In My Life- Rad to the max.
According to my sources, Cliff took on Duke's challenge at the Winery last time. Now he hopes he gets the job. This chapter's a bit shorter, a bit less goes on. But enjoy!
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Makoto never dreamed of breaking into a married couple's bedroom to rummage through the woman's underwear drawer, but after a brief deliberation between him, Cliff, and Ann, he wound up with the task. Cliff couldn't risk anyone catching him thieving anything on the night of his trial, and Ann declared herself not it.
So Makoto cursed his luck that night, and felt the constant need to pinch himself as he slid past the open window and out of the wash of the moonlight. He heard the slightest noise of Anna shifting from her side to her back, and froze against the wall until she settled back into the pillow. With that, he let out a soft sigh and continued.
The glint of a mirror shimmered in the corner of his eye, and he turned to see the collection of fragile-looking perfume bottles arranged on top of the dresser. He came closer and closer to the drawer, until he was able to run his fingertips over the handle of the top drawer. It was only his guess as to which drawer contained the lingerie, but his first guess turned out to be correct.
His mouth fell into an open frown when he laid eyes upon a longish, plastic, purple object. Time completely passed him by for a while as he stared at it in shock, and as much as he tried to force it out of his mind, he couldn't stop staring. With that, he covered his eyes with his right hand and sent his left digging through the lingerie until he felt something that resembled stockings. His face fell when he fished out a pair of seafoam panties, so he dropped it back and dove in again.
His eyes wandered off again to the purple object, and once again he forced himself not to look at it. He moved his hands over as carefully as possible, hoping the pantyhose were hidden somewhere under the next arrangement of lingerie. His second time proved lucky for him when he pulled out a pair of pantyhose.
Finally, as he thought, he could leave. He thought everything was going well, until he felt a presence of the back of his neck.
"Makoto Ogawa, what in the hell are you doing in my private drawer?"
He winced at the confirmation of his suspicions while the thoughts of his reputation's doom ran wild through his mind. With his vocal chords pulled stiff in his neck, he turned his whole body around to face Anna. He stood frozen, blinking several times as if to discern who he could see.
"I—" he squeaked. But with that, Anna stormed up to him with scorned eyes, and reached next to his arm to slam the drawer shut with one hand. "I… I can explain," he mumbled, holding his head low enough to only make partial eye contact.
"You better be able to explain, young man!" Anna hissed, digging her eyes into his. He remembered what Duke said to him before about his shadiness, and forced himself to keep the eye contact.
"I broke in," he began, "'cause I needed a pair of pantyhose." He saw her face twist in disgust, but continued. "Well, Cliff needed them for his trial at the Winery." He kept looking down at her, not knowing what to expect.
She looked at the pantyhose clenched in his hand and back at him, and then said in a low voice:
"Fine. Take the pantyhose."
Makoto held his sigh of relief, knowing he couldn't have been through with Anna.
"But I've got you hanging," she continued, her face as stony as ever. She moved closer towards him, clenching her hands into fists and brandishing one admonishing finger under his eyes. "I was watching you the entire time. And if you so much as tell anyone what I keep in my drawer, I will turn you in Harris and tell him you're a perverted son-of-a-bitch." With that, she snapped another finger in the direction of the window. "Now get out!"
Makoto nodded submissively as he scrambled for the window, feeling her icy eyes biting the back of his neck until he jumped for the grass below. The rough landing sent a harsh shock running through his body, but he managed to bring himself to his feet as Ann and Cliff approached him.
"Didja get caught?" Cliff asked in a low voice. Makoto nearly passed him without answering, idly shaking his head as he tossed the pantyhose at him. Without another word exchanged between them, the three darted off and down the cobblestone road, immediately heading for the winery.
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Once they returned to the winery, Cliff immediately set himself on his work. Fortunately, their idea for use of the stockings worked, and it worked well. Cliff found it easy to perform his task, and Makoto found it easy to stay awake and prod him in the back when he showed signs of sleepiness while Ann dozed in the corner.
Before Cliff realized it, the first glints of dawn beamed through the dusty windows. At that point, he felt his body ran on his last back-up source of energy, but he found the strength to stretch the plastic cover over the last bucket of grape juice. With an incoherent mumble, he dragged himself from his knees and shuffled over to the shelf, placing it on the last open space.
Even Makoto felt the tremors from a lack of sleep. He let out a long yawn and a stretch, inviting Cliff to do the same. They shuffled around the room to gather the radio and their jackets and wake up Ann, and when they were ready, they dragged themselves up the stairs to make their way outside.
