kitchen, their roles became more of a master and apprentice than two friends working side by side as equals and Mei wasn't going to begin complaining. Upon until he got sick, her grandfather had either hired someone to cook their meals or ordered their meals in. Whether it was on his dime, clients, or a meal offered at some gallery event or museum opening, Mei had never had to worry about when and how her meals were prepared, only that she knew where to get them when she was hungry.
For a time after her grandfather's death she managed to cook for herself, but thanks to the legal battles, the theft of his paintings, and her workloads, she'd fallen back into old habits but all that had changed the moment she'd allowed Himeko to move in.
With Himkeo in the house, Mei felt like the house had grown warmer on top of feeling like she had more energy.
And Mei vowed that she was going to put that extra energy to use learning skills she should have learned a long time ago and she had to admit she was enjoying the lessons, even though Himeko was more authoritarian than Mei remembered. She remembered when they were younger how often Himeko would complain about her duties as the vice-president of her high school student council and how her classmates would push try her patience. But Mei knew her friend enjoyed the work, and whenever they worked in the kitchen, Mei could see why her friend's former classmates would complain about her.
Despite her occasional playfulness, Himeko had a demanding nature about her that Mei became privy to any time she attempted to deviate from the recipe Himeko was trying to teach her. When Mei asked why she couldn't, Himeko would give her a long tangent about how and why she shouldn't deviate from the recipe until she knew how to properly make it as it was written.
If it had been anyone else, Mei would have fought back and provided a counter argument about why she should be able to, but when it came to Himeko, Mei couldn't bring herself to for two reasons.
The first was that she couldn't find any real flaw in Himeko's reasoning.
Mei didn't know the first thing about the recipes her friend was attempting to teach her and like any good student, Mei bit her tongue and asked for an explanation and allowed Himeko to explain and help correct her mistakes.
The second reason was that, in spite of Himeko's attitude, Mei could tell that her friend wasn't trying to be cruel or malicious, but instead she was looking out for her and trying to make sure she didn't cook something that would make anyone sick. Even though she wasn't present Himeko knew what happened to Mei's grandfather and wanted to make sure it didn't happen again and Mei couldn't but be reminded of her grandfather. How he'd make sure that she understood why each line and stroke mattered, and how she should understand the intent behind what she was painting or drawing before proceeding. Whether it be for fun, exploring a fantasy, or trying to make a statement.
When she came to this realization, Mei had nearly sliced the tip of her finger off because of the tears leading Himeko to scream in surprise before grabbing Mei's wrist a split second before she'd pressed down on the blade. After a long conversation, most of which was Mei repeatedly telling Himeko that she was fine, Himeko had Mei sit down on the couch and relax while she finished making their dinner before turning on a movie and relaxing for the rest of the night. When they did this, the night typically ending both of them falling asleep on the couch with Mei resting her head on Himeko's lap with one dog resting between Mei's legs and the other curled up next to Himeko, and as she finished taking a picture of a rather intriguing blue and purple flower, Mei was beginning to wonder how much longer Himeko was going to take.
It had been nearly an hour and though she could tell from the way Himeko was laughing that her temper had been calmed but was still keeping her distance. After taking a moment to check on Himeko, using her lens, Mei continued wandering the park, looking for anything that might spark any form of inspiration for her next project.
If it had been a weekday, Mei would have wandered around the park taking pictures of whatever she wanted, but as it was a Saturday she had to be a little more careful. Lately, there had been a bit of a crackdown on people with cameras due to a series of car thefts and other illegal activities so Mei was making sure to focus solely on anything that couldn't be mistaken for her plotting anything illicit.
However that sense of security disappeared just as she finished taking a picture of the way the coins in the park's fountain shimmered in the sunlight, a deep voice asked, "Excuse me, Miss, but what do you think you're doing?"
Mei cursed loudly, earning her some disapproving looks from a few nearby parents with young children while a few teens snickered to themselves as they watched Mei struggle to catch her camera, but ended with her blushing when she realized she'd shortened the strap enough so that she didn't need to worry about it cracking.
