``Naomi's P.O.V
I was in front of my ex-fiancee and ex-best friend's apartment. This image seemed so wrong. I rang the door bell and Sora opened the door. "Hi" she said with a small smile. I greeted her back and pushed Yoshirou's stroller into their apartment.
"Uhm, everything is in the stroller. Diapers, bottles, milk, spare clothes.. they're all there. So, I got to go now" I explained to Sora who just nodded in response. I picked Yoshirou up and kissed his cheek. "Mommy's going to work okay? I'll see you later! Have fun with daddy". I was about to put him down when Matt suddenly came to view.
"Hey" he greeted as he pulled his white v neck over his head. I forgot how much I loved him in v necks. Not the point.
"Hey, I was just heading off". He came over and took Yoshirou from me. He lifted his son up and tickles his sides. Yoshirous giggled like the cute little boy he was. I couldn't help but smile at the sight of my son and his father. I was snapped back to reality by Sora, who must've caught me staring at her boyfriend.
"You better go or you'll be late" she said through a fake smile and gritted teeth.
"Sure. I'll pick him up at 5pm?" I said to Matt. He nodded and continued playing with Yoshirou. I left their apartment and made my way to the subway station.
Matt's P.O.V
"Harsh much, Sora?" I said as Sora closed the door.
"What?".
"'You better go or you'll be late'. What was that?".
"I said it for her own good". Sora simply shrugged and left for the kitchen. I put Yoshirou down in the living room and got some toys from the little compartment in his stroller. I gave it to him and played with it quietly as I went to the kitchen. Sora was by the stove, frying some eggs. I grabbed a glass and filled it with orange juice. I took a sip before breaking the awkward silence.
"Do you have a problem with Naomi?" I asked bluntly. Then I walked out of the kitchen and to the living room because I can't leave my son on his own. That still sounded weird. My son. Whatever. Next thing I knew, Sora was storming out the kitchen with a very unhappy face.
"Do I have a problem with Naomi? I don't know, maybe. But what I really have a problem with is.. the fact that you guys have a kid together! That really bothers me and it doesn't help with her treating us like a daycare centre while she's busy living her dream!" Sora yelled. I know all about Sora and Naomi's plan to start a brand of clothing together. It had been all they talked about just before we graduated high school. When we got back, Sora felt so - well, she got upset and angry about Naomi going on with the plan without her. Yoshirou seemed frightened by Sora's sudden outburst and he stumbled towards me. I grabbed him and placed him on my lap. I couldn't take it. We've had this talk before. Gosh. I stood up and put Yoshirou in the guest room on the floor then I gave him some toys. I closed the door slightly and went back to the living room. My facial expression: angry.
"I can't believe you would even think that way about Naomi! He's not here because she needed a babysitter, he's here because I want him here. I want to spend time with him. I want to be part of his life! I don't want him to grow up thinking I left him and his mom!" I said angrily.
"But you did, Matt. You did leave him and his mom! Why are you trying to deny it?".
"I'm not denying anything! I know I left them and I feel awful. Sora, you said it yourself. You rid that boy of having a family" I said before walking to the room where Yoshirou was. I sat down on the floor with him and played with him. Then I heard the front door slam. I was right. Leaving Naomi was going to bite me back in the ass one day, but somehow I feel like, if I wanted to, breaking up with Sora won't.
Sora's P.O.V
I left my apartment, not being able to look at Matt anymore. Fine. I had my own little sudden outburst but I had the right to! I had the right to be uncomfortable with being around his son. It was so awkward! But the last thing he said really was a slap in the face. To think he would even use it against me like that! I walked to a park nearby and sat on a bench. Tears were streaming down my face. At times, I hate Naomi. Her life was perfect. In high school, in college, now. Even after Matt leaving her on their wedding day, she moved on. She found somebody else to help her raise her son. Why would Matt want to interfere that?
Suddenly, I felt my phone vibrate. I looked down and there was a new message from Mimi.
Wanna grab lunch? I'm totally free :-) - Mimi
Sure. I could really use some stress relief right now - Sora
Naomi's P.O.V
I decided to ring Matt up and asked if we could grab lunch. I'm sure he wouldn't know what to feed Yoshirou. "Hello?" he said when he answered the phone.
"Hey, Matt. You free for lunch?" I asked.
"Hey, Naomi. Yeah, I'm free. What's with the sudden invitation to lunch?".
"I just figured that you probably wouldn't know what to feed Yoshi for lunch". I had a small smile on my face.
"You're probably right". He let out a soft chuckle.
"You could ask Sora to come along if she'd like". I honestly wouldn't want her to be there but I did it just to be polite.
"Uhm, Sora is not in. So, I guess it's just us".
"Oh okay. I'll see you at the usual place?".
"The usual place. See ya". I hung up and put my phone down on my desk. These colours just don't look right. I walked out of my office and went to my co-worker's desk.
"Hey Sakura, do you think you could get this fabric in teal or something around that shade? I've got the green one but it doesn't look right" I asked. She looked up from her desk and took down some notes about the fabric.
"I'll make some calls and let you know later okay?" she said with a smile.
"Thank you so much!".
"No problem". My winter/spring collection made it's big debut last week and now I'm working on my summer collection for next year. I decided to kill two birds with one stone for winter and spring. Only because I really wanna focus on my summer collection. It's fun, flirty and fabulous. My winter collection is making it's way to stores next month and my spring collection will be available first thing in spring. It was all going according to plan. My summer collection had everything. T-shirts, tank tops, shorts, swimsuits, dresses, cover ups, you name it! I'm going all out.
"Ms. Hashimoto?" I heard a voice say.