But before they could set foot on the stairs, the scratching of the door from outside set Ann and Makoto on the opposite path. Cliff frantically shooed them with his hands in the other direction as fast as they could move, but he couldn't watch them for long when he heard the door creak, silently praying they slipped out in time.
Duke shoved his way through the door and stood there, holding himself in a neutral manner as he looked down on Cliff. Cliff could barely hold himself straight with the thumping of his heart, waiting for Duke to do something other than stare.
Finally, Duke descended the stair, and pushed past Cliff to make his way around the room. He moved from one end of the first shelf to the next, tapping every cover over the buckets to make sure Cliff pulled them taut. He nodded as he examined everything, and left Cliff hung up over interpreting the nods as approving or disapproving.
"Well, Cliff," Duke finally said from the other side of the room. "Your job's done." With that, he headed back for the stairs with a quick "Follow me".
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Makoto and Ann made their way to the Inn as quickly as possible, but along the way, Makoto noticed Ann doing her best to keep ahead of him. He decided not to put too much thought into it, and cordially waved goodbye as they parted.
He knew what he wanted to do on the farm that day. Since the temperature managed to stay mild that day, he decided on bathing Pixy Dust before the livestock festival after cleaning the barn and chicken coop. Then he could do some foraging, and get his work done before noon. But all the while, his mind wandered to the thought of Cliff.
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Cliff sat nervously on the living room sofa and watched as Duke slowly paced in front of him.
"I saw you didn't use my strainers," Duke finally told him. "You can't crush wine well without strainers."
Cliff moved his eyes off of Duke and let them wander, and had no clue how to reply. Duke watched and waited as the boy fidgeted.
"I… ummm…" he mumbled. "I didn't have any good strainers to use." He looked up at Duke tentatively, noticing the man standing over him with his arms folded across his chest.
"So how did you crush the grapes if I told you to use the strainers?" he asked in reply. Cliff's face contorted in confusion over what to say next.
"I…. I used…" A blush ran over his face as he tried to hide it before mumbling: "Pantyhose."
A puzzled frown worked its way onto Duke's face as he echoed: "Pantyhose? Where in the world did you get pantyhose?"
Cliff turned even redder, gulping.
"Well?"
"Ummm… they're mine," he replied. "Since you said I could leave if I needed to, I went to grab them." He paused briefly. "I wear them to keep my legs warm in the winter."
"Oh."
With that, Duke returned to his pacing and Cliff let his head hang again, silently cursing himself. Finally, Duke spoke again.
"Come back at four," he said over his shoulder. "And I'll tell you if you got the job or not." With that, he made his way out of the room. "I've got work to do anyway."
Duke didn't tell a lie. As Cliff left, he made his way to his office, or the room with a desk and a calculator inside. He heaved into his chair with a sigh and readied his calculator and earnings lists. It took him a while to warm himself up on the calculator, and when he finished, he found himself displeased at the result.
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"I can't believe it!" he sighed as he slumped into the chair at the breakfast table. Manna instantly looked up at him from the table, and asked:
"Can't believe what, Duke?"
Duke looked down at his bowl of cottage cheese with disdain and grumbled something as he scooped up a spoon and began shoveling the lumpy white substance into his mouth.
"What was that, Duke?"
Duke stopped eating for a moment.
"I said we can afford to hire what's-his-name. The little dimwit."
"Cliff Harrison, dear," Manna informed him. Duke grumbled, returning to his cottage cheese.
"That's right," he mumbled. "George"
"No," Manna replied. "Cliff. Clifford."
"That's a stupid name," Duke commented. "Like Ma-co-toe."
Manna rolled her eyes.
"And what set you in this mood, Duke-san?" she asked, pronouncing 'san' in an un-Japanese manner. "And what's Makoto got to do with Cliff, anyway? Besides the fact they're friends and—"
"I caught a foot hanging from the cellar window this morning," Duke retorted. "The only size twelve-and-a-half in this town."
"Well, Zack has big feet."
"Zack doesn't fit through the cellar window, Manna." He cleared his throat, poking at the unappealing remains of his lumps. "That means that Makoto stayed to help him."
"And thought he was slick by escaping at the last minute!" Manna added. Duke nodded, shoving his bowl out of sight.
"And that means Cliff doesn't get the job!" he announced, reaching for his orange juice and pills. He quickly chugged it as he swallowed the caplets, and continued. "The little cheating, pantyhose wearing jerk."