But that didn't help the sense of dread that bubbled in the back of her mind as she worried that her outfit might have given off the wrong impression. It wouldn't be the first time, given the dress code required to get into a few of the places Matty and Mitsuko had found. Most of the time they were well-behaved, only looking for some food and a couple of drinks. But now and then, regardless of their involvement, a fight broke out and there had been a few instances where they had to answer a police officers questions.
Other than Matty, and on one occasion Harumi, none of them had ever been involved in any of the disturbances. But that still didn't mean Mei enjoyed talking with the police. While she didn't have anything against the police personally, she barely tolerated them when she needed to discuss her grandfather's case. Thankfully those were few and far between outside of a monthly update on their progress.
But as she heard the voice, Mei's hands began to shake and she felt a bead of sweat drip down her neck as she tried to calmly say, "I'm just taking some pictures, Officer. If you want I can show you exactly what it is that I've...been..."
As she turned around, Mei felt her throat clench shut when she saw the familiar, annoying grin of her father filling her view; his hand raised in greeting as he chuckled at the look of horror slip from his daughter's face. But the longer she looked, the more Mei felt her relief turn to frustration before snorting and shoving her way past him and toward Himeko.
" Are you serious, Mei," shouted Shou as he chased after Mei while the wheels of his suitcase rolled loudly behind him. "Mei, I'm sorry! It was dumb I know, but..."
Even though she wanted to bite his head off for pulling such a stupid joke, Mei repressed the urge and instead picked up her pace in hopes of widening the gap between them but that only strengthened her father's resolve.
"Mei, wa...wait. Seriously! It's hard to keep up with you pulling this thing behind me! Come on, can't you..."
"Will you please be quiet?! You're making a scene!"
After shouting her retort at her father, Mei felt her ears and cheeks burn when she realized how many people were pointing and laughing at the two of them. At first, Mei thought it was because of her father's shouting, but after seeing the Hawaiian shirt, bright blue shorts, and sandals her father was wearing, Mei was beginning to wonder why she'd bothered even turning around and acknowledging the fact that she knew him.
But now that the cat was out of the bag, Mei couldn't do anything but fall into his trap and give him the conversation he was so desperately craving.
"Why are you wearing that ridiculous outfit," inquired Mei after recovering from her initial shock at her father's attire.
"What are you talking about?" As he approached, Shou looked down at his shirt and shorts and shrugged. "I was in Hawaii, helping a colleague go over his presentation on the history of Polynesian art. What was I going to do; wear my suit and tie the whole time?"
"I'd have preferred it if you had worn that instead of this." Mei waved her hand and rolled her eyes before giving a defeated sigh. "But then again you've always done what you wanted so I don't even know why I'm complaining."
"Don't be like that," said Shou in a consoling voice while trying to put do the same by patting his daughter on the head.
"Please don't." Mei grabbed her father's wrist and gave it a quick squeeze before letting it go.
"Okay." Shou nodded and put his hand in his pocket and nodded in agreement. "I wasn't trying to cross any boundaries. I'm sorry."
"If you say so," sighed Mei as she checked the lighting on her camera and returned to walking. "How long are you in town for this time? A few days or are you doing one of your infamous turn arounds and be gone in the morning?"
"A little longer than that," chuckled Shou, hanging a few steps back to avoid causing Mei to run away again. "If you want to know, I'm going to be in town teaching for a while."
"So a month?"
Despite her frustrations with her father, a part of Mei couldn't help but feel a little happy that was in town. As angry as she was at him, she did miss having him in her life. The problem was that she never allowed herself to get her hopes up whenever he came back. The reason being that, because no matter how much he said he loved her and that he missed her, or whatever gift he ended up using to try and show how sorry he was, he would always end up leaving and she'd be left alone.
"Longer," said Shou causing Mei's eyes to widen briefly before narrowing again.
"Are you being serious or is this another one of your stupid games," she snorted several feet away from the entrance to the dog park where Himeko was in the process of getting her charge ready to go home. "Because if it is, I'm not in the mood."