"Yes?" I said as I looked up from my designs.
"There's someone on the phone for you".
"Okay. Thank you". I looked at the office phone and pressed the button that was blinking red. "Hello?".
"So, what's going on with you and Sora?" Mimi asked.
"Hi, Mimi".
"Naomi answer the question" I heard Izzy ask.
"Hi, Izzy. I don't know what's going on with me and Sora. I guess it's just super awkward. I mean she's with my ex-fiancee/father of my child. And it seems like she's just a raging bitch sometimes. She practically shooed me out of her apartment this morning when I dropped Yoshi off".
"Ouch" Izzy said.
"So, what's with the sudden conference call?" I asked as I continued to doodle bikini designs.
"Well, we were planning a reunion dinner since we all haven't seen each other in forever" Mimi said.
"But it's a little bit hard and awkward to go through with if you and Sora are not on good terms" Izzy finished.
"Look, honestly, I don't care what Sora thinks. Just have the reunion dinner. I'll promise not to bite if she doesn't".
"Yomi, the whole point of having this dinner is to bring everybody closer together" Mimi sighed.
"I'm sorry, you guys. If she's gonna be a little bitch because Matt and I have a son, fine. She can do what she wants but I don't want to pretend that she and Matt did not leave me when I needed them most". I could feel the tears pooling in my eyes. I sniffed a little and I heard Izzy sigh.
"So, next Saturday?" Izzy asked.
"Yeah, sure" I said, closing my eyes. The tears rolled down my cheeks but I didn't wipe them away.
"Take it easy, honey" Mimi said before we said our goodbyes and hung up. I leaned back in my chair. This was too much. I've got so much on my mind. I'm swamped with work, I have a one-year-old to take care of and now I have to deal with my insane ex-best friend. Wow. Quite the life I've got.
"I'm going to lose it" I whispered as I covered my face with my hands.
Mimi's P.O.V
"Hey!" I said cheerfully as I sat across from Sora. Her face was sad and pale. "Is everything okay?". She sniffed before looking down at her lap. When she looked back up, she had tears in her eyes.
"No" she said inaudibly. I felt terrible two of my best and oldest friends are tearing each other apart. Well, I guess they wouldn't have to if Sora didn't go for Matt when he was with Naomi. "It's just.. I don't know where I went wrong or what I did to deserve this. I said I was sorry but she made it seem so meaningless. Like I apologized for nothing".
"Sora, what you did was.. unbelievable. And that's coming from the heart".
"I know. I just thought people would forget, you know?".
"Yeah but you freaking ran off with her future husband. I don't blame her for holding a grudge".
"Who's side are you on?" Sora snapped. Her eyes were now angry. Oh, snap.
"No one's side! You guys need to work things out. This is getting too serious".
"I'm not gonna work things out if she doesn't want to cooperate".
"I have nothing to say".
"Good because most of the time you'd have something to say". I put my hand up and ordered my food. We spent the rest of our lunch in silence. We split the bill and left. When I got home after work, I plopped onto the couch and waited for Izzy to come home. Izzy and I have been married for almost 6 months now. Time flies when you spend it with someone you love. After a few minutes, I heard the front door open and Izzy came in. He sat beside me and pecked me gently on the cheek.
"How was lunch?" he asked.
"Didn't go to well. I should probably call Sora and apologize".
"What happened?".
"We got into a little argument".
"How little was it?".
"Well, it wasn't that little but it wasn't that major either".
"What're you gonna do?".
"I don't know. I thought maybe I could talk her and Yomi into having some alone lady chats but she can't even be in a conversation where Naomi's name pops up for more than 3 minutes".
"That's... serious".
"I know! It's ridiculous, honestly".
"Well, I've got pretty much everyone but Sora. Should I...".
"I don't even want to think about Sora right now!".
".. okay. Do you want some tea?".
"Yes, please".
Kari's P.O.V
I was at Naomi and Tai's apartment, just hanging with Naomi and helping her with Yoshirou. "I just can't believe Sora, you know? It's like everything has to be as she wants it" Naomi said. I agree. What Sora did was absolutely dreadful. I don't know what best friend would even think of doing it. But things have been so tense between Sora and Naomi. It's so tense that it's affecting all of us. Just the other day, TK was at Matt's and all Sora and Matt did was have a spat about Yoshirou at least every 15 minutes. Sure, I'd have a problem if TK had a baby with his ex but I wouldn't react the way Sora did. I'd be more rational about it but then again Naomi hasn't been very friendly herself.
"I know but I guess you can't blame her" I said. Naomi gave me a look that said 'really?'. "What I mean is, maybe she's confused. Maybe she doesn't know if she should be guilty or angry or happy or.. etcetera".
"Maybe but I don't know, Kari. I want us to be friends but it's all so difficult given our situation".
"Do you still love Matt?". Her cheeks went pink and looked at me with wide eyes. Eventually, she took a deep breath and look me in the eye. She put her face in her hands then she looked up at me. Her expression: vulnerable, unsure and sad.
"I don't know" she sighed. "When I'm with him alone, I feel like.. we're still together and none of that crap ever happened. Especially when it's the two of us Yoshirou, it just makes everything feel good but when I'm with Tai or when I see him with Sora... it reminds that it all happened. Him leaving me and all. It's just.. so confusing. It's like I love him but I don't". I was trying to understand as much as possible. The position she's in is really difficult. At this point, I really didn't know what to tell her. Instead I just opened my arms and engulfed her in a hug.
"Things are going to be okay" I said.
Well, there's the next chapter! Sorry it took so long.
I've been busy but I hope you like it :)