"Pantyhose?" Manna asked, rather interested. "He wears pantyhose?"
"Yeah," Duke replied. "His Asian boyfriend probably does too."
Manna cocked her head.
"Who's his Asian boyfriend?" she asked.
Duke rolled his eyes, shaking his hand in the air.
"The other one with the stupid name!"
"Makoto?" Manna half-stated. "But I thought him and Elli were the new item. I saw them walking through the town square on Tuesday afternoon when I was chatting with Anna and Sasha—" She said that with an accompanying hand gesture. "And they were holding hands! But you should've seen him. He was really tense."
"Yeah," Duke grunted. "I hope Elli's ready to find out he's gay for Cliff. Either that, or she better like threesomes."
"Duke! What a horrible thing to say!"
"What?" Duke snapped. "I think I'm right."
"Well, I don't always think so," Manna replied. "And you know, I think Clifford's a hard worker. Even if he tried eating our grapes."
Duke rolled his eyes again.
"Great," he said. "That's what he gets for being anorexic." He thought about it for a moment, and said: "No wait, the other idiot's the anorexic one. What's he weigh, ten pounds?"
"No. He's healthy. Besides, who's the one who has to eat mush until he loses enough weight?" Manna asked, leaning in to poke his belly. "Hmm, dearie?"
"Ahh…" Duke moaned, waving his hand to usher her away. "Quiet, woman." With that, he looked down at the table, rubbing his foot on the floor until he thought of something else to say. "Where's Aja?"
"Sleeping," Manna sighed, slumping a bit.
Duke stood up.
"Well, I'm sick of her sleeping when she should be having breakfast with her family. I'm waking that girl up."
"Duke, she's eighteen," Manna pleaded, motioning for him to sit down again. "Leave her alone."
Duke grumbled again and sat back down.
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Later that day, Makoto and Elli walked through the town square, holding hands but not talking much. Hand-holding became a habit for them no matter where they went, and they became sure most everyone knew about their relationship. But Elli still felt slightly bothered by Makoto's silence in the past few days. She was used to his bouts of reticence, especially on nights when they would sit together and just enjoy each other's company, but he seemed especially quiet, and increasingly tense.
"Elli?" he asked, startling Elli out of thought. She looked up at him, and he met her eyes.
"Yes?" she asked.
"Do you want to go out tomorrow night?" he asked a little pensively. He looked at her, waiting for a reply.
"Of course!" she blurted out, letting out a smile. She looked back up at him, waiting for his reply.
"Yeah, you should get going in a few," Makoto said. Elli looked at the Clinic as they came closer with a "damn" under her breath that she hoped Makoto didn't hear. An hour a day seemed too short to get to spend time with Makoto, as she thought when she turned her attention back to him. She then noticed his eyes on her, and he slipped his hand on her cheek.
He didn't move right away, but leaned forward and felt his heart jump as he gently led Elli into a kiss. Then the clinic door opened, and when Duke and Manna made their way outside, they immediately spotted the two. Manna squealed and pointed while Duke rolled his eyes and groaned. When Makoto took notice, he jumped back.
"See?" Manna exclaimed. "I told you so!"
"Whatever," Duke muttered. "I still think he's gay for that George kid."
"Duke, honey, his name is Cliff."
Makoto buried his face in his hand as Elli stared at him with a puzzled expression. He met her gaze for a moment, and shook his head and said: "I-I'm not."
Elli looked at him for a moment, nodding.
"Well, he is cute," she said with a wry smile. "Are you sure you don't like him?" Makoto huffed in reply, giving her something he couldn't turn into a dirty look. She smiled at him again and ruffled his hair, and he said:
"You're gonna be late."
He felt Duke pass behind him, but the older man didn't go far. Makoto and Elli looked over at him as he stood with his wife, wondering if he wanted to say something. Instead, he just looked from Makoto to Elli and back again, standing and staring until Manna finally jabbed him in the side and told him to get moving.
"Wait," Makoto said, catching them before they started walking. "What about Cliff?"
"What about him?" Duke echoed. Manna jabbed him again, and he winced. "Fine," he continued. "I'll tell you. He's not getting the job."
"But he told me he crushed all the grapes, and stored them properly," Makoto replied.
"And you wouldn't trust him to crush all your grapes if you didn't think he'd do a good job," Elli added.
"With his reputation as an odd jobber, you know" Makoto finished.
Duke shook his head.
