Rick walked the city streets of Macross alone. He had not been able to keep his promise to himself about asking Lisa out as so many things had happened in the last few weeks. The SDF-1 had finally made it back to Earth and landed in the Pacific Ocean. As for Lisa, she and Captain Gloval, had gone to Alaska Base to report on Zentraedi actions since the SDF-1 left Earth, request to have the civilians relocated as soon as possible and to try and convince the government to try and establish a truce with the Zentraedi. Unfortunately, they were unsuccessful in their endevour as the citizens was still on board the vessel as the Earth's government had declared that the inhabitents of Macross as casualties of war and there was currently no where to relocate the 80,000 people on board.
Rick also had an opportunity to leave the SDF-1 to escort Minmei home to her parents for a short visit. What had first been a pleasurable activity for him, soon turned into a chore as not only was he involved in her family squabble, her cousin Kyle accompanied them back to the ship. He watched as Minmei, who was already half in love with Kyle, fall further under his spell and start to turn her career over to him to manage. The little time that Rick saw of Minmei before Kyle, now became virtually not at all since she was busy filming her first film and Kyle made sure Minmei had no time for her pilot friend. Rick had been hurt by this but in many ways realized that his military life and her more glamorous lifestyle weren't really compatible. He also discovered that Minmei didn't really want to understand the severity of the Earth's situation , instead continued to focus on her singing, dancing, acting career and herself. Rick came to the realization that Minmei was pretty self absorbed and the time they did spend together, she spoke of her many activities and busy schedule, but rarely asked about Rick's life.
Preoccupied with his thoughts and not really watching where he was going, Rick bumped into someone standing in front of a store in the shopping district. Apologizing profusely, Rick looked up to find a pair of smiling green eyes. Lisa, putting her hands on her hip in mock anger, "Well is that anyway to greet an officer?".
Rick smiled in return, noting that Lisa seemed to be in a good mood. Rick was also surprised to see Lisa dressed so casually in dark blue jeans, black flats and black top under a light grey jacket. Lisa's hair was loose and flowy and he was amazed by how young Lisa looked.
Rick apologized again and Lisa accepted, and then she pointed to the window that she had been standing in front of. Inside the shop window, were five puppies, barking and wagging their tails trying to get Lisa's attention.
"Aren't they so cute?" exclaimed Lisa. Rick couldn't help but smile as Lisa leaned in towards the window to watch the puppies frollicking in their pen. He joined her in getting their attention and couldn't help but laugh at the antics of a young brown and white puppy. Seeing how much Lisa was enjoying herself, Rick found himself asking her, "Why don't we go inside and see them Lisa, I'm sure they would let you hold one."
Rick could see the longing in her eyes to enter the shop but Lisa demurred, glancing at the puppies again, she said, "oh I don't dare go in, I'd be afraid I'd take one home with me!"
Rick didn't think that would necessarily be a bad thing, but knew that pets were not allowed on base. Still he encouraged Lisa to go in to see the puppies. With his encouragement and a tug on her sleeves, they found themselves inside the shop, chatting with the shop owner and then in a little room where Lisa and Rick were able to play with the brown and white puppy they saw in the window earlier. Fifteen minutes later, the two left the shop still laughing at the antics of the now sleeping puppy. Lisa had hated to leave him there but knew that it was for the best.
As they left the shop, and without much discussion, the two headed further into Macross City and their reasons for venturing into the city that day.
"Are you headed into town to see Minmei, Rick?" Lisa asked innocently. Unaware that Miss Macross was a bit of a sore spot with Rick at the moment, he just shook his head and mentioned that he didn't have much else to do that day and though that going into town would be a pleasant diversion. He found that those words were truer than he expected, especially with the current company he was keeping.
"What about you Lisa? You aren't usually much for going into the city."
"No, you're right, I haven't been for a while, I just need to get away from base a bit. Probably been cooped up too long, thought that coming out here would help." Lisa smiled at Rick who could see that underneath Lisa's bright expression, he could see some tiredness and fatigue in the way she held her body. Rick thought about what Roy said about Lisa taking on too much and smiled brightly at her, "well if you don't have any definite plans, why don't we see if we can find something to do together."
Rick could see her hesitating a bit on his offer, but was happy to hear Lisa's positive reply, "Well, if you're sure you want to hang out with an ole sourpuss like me, then I'd really like that Rick, thank you."
As they walked, the two chatted about whether there were any new developments with the United Earth government allowing the civilians off the SDF-1, they talked about Roy and Claudia as well as the stress of being a squadron leader. Rick was surprised to find Lisa a good listener. It was nice to have someone to unburden himself to and it was good to have someone actually listen to him. Lisa gave him some things to think about and was glad that he had ran into her that day.
The two of them didn't just chat the whole time, they also indulged in some window shopping. Rick was secretly impressed when Lisa passed by a clothing and jewelry store with nary a glance, but came to a dead stop in front of the electronics store that had a lot of fun and new gadgets displayed in the windows. They spend some time checking out the newest personal gadgets, from phones to fitness bands and digital recorders. Lisa expressed interest in purchasing a new digital music player and the two went in to take a look at the latest models.
As they were looking at the latest models and debating the merits of each of them, a salesperson came up to the two of them. "Hello, welcome to Ace Electronics, I'm Matt, I see you two are looking at our newest music players. Any questions you two have on these items?"
Lisa and Rick glanced at one another and Rick for some reason took the lead and pointed to two differnent devices that Lisa had been looking at, "Hi Matt, yes, could you tell what features these both have and advantages one may have over the other?"
Matt did a thorough review of the two items and then pointed out the one to the left. Glancing at Lisa, he said to Rick, "If this is for your girlfriend, this might be a better model."
Matt took the device from Rick's hand and pushed a little side button where a little compact mirror popped out.
Rick could see the annoyance on Lisa's face and that she was about to open her mouth and lay into the poor unsuspecting salesperson. Rick quickly stood between Lisa and the salesperson, pulled out his credit card and handed it to Matt saying, "No, I think we'll go with the other model, we are in a bit of a hurry though, would you be able to ring it up?"
Matt responded with a smile and left with Rick's card, while Rick turned to a fuming Lisa and said laughingly, "Let it go Lisa, he was just trying to be helpful."
As Matt came back with the bag and receipt for Rick to sign, Lisa accepted the bag and after Matt left she said, "Oh you shouldn't have paid for it Rick, I'll pay you back."
"Don't worry about it Lisa, it's not a big deal and I really didn't want to have to pay for damages to the store after you got through with Matt."
Lisa blushed as her temper was well known, "Well then, thank you Rick, I really appreciate the gift." Lisa leaned over and gave Rick a peck on the cheek, which caused him to blush. It also made him think about Matt's comment about Lisa being his girlfriend.
Lisa laughed at his slightly red face and discomfort at her thanks, and gently tugged Rick's sleeve and led him out the store door.
Author's note -thanks everyone for the reviews and follows! It really means a lot to me to know that this story is being read. Have to go back to work tomorrow, but will try and post another chapter as soon as I can.