Sorry for the wait! I just hit the climax for Internation Affairs so I've been kind of busy with that.
Chapter 14: The Wait
Misaki went in for her second interview. Now, everything was in their hands. Misaki had done the best she could and now all that was left to do was to wait.
"Do you want to go somewhere?" Takumi asked.
Misaki was lying on the soft, not really doing anything. She was having some cramps in her abdomen. That time of month again...
"What do you want to do?" Misaki asked. "I was going to go to the gym later."
"Great," Takumi said. "I'll come with."
Misaki laughed. "You're going to come with me?"
"Anything wrong with that?" Takumi asked, sitting on the edge of the couch.
"No…" Misaki said, giggling. Takumi didn't seem like the gym kind.
"How does rock climbing sound?" Takumi suggested. "I remember promising someone a date of rock climbing."
"You still remember?"
"Of course," Takumi said.
"Misaki!" Julian said, waving to her. He stopped when Takumi came up behind her.
"Julian," Misaki said, waving him over. "You've met my husband, Takumi Walker."
Julian cleared his throat. "How are you doing, Mr. Walker?"
"I am doing well. Thank you," Takumi said, wrapping an arm around Misaki shoulder.
"Julian, I was wondering if we could do some rock climbing," Misaki said.
"Uh...yeah sure," Julian said. "Right this way," he said, showing her the way.
They headed downstairs to the rock climbing gym.
"Cool..." Misaki said, looking at the giant room.
Julian nodded and went to get equipment.
"I don't think he likes me very much," Takumi observed when he left.
"Why not? You haven't even started being obnoxious yet," Misaki asked.
Takumi chuckled and kissed her on the nose. "I'm only obnoxious to you."
"Why?!"
"Because you're the cutest,"
"Oh shut up..."
Julian came back with the equipment. "Have you done this before?" he asked.
"Not really," Misaki said. "Takumi has though."
"I'll help you," Takumi promised.
"I can too," Julian said. "It might be better if I help her since I'm certified," he quickly added.
"Alright," Takumi said, starting to gear up.
Julian helped Misaki buckle and tie everything down. "Nice and snug," he said.
Julian quickly harnessed himself in while explaining some tips to Misaki.
"Alright, let's start," he said, gesturing to the wall.
Misaki walked up to the tall wall and placed her hands on some pegs. She took a deep breath and started to climb.
"You're doing great," Julian said, patting a peg overhead. "Grab this one next,"
Misaki nodded and lifted herself up. It wasn't too hard. Julian usually would show her which peg to grab. Misaki pulled herself up onto another one. She gritted her teeth. She didn't feel good at all actually...
"Half way there," Takumi said. "You look a little pale," he said, studying her face. "Are you alright?" he asked
Misaki was having a really bad cramp. Stupid women issues...
"I'm fine," Misaki lied. "It's probably just the bad lighting in here. Now hurry up or else I'm going to beat you!"
"Good luck," Takumi said, pulling himself up another row of pegs.
Misaki winced as she climbed up. Oh, this was not a good day to come workout.
"Misaki, I really think you should stop..." Takumi said, looking her over.
"Mind your own business," Misaki replied, climbing up.
"Come on, Misaki, you can do it," Julian encouraged.
Takumi rolled his eyes but looked away.
Misaki nodded and forced herself to finish the climb. It was pretty cool looking down at all the people. They were so small... Misaki let go of the wall and had an exhilarating drop back down to the mats.
"Want to go again?" Julian asked.
"We're done for today," Takumi said. "Misaki doesn't feel well." Takumi checked his phone. "Yeah, we're going home," he said, sliding it back into his pocket.
"But you just got here," Julian said.
Misaki sat down on the mats. "I don't feel too good actually," she muttered.
"Oh okay," Julian said, helping her get out of the harness. "Are you sick?"
Misaki blushed. "I didn't sleep well last night," she lied.
Takumi hid a smile and unbuckled himself. "Thanks for the lesson," he said shaking Julian's hand.
"Anytime, Mr. Walker," Julian said.
Takumi slung Misaki's gym bag over her shoulder and swept Misaki off her feet.
"We're in public!" Misaki hissed.
"So?" Takumi asked, walking out.