"What a minute, Makoto," he began. "Are you sure he told you and you weren't there?" He pointed at his foot. "Because I saw that hanging out of my cellar window this morning."
Makoto pointed as well.
"That's impossible," he deadpanned. "This was attached to me the whole time."
"You might've been seeing things, Duke," Elli informed him. "You did go down there really early in the morning, so you might've been half-asleep." She pointed her thumb at Makoto. "He came down with a really bad stomachache last night. Turns out he's lactose intolerant." She paused. "But that aside, he had to stay at the clinic the entire night."
"Oh!" Manna cut in. "So is that code for 'he spent the night with you'?" She furrowed her brow. "Well, you kids can't be having sleep-overs, you know!"
"No, Manna," Elli replied coolly. "Makoto got really sick, and we kept him at the clinic. Ask the Doctor if you want."
Upon hearing that, the Weinsteins turned and marched towards the clinic. Makoto and Elli shrugged, and followed as Duke pushed through the door and made his way inside. He caught the Doctor just as he emerged from his office, and immediately asked about Makoto.
"He was sick and here all night due to his lactose intolerance," the Doctor firmly replied, nodding his head. With that, Duke looked to Manna and Manna looked back at him with a baffled expression.
"Oh well," Duke sighed, shrugging. "If you say so." He turned to Makoto, and said: "Sorry about that."
Makoto shrugged in reply, and mumbled a quick "It's alright". But all the while, he inwardly beamed at the execution of Elli's cover-up. He watched as Duke and Manna turned to each other and engaged in exchanges of barely audible muttering, turning to Elli with an arched eyebrow. They caught bits of the conversation, particularly "I'm sure I saw no one else.". The two waited pensively as the Weinsteins wrapped up their discussion, hoping they'd turn around with good news.
"Fine," Duke said as they turned to face everyone else. "When Cliff comes over at four, I'll let him know he can have the job."
Makoto and Elli exchanged the quick flashes of satisfaction on their faces.
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Cliff burst out into cheers once he set foot on the street upon hearing the news of his employment, complete with fist-thrusting. As Makoto came around the corner, on his way to the clinic, Cliff clasped a hand on his back and pulled him into a one-armed hug.
"I got the job!" he beamed, pulling back from Makoto. "I can't believe it!"
"You did good," Makoto replied, walking again and leading the way. "I mean, you did great."
"But I've gotta thank you," Cliff insisted. "I wouldn't've even thought of the whole idea if it wasn't for you." He paused. "And then everything you did for me."
He said that as soon as the boys reached the town square. Makoto felt something piercing him, and looked over to see Anna staring at him with her stony eyes. He did his best to keep his eyes off her, but managed a weak nod at her and the other housewives as they passed, all while Cliff kept gushing.
"Don't thank me," Makoto said in a low voice once they passed the housewives. "I almost got caught. Elli was the one who convinced Duke you did it by yourself."
"Well, I owe the three of you something," Cliff replied. He stopped to let out a long yawn. "It's dinner on me tonight."
Makoto mused on the thought for a moment, and then said:
"You can't afford dinner just yet. But I'll settle for ice cream."
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Oh no. It's been more than a month. Yeah, I had a lot of work to finish at the end of this semester. Couldn't really get the time to sit down with this. And then, I couldn't finish the last page or two for a few weeks… I didn't know what to do. Then I came up with the idea of Elli covering for Makoto, and tada. Anyway, it's time for shout-outs. I hoped you guys enjoyed this chapter.
Lemurian 04- Thanks for wishing me good luck. I feel I've got a long, long way to go, but I love every moment I'm writing something, knowing I can practice and practice and learn to express myself. I wish you good luck with your writing too. Thanks for reading!
…- Yeah, somehow, you're always compelled to have a male character rummage through a lingerie drawer. Thanks for reading, enigmatic one.
azn anime addict- Coffee is God. I even have a pin with that message on it. Now you made me want coffee. Thanks for reading.
anime26angel- Thanks thanks. I still feel bad doing a chapter a month. I do want to move a bit faster. Not enough to rush or something. But I guess it happens as it happens, right? Thanks for reading, and as always, can't wait to see your new work.
Ghost Rider CSV- Yeah. The songs mean a lot to me. It took about five thousand times of listening to In My Life to start this. And… Ow! Desk lamp burn/shards. Thanks for reading, fellow Beatle fan.
werewolfycan- Hell yeah you should take a stab at writing. I'd love to see it too. Glad you enjoyed the story, and always glad to see new readers. Thanks for reading.
See you next time!