Heels clicking as she walked down the hallway, she jangled through the dozens of keys absently, listening with a smile to her companion.
"They really said that? Ha, and you…you didn't! Oh wow, did they run for the hills?" She paused for a moment, holding up a particular key for closer inspection, phone cradled between her ear and shoulder, before dropping it back onto the ring with a laugh. "Oh how I hope you got pictures! To see those bloody tycoons running with their tails between their legs, it's just perfect."
Glancing at her surroundings, she did a quick count of the apartment numbers before swivelling on her heel, back tracking a few doors. Searching through the keys again, she located the right one, humming in response to whatever was being whispered in her ear as she unlocked the door. Shushing them for a moment, she stuck her head in, checking the neatly lined shoes and slippers before slipping inside. Closing the door with a soft snap she locked it again, resting on the frame as she tried to hear if anyone was in the house. A quiet murmur by her left ear made her jump guilty, before she realised it was her phone.
"Shhhh Clay! I'm trying to figure out if Kimi's home or not." She hissed, kicking off her shoes, courteously lining them up next to the wall. Clay mumbled something to her as she located a pair of slippers in her size, making her scowl. "Oh hush. I'm not breaking any rules or nothing. I'm just…surveying." She explained as she trudged through the pin clean living room towards her friend's bedroom, checking the couch and armchair along the way. "She's been out of sorts lately, and I want to know why. And before you ask in that Texan drawl of yours, 'why don't ya just ask her yerself'- hey, I thought that was a pretty good impression thankyou- I have tried asking her. But she just gets this distant look in her eyes and- hold up." Peering into the dark room, she took note of the unslept in bed, frowning. The room itself looked like no one had been there in days. "Weird. Hey, I'm going to put you on speaker. Wait a moment."
Removing the small device from where it had imprinted itself against her neck, Keiko tapped a couple of functions as she stepped back into the living room. Settling the phone beside her on the desk, she began opening draws, hunting for anything that might hint towards Kimiko's strange behaviour, still yakking away to Clay as she did. "Ok, so lately when you ask her about what's been going on in her life, she gets this weird look in her eye and then goes back to clicking away at her phone. It's like it's glued to her hand or something. This past week, I haven't seen her without it nearby."
"But she's always got her phone Kei. Especially with this whole trip you said they're planning, she'd need to have it nearby." Clay's static response rang through the silent apartment as she slumped into a chair, pulling a draw out to rest on her lap.
"Yeah, usually. But I'm telling you honey, this is different. She smiles and it's a happy smile, not her medication influenced one or her strained 'I'm worked to the bone' one either. It's truly…happy."
"And she can't be happy?" He pointed out as she thumbed through a stack of papers.
"No. I mean, yes. I mean…" she trailed off, blushing guilty as he chuckled lightly. Giving the phone a dirty look she resumed her searching muttering, "She's allowed to be happy, but lately it's like she hasn't had anything to be happy about. She's been so busy with work and the last time I saw that smile was when I suggested she take some leave and go see you. Wait, you haven't been talking to her have you?"
"Now, now Keiko, you know that you monopolise all my time-"
"Oh shut up."
"-But no, I haven't heard from her." There was a thoughtful pause which had her turning fully to her phone, attention captured.
"You thought of something."
"How could you tell?"
"Please honey, I know you. Now, what's on your mind?"
He sighed deeply and she could just picture him rubbing small circles against his brow as he settled back in his old chair. "Has she…met anyone lately?"
Frowning Keiko drew another stack of papers towards her. "You mean, as in a guy?"
"Yeah. A boy."
"A boy?"
"A boy. Or maybe a girl. Dunno which way she swings." He chuckled, earning a grin from Keiko. "But, it could explain why she's so happy."
"My little Kimiko has a 'friend'!" She squealed, before dropping the file she was holding. "Oh shit! Kimiko has a 'friend'. Clay, she hasn't made a new friend since you! Oh gods, we could be on the edge of potential disaster. What if they find out about her mental state and dump her ass! Or, or what if they're just using her? What if, they force her to do something that could harm her?"
"Woah, woah, slow down sugar! Keep that up and I'm going to have to get Kimiko to share her meds with you."
"Not funny."
"Take a deep breath and relax and it won't be. Now, calm down. We don't know anything at this point in time. And you're going to have to be subtle when asking her. Can you do that? Cause, I know you're not the best at being tactical."