"This is embarrassing!"
"Sorry, I forgot today's your day. You should rest more."
Misaki blushed. "I'm fine."
"You didn't look fine," Takumi said, helping Misaki into the car. He closed the door and slid into his own seat. "You need to take care of yourself more," Takumi said, gently.
"But that's why I have you around," Misaki teased.
Takumi smiled and took her hand. "I'll always take care of you," he promised.
"And I'll always take care of you," Misaki said, looking out the window.
"Yes, I'd be lost without you," Takumi agreed.
Since Takumi insisted that she stayed home and "rested." Misaki was looking for something to do. She cleaned up the house, listened to some music, rearranged the fridge and put out new flowers.
"Only two hours has passed?!" Misaki groaned, collapsing onto the couch.
Misaki put in a movie and made some popcorn for herself with a glass of chocolate milk. Misaki finished the popcorn halfway through the movie and didn't feel like getting up so she ate all the chocolates in the crystal dish on the coffee table.
Misaki picked up her tablet and surfed the web when the movie finished. What to do? What to do? Misaki even searched up "What to do when you're bored,"
One suggestion that came up was to cook...
"Heh..." Misaki said. "That would be a bad idea..."
But she tapped on a few recipes anyways. She skimmed through them. They sounded easy enough. You just measure what they tell you to and mix it all together.
Misaki stood up. Maybe she could cook...she just never studied a recipe carefully enough.
Misaki went and printed out three recipes. First was shrimp lemon linguini pasta, then stir fried veggies and lastly chocolate chip cookies. Misaki taped them to the fridge and got out the ingredients for the pasta.
"This looks so easy!" Misaki exclaimed. "I don't understand how I couldn't do it before..." she wondered, tying her apron on.
Misaki filled a pot up with water and put it on the stove. Misaki studied all the little dials. Why did they have such a fancy stove…? Misaki finally got the right dial and turned it on.
"Boil then drain..." Misaki read. She opened a box of pasta and dumped it all in.
Misaki then went to wash a bunch of vegetables. She pulled out a cutting board and a knife.
Chop! Chop! Chop!
So what if they were a little chunky? Misaki set down the knife and went to go drain the pasta.
"Time to make the sauce..." Misaki said. "Sauce pan...what the heck it that?"
Misaki opened a cabinet under the counter. There was like 15 pots and pans!
"Sauce pans would be flat right?" Misaki guessed. "So the sauce would cook evenly…?"
Misaki set the flattest pan on the stove and poured some olive oil in it.
"Garlic..." Misaki said to herself, rummaging around the kitchen. She picked up a piece and hit it with the flat part of the knife like Takumi always did. Misaki scooped up the smushed garlic and dumped it in. Somehow Takumi's crushed garlic looked a lot better.
"White wine..." Misaki said, walking over to their bar. "Why are all these labels in foreign languages!" Okay maybe this was harder than she thought. White wine was clear so Misaki picked one with a clear liquid.
"One cup..." Misaki said, taking out a wine glass. She filled it to the brim and dumped it in. "Oh wait! Only 1/4 cup!" she exclaimed, looking at the recipe again. "It's okay," Misaki reassured herself. "I'll just water it down."
Misaki squeezed in twice the lemon juice and added extra chicken broth. So far the sauce color looked kind of like the picture's. Misaki threw in some pepper, butter and salt.
"Lemon zest..." Misaki read. She had no idea what that was so she searched it up. "You eat lemon peels?" she asked no one in general. She picked up a piece off the counter and threw it in the pan.
"A pound of shrimp..." Misaki said, taking a bag of frozen shrimp from the freezer. "Crap, I didn't defrost..."
Misaki poured out the frozen shrimp into a bowl and stuck it in the microwave. It had a defrost button. After microwaving it, Misaki then dumped the shrimp into the pan and stirred it.
The sauce started to boil which had Misaki frantically trying to turn off the stove. Misaki dumped the noodles in and some random seasoning that Takumi always used.
Misaki decided to just microwave the vegetables... The pasta had taken too long and Misaki still had to make cookies. Misaki microwaved them one bowl and a time and threw it together in another bowl with some salt.