"All right, All right." Shou let out a loud sigh and shook his head before reaching into his pant pocket and pulled out a folded envelope and handed it to his daughter. "Since I know you don't believe me, here's the proof. I was trying to keep you in suspense, but well here ya go in black and white, one of the reasons why I'm back."
Mei immediately took the paper from her father and began to read it.
The first thing that caught her eye was that it was from the Illinois State University's Fine Arts program which didn't surprise her. Her father always had tentative contracts with universities and it wasn't uncommon for him to teach at the college Mei as reading about from time to time though generally, it was in a short term limited capacity. The only reason for that was because while he taught at local universities at the same time, he was also working for local museums doing restorative works; however, this time there was something strange about the contract and it took a moment but Mei eventually Mei realized what it was and couldn't believe it.
Finally, fourth time reading it, Mei managed to process what it said, opened her mouth and said in disbelief, "A year? You're back for a year?"
"Yep." Shou smiled broadly and puffed his chest out in victory as he spoke. "They asked me to teach there for a full year, and they already found me a nice house about twenty minutes walking distance from the campus. Not to mention that if things go well, I could get it extended and possibly even tenured if I do a good enough job."
"I don't doubt that you will," answered Mei, folding the paper back into the envelope and handing it to her father and gave a polite nod. "Congratulations, Father, I'm very happy for you."
"You could at least try to look it," said Shou with a disappointed look in his eye. "This is big news, Mei. I'm back long term; I thought you'd be happy."
"Yes, well, I've spent the last several years feeling the way you look right now, so forgive me if I'm not as ecstatic as you." Mei felt her phone begin to vibrate in her pocket and as much as she wanted to answer it if only to avoid the following conversation. Mei knew that if she ignored her father, it would only steel his resolve to hang around further than she'd like, and he was already beginning to try her patience.
"But I suppose we could go out for dinner to celebrate," she said trying to sound at least a little happy for her father's good fortune and also to try and remove the look that reminded her of a kicked puppy off of her father's face. "I'll even pay so you can pick anywhere you want to go. But we'll have to stop by the house first. I take it you'll be staying there tonight?"
"A few nights, if that's okay." Shou's face had brightened a little at hearing Mei wanting to celebrate with him, which helped to alleviate some of her guilt. "If not, I can get a hotel pretty quick or stay with one of my friends in the city."
"It's no trouble if you stay at the house." Mei felt her shoulders lighten a little at seeing a bit of the spark return to his eyes. "But fair warning that I'm not living alone at the moment so you will have roommates to deal with."
"Roommates?" Shou's eyebrow arched as he spoke and his head tilted as he asked, "Who's living with you? Matsuri? Harumi? Is it that girl you've…"
"Stop it," barked Mei a little louder than she intended causing several people to stare in her direction and her ears to turn bright red and her father snicker.
"I'm sorry," apologized Shou through a strangled cough. "I couldn't resist. You know I didn't mean anything by it."
"I understand it was a joke," said Mei, annoyed that he'd be so brazen in public, "and for your information, that girl has a name but I'm not telling you, and I haven't seen her in almost a month. She's out of town, and I'm almost positive that she's seeing somebody so I'd appreciate it if you didn't bring up the subject. Especially around..."
"Mei-Mei! I'm done!"
Mei had never felt so relieved in her life at Himeko interrupting one of her conversations and couldn't hold back her smile t the look of shock and glee on her father's face at seeing his daughter's oldest friend and her two dogs begin rushing toward them.
While Mei had opted for something practical, a simple hoodie, tee-shirt, and shorts for the unusually warm day, Himeko had gone for a shirt with puffy shoulders and a long frilly pink skirt that Mei was sure was already circulating on the local social media. Either that or for the unusual way Himeko's hair grew and her unnaturally large eyebrows.
"Himeko-chan," exclaimed her father in Japanese, a massive grin on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"Aihara-san?" Himeko came skidding to a halt next to Mei and after struggling about whether or not to hug him or bow, bent over in a stiff, jerky bow. "It's lovely to see you again. It's been a long time."