"One time! It was one time and I thought you'd let that go by now!"
"I'm never going to. But focus sugar! This could be a good thing. Like you said, the last person she made friends with was me. She may try to deny it, but we really are her only true friends. We need to go about this carefully. Don't scare her off them. Let her tell you when she's comfortable about talking about it."
"But Clay," she whined.
"No buts. Now-" he stopped suddenly, and she heard a chair scrap across the ground roughly before a string of accented swears.
"Clay honey? What's wrong?"
"They're back."
She paled, fumbling to pick up her phone. Turning it off speaker, she held it close to her, feeling like she was closer to him as she did. "Clay, settle down. Don't let them see you angry. We've talked about this remember?"
"I'm gonna find my Daddy's gun, and shot those buzzard bastards right off my front stoop." He growled in response, and she could hear him hunting through the cupboard.
"Clay, stop! You do that and you'll attract more remember? Buzzards are attracted to dead meat."
He cursed but stopped riffling around.
"Good. Now, do you breathing exercises….good. Now, when they knock on the door, tell them civilly that you're still not accepting their offer."
"What if they produce legal documents?"
"Then scan them and send them to me. I'll get someone over here to help go over them."
"Thanks sweetheart, but I don't think Japanese laws apply over here."
She smiled at his light chuckle. "True, but surely it's the same language. We can help."
"You're the best, you know that?"
"I know." She heard a knock from his end, and he cursed again before taking a deep breath in.
"Listen, I gotta go. Say hi to Kimiko for me will ya? And tell me what happens."
"And the same to you. Love you. Good luck." She murmured.
"Love you too sugar. And thanks." With that he hung up, leaving her to sit in a silent apartment. Sighing raggedly, she pocketed her phone before returning the files and draw to their rightful spot. Checking the time, she headed towards the kitchen, flicking on the kettle, before hunting through the cupboards. A few minutes later, just as it shrilled loudly, the front door clicked open, revealing a dishevelled looking Kimiko.
"Hey."
"I should have known you'd be here." She sighed, unlacing her shoes.
"Don't act like you don't appreciate it. Here, I made you some tea." Keiko offered her a steaming mug which she accepted with a quiet thanks before trooping over to her couch. Plopping down with an exhausted 'oomph' she closed her eyes as Keiko finished bustling around her tiny kitchen, eventually making her way over. Sitting down beside her, she trailed a critical eye over the younger girl. Her pony tail was limp and barely secure, tendrils of hair hanging around her ears. She cheeks were flushed while the rest of her was paler than usual. She could see the pronounced veins along and around her eyes. She was shaking slightly, her cup quivering in her grasp. Gently prising it from her hands, Keiko set it on the table before reaching behind her for the quilt she always kept nearby. Flicking it out, she draped it over the quiet girl, motherly tucking the stray strands of hair off her face.
"You're not going to work tomorrow."
This made Kimiko's eyes snap open in protest, but Keiko held up a hand to stop whatever argument was brewing.
"You need some rest Kimiko. I saw your room. Have you even slept here for the last few nights? Have you slept at all? Cause frankly, you look like shit."
Kimiko shuffled sheepishly in her seat, before murmuring a small, "No."
"You've been at work haven't you?"
"Yeah. I got a couple hours of sleep in the breakroom this morning, and I cleaned myself up in the restroom. Used some wet wipes. But I had to get this new computer programme installed, and then there's that bloody paperwork." She trailed off, muttering under her breath about killing all photocopiers, printers and fax machines, unconsciously pulling her phone out of her pocket as she did. It was silent for a moment as she tapped away, a smile settling on her lips as Keiko watched her with narrowed eyes.
"You're not going to work."
Faster than Kimiko could say 'What?' her friend had pounced, trapping her in the quilt as she snatched for her phone. Struggling against her, she held the cell as far away as she possibly could, but Keiko just crawled over her, nearly kneeing her in the face as she did. Clamping her hands around Kimiko's smaller one, she prised her fingers apart as if she were the Jaws of Life, catching the falling phone expertly. Pinning her still struggling friend, she swiped off the safe lock on screen before starting to hunt through her contacts for work. Well, she was going to when something else caught her attention.
One new message from 'Raimundo'
"Kimi…"
Just her tone told her what Keiko had read. Thrashing about she tried to reach around the quilt for her phone, but the older girl just held it further away.
"Who's…Ai-moon-doe?" She asked, struggling with his name.