Misaki grabbed a big bowl and measured out the ingredients for cookies. The kitchen was really messy now. Flour covered the counter tops and random peels laid all over the place.
Takumi was going to be home in twenty minutes. Misaki decided just to throw lumps of cookie dough on a tray and stick them in the oven. Who cares if they weren't circular anyways.
Misaki put the pasta on two plates and set them on the kitchen table. She rearranged the table to make it look nicer.
"Misaki?" a voice called.
Misaki looked around the kitchen. The one day Takumi came home early...
"What are you-" Takumi paused at the doorway and looked around. "Are you cooking?" he asked, bewildered.
Misaki crossed her arms. "So what if I am? Its easy with a recipe." she said, patting the fridge.
"I see..." Takumi said, stepping over the various things scattered on the floor. He walked over to the fridge and read them. "Wow..." he said. "I'm impressed."
Misaki smiled. "Really?" she asked.
"Yeah, I love lemon shrimp," Takumi said, kissing her flour covered cheek.
Misaki led Takumi over to the table and handed him a fork. "Try it," she urged.
Takumi poked around the dish for a second. He twirled some pasta onto his fork and put it in his mouth.
Misaki looked at Takumi's face hoping to get a good response. Takumi didn't show any facial features. He chewed thoughtfully. Misaki wrung her hands and tried to read Takumi's face. She had no idea if it was good or not.
"It's good," he said. "It's very creative. Really has a...kick to it," he said, taking another bite.
"REALLY?!" Misaki exclaimed. She couldn't believe it! Takumi actually liked it. She took a bite of her own plate hoping for a similar response.
Misaki's first response was to spit it out...and she did. "This is horrible!" she said, running to get a glass of water. "Stop eating it!" Misaki exclaimed. "Ugh, that's disgusting."
"Anything Misaki makes for me is delicious," Takumi said with a smile. "Though using vodka instead of white wine is a little strong."
"V-vodka?" Misaki asked.
Takumi smiled. "How much did you put in? It's super strong. You could get drunk by eating this," he told her.
"A cup...I know it said 1/4 but I messed up so I diluted it with lemon juice."
Takumi nodded, understanding why the pasta tasted extremely sour. "I'm glad you found the measuring cups okay. Usually I just estimate."
"What do you mean? They're in the cabinet..." Misaki said, picking up the wine glass.
Takumi look at the wine glass then to his plate. He fought a smile but burst out laughing.
"What?!" Misaki demanded.
Takumi hit his hand on the table as he roared in laughter. "Y-You put an entire glass of vodka into the pasta...?" he asked.
"But I diluted it!" Misaki exclaimed. "Why's that so funny!"
Takumi had to wipe his eyes. "My sweet wife," he said getting up. He pulled out a drawer and set a bunch of little cups on the counter. "This is one cup," he said, holding out the measuring cup. "Not an entire glass of it."
Misaki blushed. "Really...?" she asked sheepishly.
"Really," Takumi promised.
Misaki sighed and dumped her plate of food into the trash. "Give me the plate," she told Takumi.
"No," he said. "I want to eat it."
"Are you kidding me?!" Misaki said. "Its disgusting. I'm throwing it out!"
"No," Takumi said again. "I like it."
"No you don't," Misaki said, trying to grab the plate.
"I really do...is something burning?"
Misaki sniffed the air. Crap…
After setting off the smoke alarm and having to throw open all the windows, Takumi helped Misaki clean up.
"I'm such a bad housewife…I can't do anything right," Misaki said, wiping down the counter.
"Hey now," Takumi said. "Don't say that."
"I can't even cook…" Misaki sighed, throwing the rag into the sink.
"I liked it," Takumi reminded her.
Misaki glared at him. "Stop lying to make me feel better…"
"I think anything you do for me is great," Takumi told her.
"Thats why your opinion doesn't matter," Misaki muttered. "You think its all great."
"How harsh," Takumi said, kissing her on the forehead. "You interested in chinese takeout?" he suggested.
Misaki rested her head against Takumi's chest. "Yeah…" she said, quietly.
"Look at me, beautiful," Takumi said.
Misaki looked up. "What?" she asked, avoiding his gaze.
"I love you,"
"Yeah…me too," Misaki said, blushing.