My Dear Parasyte

Chapter 6

Good Thinking Yeah Right

Tuesday morning Sonia sets her alarm to wake her two hours early. She had to have time to get to the mayor's office and deliver the gift then get to work on time. Sonia dresses in a light pink casual dress that stops just above the knee. She even adds a few accessories to compliment the dress and she was now ready. There was no hassle with finding his address so the trip was simple. Sonia stops outside a small brick building with one large window in the front. She double checks the address. This is the place so she takes a deep breath and enters. The front room is a big open space lined with a few desks that are cluttered with paperwork. There doesn't appear to be anyone else here which is a bit strange. It was very early though but still there should have been someone to greet incoming people. Sonia walks to the center of the room and stands. She notices a brown wooden door on her left that is closed and a door on her right that is open. The door on the right leads to an office with a desk and chair. Beyond that door is a closed door with black letters written on the glass. It reads "Mayor Takeshi Hirokawa." Sonia is frozen to the spot for a moment. If she wanted she could turn back now and no one would ever know she was here. That would mean she came all this way and was too chicken to even speak to the man. Sonia clutches the gift underneath her arm carefully and proceeds to his door. After all if he wasn't there she could leave it on his desk with a note. That would be alright. No harm no foul. As Sonia raises her hand to knock she hears voices. They are both male voices but she can't make out what their saying. Maybe this is a bad time if he is meeting with someone. She could put it on the desk in this room and leave. If she did that she would run the risk of it not being delivered or even worse someone else might take credit. She was going to have to man up and do this. Sonia raises her hand again and gives a good firm knock. The two voices inside his office stop abruptly.

"Come in." says a male voice

Sonia turns the knob and enters cautiously. Her heart was beating quickly again. Mayor Takeshi is standing up behind his desk that faces the door but he isn't alone. There is another man present that is standing beside him also facing her. The man is tall she guesses almost six feet. She can also see that his muscles are massive underneath the gray full piece suit that he's wearing. His straight black hair is combed back from his face which is an older face maybe late-forties. It's aged well with a long but strong jawline. His stare is blank but his very presence is so commanding that it sends a single chill down her spine.

"Umm….I." Sonia stops

She swallows the saliva that seems to have piled up in her mouth.

"You may not remember me Mister Hirokawa but I met you in the park a couple nights ago."

Mayor Takeshi stares at Sonia.

"Yes." He confirms.

"I wanted to bring you something because you seemed a bit preoccupied. I can imagine how busy your job must be. Just wanted to make a nice gesture is all." Says Sonia

She feels a bit out of breath and she knows her face is starting to flush. Both men just stare at her neither one of them speak.

"So….here it is."

Sonia takes the gift from under her arm and sits it on the corner of Mayor Takeshi's desk.

"I hope you like it. It's a lamp and the shade is a decorate design made entirely out of recycled paper." Says Sonia

She looks from the lamp to the two men. Mayor Takeshi studies it while the other man never takes his eyes off Sonia. It's starting to make her skin crawl so she looks back to the mayor.

"Well, I hope you like it."

The silence is almost unbearable. Now she was starting to second guess if this was the correct decision at all. Was he insulted, shocked, surprised? Any clue would have been nice but he was downright stone faced. The mayor doesn't say anything at first as he looks back to Sonia. There is about five seconds of straight silence. It wouldn't have been so bad but there wasn't even so much as a clock ticking in the room. It was dead silent in that office except for Sonia's own breathing. She was beginning to think that maybe the men could hear it.

"Thank you." Says Mayor Takeshi

Sonia almost feels like the two of them are studying her the way they stand staring. They don't even look away.

"You're welcome. Um. I have a prior engagement so I have to go." Says Sonia

She doesn't even wait for a reply as she practically runs out of the office. She takes a deep breath of the morning air after she gets out of the building. What the hell was wrong with those guys? Did they get off on watching her squirm? Sonia isn't sure what to think but her head is whirling with ideas. She could march back in there and tell him off for not appreciating what she went out of her way to do for him. Then what would that guy with muscles growing out of muscle do? That wasn't a wise idea at all. What if he was like the mayor's bodyguard or something? Did mayors need that kind of security? Sonia didn't know the first thing about him. What did she expect to happen? She just came barging into his office without an appointment. Right, that must have been it. That was rude of her no doubt interrupting his current appointment. That might even explain their reaction. Egg was on her face this time.