"Only six months," laughed Shou before patting Himeko on the head and then bending down to pet the dogs. "Are you in town for a competition? Or does it have to do with what your parents told me about what happened with this little guy?"
"It has to do with him," said Himeko as she watched Puuchi roll over and allowed Shou to begin petting its stomach. Mei watched Himeko's shoulders slumping at the knowledge that her parents had told Shou about what happened during her competition and didn't know who she was angrier at, her father or Himeko's parents but remained quiet as Himeko continued to speak. "America was the only place where I still had clients who would let me train their dogs, and Mei-Mei was kind enough to allow me to stay in the guest room. But if it's an inconvenience I can..."
"There'll be no need for that." Shou gave the female a quick pat on the head and smiled when she let out a low whimper when he stopped so he could stand up. "If that's your arrangement then I'm not going to intrude more than necessary, as long as it's okay with Mei that I visit the two of you on occasion."
"How often will you be visiting," asked Himeko with a nervous glance toward Mei who was in the process of scratching both dogs on the head, acting like she wasn't paying attention, but both Himeko and Shou knew she was playing possum. "Also, how long are you staying this time? Mei-Mei and I were going to head to the store this afternoon as I was going to be teaching her how to make beef stroganoff. If it's okay with Mei-Mei, you're more than welcome to join us."
"Mei's learning to cook?" Shou's mouth dropped briefly in surprise but shut it the moment his daughter's glare turned on him. "Holy crap, I never thought I'd see the day. That's amazing."
"Is it really that surprising to you that I'd want to learn how to cook for myself," she asked through gritted teeth. "I'm an adult and these are things an adult needs to learn how to do for themselves."
"Well yeah," said Shou, still not fully recovered from his amazement, "but it's just that, you've never...really..."
"What?" Mei's voice grew louder as she felt the excitement of her father finally being home melted away and was replaced by the familiar annoyance and frigidity at her father's lax attitude when it came to her. "I've never really what, Father?"
"Mei, calm down," said Shou with a nervous grin as people continued to stare. "People are staring."
"Do not tell me to calm down," snapped Mei while Himeko attached the leashes to the dogs and collars and carefully pulled them away. "First you sneak up on me and play some stupid practical joke. Then you act like your getting a job at the university is some magical gift when you could have gotten a job like that any time you wanted! And now you're trying to claim something about me that you think is true, even though you've hardly shown an interest in what's been going on in my life in the past fifteen years."
"I wasn't claiming to..."
"Then why did you say it?" Mei walked up and drew up to her full height, not that it was all that imposing seeing as how her head barely reached his shoulder. "Why did you say that I had..."
"How did you know what I was going to say if you didn't even let me finish my sentence" countered Shou, his stance firm but the look on his face clearly showed that he was barely keeping his composure. "Maybe you should let me finish what I'm going to say before you begin to say I was making false claims, did you ever think about that?"
"You were going to say that I never showed an interest in cooking, weren't you," shot back Mei, causing her father's face to turn red. "That's what I thought. But for your information, I do know how to cook. I cooked for Grandfather for months while he was sick, Himeko is just helping me learn to be a better one."
Shou's mouth opened and closed a few times as he tried to figure out what to say, but ended up giving her a nervous grin and shrugging.
"Okay, you got me on that," he said with a nervous chuckle, failing to ease the tension. "But I wasn't trying to make it out like an attack; I was just surprised. I didn't know you knew how to cook, given how Dad barely ever did anything like that. Hell, the only times I ever remember him cooking were on special occasions for him and Mom so I thought you'd have fallen in the same boat."
"I'd hardly consider that Grandfather's fault." Mei had deflated some, and her voice had returned to its usual timbre, but she refused to step away. "It's yours for never being home."
"I get it, Mei." Sho took a step back and rubbed the back of his head, "and I'm sorry. I should have talked to you about what was going on with the university. But I wanted you to know that I didn't do it for me. I did it for you and because I want to be here. I know I was hardly around and maybe it's too little too, but I at least thought you'd be happy that I'm trying to make a stronger effort. It's selfish, I know, but can we at least try."
