"I have no desire to pursue a relationship..."
The words echoed around Oliver's head. He hated lying to his brother. But this lie was easier and less painful than the truth.
There were two reasons why he could not pursue a relationship with Mai.
The first was that Mai had applied for the study abroad program at their university. If she got in — and knowing how hard she worked, Oliver saw no reason why she wouldn't — she would be away for the entirety of the next academic year. The idea of being away from her for so long hurt.
The second was that Oliver knew with a reasonable level of confidence that Mai was not interested in him. He knew this because of an event that had occurred a few weeks prior.
He had been in a cafe on campus, reading. Mai had dropped into the seat opposite him with a beaming grin.
"Hi, I'm super sorry to ask this of you but could you just look like you're flirting with me for a few minutes."
It had taken a moment for Oliver to realise what she had asked. As soon as it had clicked, he had hitched a smile on his face and pretended to flirt. Having no idea how to 'flirt' himself, he had just pretended to be his brother, which seemed to work well enough.
While they had been speaking, Mai's eyes kept flicking to where the queue of people waiting to be served there. Oliver had followed her gaze and noticed a tall, athletic looking man who kept looking at Mai. He had concluded that this charade must be for that man's benefit.
"Okay, he's gone. Thank you so much, Oliver, I really appreciate this. I owe you one."
And with that, Mai had jumped up and darted away, latte in hand.
Later that night, while helping Yasuhara with his computer, Oliver had asked him about Mai's behaviour.
"I didn't understand her intentions," Oliver said, eyes focused on the screen in front of him.
"Oh, that's an easy one. She's trying to make the other guy jealous," Yasuhara replied, after Oliver had explained what had happened.
"Jealous? So she likes him?"
"I imagine so, was he attractive?" Yasuhara asked.
Oliver shrugged.
"Well, what did he look like?"
"Tall, athletic, wore a university football shirt, brown hair, I didn't really pay that much attention to him."
"A footballer… Hmm… I think I might know who you mean. Give me a second," Yasuhara mumbled, fumbling for his phone. Oliver kept working on the computer until Yasuhara shoved a Facebook profile under his nose. "Was this him?"
Oliver studied the picture for a bit and nodded.
"I think so."
"Damn, you do have competition, literally everyone in the Athletics club is after this guy," Yasuhara said.
"I am not compet—"
"Oh give over, I know you like Mai."
"She is not a prize to be competed for," Oliver said. "Especially not if she's interested in someone else. Let this finish installing and then restart the laptop, it should be fine."
He stood up and made to leave.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like—" Yasuhara began.
"I know." Oliver sighed. "Let me know if it doesn't work." And he left.
That conversation played through Oliver's mind as he lay on his bed, trying to sleep.
He did not want to admit to Facebook stalking this guy — his name was Marcus and he was a 3rd year Business and Management student — but he had done it to check that this guy was good enough for Mai. Not that it was his place to choose who she could or couldn't date, but if he had been an arsehole — and his Facebook profile implied he was a friendly, helpful person — then Oliver would have maybe done something.
That was a lie. He wouldn't have said anything. It was Mai's choice. He would have just worried about it. A lot.
A buzzing sound drew his attention away from his thoughts. He grabbed his phone and unlocked it.
Gene: Would you mind if we had a party tomorrow night?
Oliver: Why?
Gene: Fun?
Oliver: Keep it downstairs and I won't have any part.
Gene: Sure. Thanks, I need the distraction.
Oliver: I wish it were that easy.
Gene: You okay?
Oliver: Yeah, get some sleep.
Gene: Will do, shout if you need me :)
Oliver half smiled at his phone, locked it and rolled back over.
Sometimes Oliver doubted his brother's abilities. But even he had to admit he had pulled together a decent party in a very short amount of time. Somehow, he had got enough food, a decent set of speakers and had tidied the living room all before the first guests turned up.
Oliver chose to grab some of the food and retreat to his room. As he made his way down the corridor to the stairs, plate in hand, he spotted Mai just coming down.
"Hey," she said, beaming. "You're not joining us?"
"No, I have some work to do."
She pouted.
"You should have done it earlier."
"I'm sure you'll have fun without me," Oliver said.
"It would be—"
"Mai-chan!"
Mai and Oliver both looked around to see a gaggle of people forcing their way through the door, Marcus included.
"Hi," Mai said to him, smiling.
Oliver's stomach dropped a foot. He slipped past Mai and headed up to his room. He locked the door behind him and dumped the plate of food on his desk, suddenly not as hungry.
"Mai-chan," he mimicked. "We're not in Japan, why is he using honorifics? Eugh."
He slumped into his chair and opened his laptop. He heard music start up from downstairs. Scowling, Oliver opened his lab report and began typing.
It took almost an hour for his stomach to start complaining. When it did, he snacked as he worked, not looking away from the screen.
He worked late into the night, long after the music and raucous sounds from below stopped. He worked until his bladder protested so much it hurt. Only then did he save his report and step away from the laptop. Oliver unlocked his door, went to the toilet and returned.
But someone had invaded.
"Oliver!" Mai squealed, throwing her hands up in some kind of celebration.
"You're drunk," Oliver surmised.
"Masako kept giving me drinks to try and they tasted so nice!" Mai giggled. "We were playing a game but you weren't there to join in! Do you want to play?"
"You should go to bed."
"I'll tell you the rules," she slurred. "Everyone closes their eyes and then you have to kiss the prettiest person in the room."
"That makes no sense."
Mai stepped forwards, staggered and fell back onto Oliver's bed. He sighed.
"I'm going to take you to your own room," Oliver said, walking towards her.
She grabbed his hand and pulled him closer.
"Do you want to play the game? Look! Close your eyes," Mai said. When Oliver refused to close his eyes. She knelt up on his bed, pressing against his chest for balance, and covered his eyes with her hands. "And now I have to kiss the prettiest person in the room!"
Oliver knew he ought to pull away. But he found himself frozen as she pressed her lips against his.
"You're drunk," he said quickly. "Let's get you to bed."
He scooped her into his arms and she giggled.
"Pretty and strong!"
Oliver carried her to her own room, placed her down on her own bed and took off her shoes.
"I don't want to sleep," Mai complained.
"Yes, you do."
"If you say so…"
He covered her with a blanket and turned the light off as he left. After returning to his own room, he turned off his own light and flopped into bed.
Mai had kissed him.
But she had been drunk.
Somehow it broke his heart more than if she had never been there. A tear escaped his left eye and he willed sleep to consume him.
The next morning, Oliver went down to breakfast to find all four of his housemates nursing hangovers. He had very little sympathy for any of them. He made some toast and was about to return to his room when Mai caught his arm.
"Can I have a word?"
He nodded, and followed her into the hallway, where they were alone.
"About last night," Mai began with a frown. "I have a vague memory of embarrassing myself, is that right?"
"Yes."
"If I did what I think I did, I am really sorry for doing that to you."
"It's fine."
"No, it's not, I shouldn't have done that. And I hate to ask more of you, but can we keep this between us? Please?"
Mai looked up at Oliver with large pleading eyes. He nodded.
"Thank you," she mumbled. "It's just I'd really rather that certain people didn't find out what happened."
"Of course," Oliver managed.
He had been wrong. Last night, his heart might have broken. But now it was a shattered mess.
He did not wait for her to say anything else, but turned and walked away.
Author's note: So this isn't the best thing I've written but I thought I'd share the story with you all for fun. It's almost complete, I shall finish writing it tomorrow night I think. Please review :)