"None of your beeswax."
"Is this who you've been txting non-stop this week?" Keiko gasped, flicking through the read txts in bemusement.
"It's none of your beeswax."
"Oh my…for the love of high end jewellery! Kimiko! When did you meet this guy? When did you make a friend?" she gushed excitedly, turning to the now pissed Japanese girl beneath her.
"Get off me, and I might tell you."
Hurrying to obey, Keiko scrabbled to the far end of the couch, holding the phone tightly to her chest, waiting eagerly for the story.
"Give me my phone."
"Not a chance."
"Then it's none of your damn beeswax."
Debating it carefully for a moment, Keiko sighed and relinquished the phone with a grumble. Kimiko pocketed it safely before sighing tiredly, wondering where to start.
"Remember how I got those strange txts and I freaked?" at Keiko's cautious nod she mumbled, "I lied when I told you they hadn't txted back."
"Kimiko…"
"I know, I know, bad. But, I was so surprised, I just responded, and then he responded, and then…well, we talked. For ages." She smiled, thinking back to their first joking conversation. "It was fun. They brightened my day and I enjoyed the challenge of coming up with a quick witted reply."
"But the txt…"
"Was a prank. Raimundo told me that he'd seen this quote on the internet…something about txting a random number 'I'm pregnant' when bored and seeing what happens in response. Raimundo typed in my number- had no idea that it actually existed- and voilà! The beginnings of a fantastic friendship."
She let Keiko have a moment to process it all, mentally preparing herself for any of the most likely outcomes. She wasn't overly disappointed when she began to shake her head…just mildly pissed off.
"Kimiko, you can't keep txting 'Raimundo'. If that's even their name."
"But-"
"No. When you got that txt, I told you to ignore them Kimiko."
"Kei, I like this guy."
"How do you even know if it's a guy?"
"Well-"
"What if it's just some perv? What if it's a scam Kimiko? You can never trust anyone on the internet or by phone these days. Besides, if this guy is truly who he says he is, what are you going to do? Just txt all the time until one of you gets bored? Don't tell me you're actually arranging to meet up. Remember, stranger danger!"
"Are you finished yet?" Kimiko butted in angrily, surprising the older girl. "I know all about the dangers of the internet and txting and scamming Keiko. I was brought up around more technology than NASA. And I trust this guy. No, we haven't arranged to meet or anything. We've just been txting. Nothing more, nothing less. What more do you want?"
"For you to stop txting him! You freaked out when he first did. You asked me what you should do then, and I'm telling you same thing now. Ignore it! Take my word for it! It's going to end badly. "
"And you also told me not to take your word to seriously." Kimiko bit back, causing Keiko to flinch. "I don't see what's so wrong with me making a friend."
"Kimi-"
"And personally, I think you're being a bit hypocritical here." She continued snippily. Seeing her confused look she huffed and sneered, "Clay?"
"That's different."
"How is it? Have you meet him?"
"Well, no, but-"
"A few years ago he was just a random number. Yet you talked to him all the time. And apparently you still do. So why can't I talk to Raimundo?"
"Cause I know that Clay is an honest person."
"And how do you really know that? Just because he helped me that one time doesn't mean anything. You wouldn't have known him any better if you hadn't talked to him. And I support your friendship! Why can't you support mine?"
Stunned, Keiko sat and stared at the distraught girl, trying to find the words to explain herself. Wiping an arm across her face, Kimiko sighed shakily before murmuring, "I think it'd be better if you left."
"Kimi."
"Leave."
Heart breaking, Keiko slowly gathered her gear together, sending one last look to her best friend who refused to look away from her still steaming tea cup, before slipping on her shoes and out of the apartment.
Once Kimiko was sure she was long gone, she sighed and collapsed in on herself allowing herself to sniffle. She could understand everything Keiko had tried to get through to her, but she was stubborn by nature. Picking up her phone, she lazily dialled work and left them a message that she wouldn't be in tomorrow, before scrolling through her past conversations with Raimundo. They had once brought her happiness during her stressful day, but now, all she saw was longing and fabrication. As she opened the message from earlier half-heartedly, she couldn't help but to smile at the perfect translation for once.
Good morning sunshine!
She didn't care what Keiko thought, she realised as she settled back against the armrest. Let her judge all she wanted, but Kimiko was on to something here.
Good evening! So, listen…I've got this holiday coming up…