"Right now, there are two things I know." Mei took a deep breath and stuffed her hand in her pocket to hide how violently her hand was shaking. "And just so we're clear those two things are that I don't know how I'm feeling about all this except for the fact that because of this, I don't know if I want you in the house at the moment. I can't stop you from taking the job, and in my way, I'm happy that you got it. But I need some time to think this through, and I can't do that if you come back home. So please do me a favor and stay away from me; at least until I can figure this out."
In spite of her anger and resentment, Mei felt a twinge of guilt at the look of pain on her father's face, and for a moment she was reminded of the night he left and how she'd stayed up all night crying on the couch asking her grandfather why he left. She also remembered how much she hated school after that. How her teachers had looked at her with pity and the way some of the kids in her school had teased her once the word got out that her father had abandoned her. The years of loneliness and pain it had caused because he couldn't handle living in the house his wife had died in but somehow managed to live with the knowledge of leaving his only child behind.
On top of that, Mei could barely tolerate flood of memories of nights crying herself to sleep, waiting for him to come home. The feelings of unbridled joy of when he managed to find the time to see her and the sense of false hope that that visit would be the one where he'd finally stay home only to vanish in the early hours of the morning a few days later, leaving her shattered and hiding in her room for days and only coming out when her grandfather came with news that she had to return to school or face expulsion.
But tolerate them she did and Mei managed to blink back the tears that she felt in her eyes as she watched her father nod and say, "Okay. If that's what you want, then that's what I'll do. Is it okay if I give you this before I..."
Shou reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card and extended it toward Mei.
"I already have your information," snorted Mei and snatched the card.
After giving it a look over, her mouth dropped open and let out a low, "Oh," when she saw her father's new position and contact information at the school emblazoned on it, including his new address.
"Yeah," coughed Shou as he reached down for the handle of his rolling suitcase. "That was the other part of the surprise. I figured some proof might be useful if the letter and my word weren't enough, not that I blame you since and that's my fault. But when you're ready or if you ever feel ready, then you know where to find me.
"I'll keep that in mind," whispered Mei, crumpling the card up and shaking her head.
"Right." Shou took an impromptu step toward, his arms instinctively opening before stopping when he saw Mei wasn't willing to do the same and instead raised his hand and waved at Himeko.
"Himeko-chan! It was great seeing you! Take care of her for me!"
Looking over her shoulder, Mei saw Himeko nod and waved back, a nervous smile on her face before looking back down at the dogs
"So hopefully I'll see you sometime soon," asked Shou, a hint of hope returning to his voice only to have it crushed when he saw the piece of paper fall to the ground and nodded before giving Mei one more half-hearted nod, turned, and began heading toward the street.
When he was gone, Mei heard Himeko's voice from behind and turned around, and it wouldn't be the first time she was grateful to see her friend's face since she'd moved in.
"Mei-Mei, are you all right?"
"I'm not sure," said Mei, allowing herself to feel the embrace of Himeko's hand on her shoulder. "To be honest, that was the last thing I was expecting to happen, and I'm not sure if I did the right thing."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Himeko took a step back, but her hand remained plastered to Mei's shoulder, a look of concern in her eyes as she watched her best friend's feet begin to fidget. "Or would you rather we act like it didn't happen?"
"I want to talk about it at some point," sniffed Mei before stuffing her hands in her pockets and giving Himeko her best reassuring, albeit awkward smile. "But thank you for staying nearby, I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here today."
"You'll always have me," said Himeko before moving in and giving Mei a cautious kiss on the cheek. "Remember?"
"I know." Mei nodded and ran a hand over her face and sighed before letting out a low groan when her phone started to buzz. "That better not be him."
"Want me to answer it?" Himeko pointed at the phone now resting in Mei's hands.
"Uhh, no," Mei shook her head and typed out something on her phone.
"Okay."
Himeko reached into her pocket and tossed a few treats to the dogs and watched as a smile spread across Mei's face before catching the glimpse of a man wearing a red and blue superhero outfit with a black webbing and a giant spider on it along with some headphones wrapped around his neck and a pretty blonde-haired woman wearing a green dress, pointy ears, and what looked like a gold tiara and jewelry along with several strange statues, products, and other people dressed in costumes walking around them.
They were both smiling, though Himeko couldn't help but notice the awkwardness on the man's face as he smiled but at the same time saw a smile filling Mei's face and snorted when she heard Mei chuckle.
"Mei-Mei," said Himeko with a small cough in her voice. "Do you want to get going? I know it's still early, but if we want to get everything for dinner and still do the rest of our errands, we should get going soon."
"R...right." Mei's smile disappeared and she clicked her phone off before returning her attention to Himeko. "If you want, there's a grocery store that way that I think will allow us to bring the dogs in if we don't want to head back to the house."
"That would be nice." Himeko smiled down at the dogs and blew both of them a kiss. "They don't get to go to the stores back home, so I think it'll be a nice change of pace for them. Shall we get going?"
Mei nodded but held up her camera and said, "I'll be along in a minute. I want to check these pictures and get a few extra just in case I don't like the lighting. Do you think you can get started without me?"
"Of course." Himeko raised her clicker and gave it a single click, causing the dogs to stand up before tugging gently on their leashes. "All right, you two. Let's let Auntie Mei-Mei work while we go shopping for something yummy to eat."
Mei watched Himeko's retreating back, and when she was confident that she was gone, Mei bent down and lifted her foot and removed the stained and crumpled business card, swallowed, and despite the knot in her stomach slipped it into her pocket just as her phone began buzzing.
Pulling it out, Mei was surprised to see Yuzu's number, and after glancing over her shoulder at the store, Mei accepted the call and said, "Hello?"
"Hey," shouted Yuzu over the sound of hundreds of voices behind her. "Sorry to call out of the blue, but I had to get out of there for a minute. This outfit is way too hot, and there's so many people that Henry is….I know I shouldn't be complaining because I invited him to come, but he's being a little bit of a pain today. But nobody's perfect, right? Anyway, how are you doing? Is everything going okay with your friend?"
"Yeah, everything's going okay with her," answered Mei with a chuckle. "She's been teaching me to cook and it's been good having her around. I've been able to focus more on work and I even managed to make most of my deadlines which surprised a few of my clients."
"I bet," chuckled Yuzu, the ambient noise becoming much less apparent, though she could hear Yuzu telling Henry to follow her outside. "My clients are why I'm in this outfit even though I can barely breathe in it. But that's the price you pay when you're here promoting the people you represent."
"I was meaning to ask you about that," laughed Mei sitting down on one of the unoccupied benches while Henry shouted in the background that he was going to buy a snack, causing her to begin rubbing the piece of paper in her pocket. "Why exactly are you wearing that outfit?"
Yuzu let out a loud laugh but before she came back, Henry loudly said, "Yuzu, they had that soda you like so I got one."
"Aww thanks," Mei heard Yuzu say, causing her stomach to twist into knots. "Can I get a kiss?"
"Okay, but make it quick," Mei heard Henry say, causing her to furrow her brow in annoyance. "I need to go see this costume someone's wearing of Doctor Octopus. Apparently, they made actual moving arms and I want to ask them some questions for my diagrams."
"Okay." Yuzu giggled and Mei heard a gentle kiss. "I love you. I'll be right here when you're done."
Mei couldn't hear what he said afterward but let out a sigh of relief when she heard Yuzu say, "Sorry about that. You now have my undivided attention and I believe we were talking about why I look like some character out of a B-list internet fantasy movie?"
"I believe we were," snickered Mei, glad that she at least had a few minutes to talk to the blonde without any interruptions.
"You sure you want to hear this," grumbled Yuzu after a quiet belch. "It's not a pretty story."
Mei felt her phone buzz, but ignored it and continued to massage the business card as she chuckled, "I'm willing to risk it."
