Clumsy at Love
Chapter 19: After The Wedding, What's Next?
Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2
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"You're early," Akane commented while removing her shoes, surprised to see Ranma sitting comfortably on the couch at five in the afternoon.
"Yeah, I received a delivery. How about you? Where have you been?"
"Home. Kasumi wants me to give this noodle to you." She said, showing the food container she was carrying. "It's her specialty." She added, putting it down on the center table.
"I'll text her later to give my thanks. Thanks for carrying it for me, by the way."
"Hmm," she hummed, then went straight to her suitcase, now sitting on the far corner of the pad.
"I ordered a bed, so you won't have to sleep here on the couch." He said.
"But I don't mind sleeping on the couch," she replied without looking back.
"You'll like it, I promise. Do you want to see it? It's upstairs."
That made her stop and turn. "Upstairs?" she asked, echoing his word like a fool.
"It's for safety precaution. I'm worried that one day, an unexpected guest would barge in and catch you sleeping on the couch." He explained.
"But I thought there's only one room upstairs?"
"Well, that's true. But I figured splitting my room in two to add another one for you is also suspicious. That's why I've got us a solution. And you have to follow me to see for yourself."
"You're not giving me a choice anyway, right?"
"Sorry," he said earnestly.
She heaves a heavy sign before walking up ahead of Ranma but stops abruptly in front of his bedroom closed door.
Gosh! Her nerve got the good of her. Will she ever get used to this? She had never done this before... walking in and out of a guy's room.
Ranma opened the door for her. "Come in," he said.
She walked in and found the newly bought luxurious queen-sized bed in the middle of his wide, spacious bedroom.
But ~
"Where's the old one?" She asked, slightly high-pitched.
"I asked them to take it out." He replied casually.
"What?! Why?" Now she's panicking. He doesn't expect me to sleep on the same with him, does he?
"Hold a second," he said, raising his palm. "Calm down... I asked to take it out because two beds in one room would look suspicious, too." It seemed like he sensed her second wave of apprehension coming up. "But I've come up with this solution..." He immediately added, rushing to the bed. "A custom-made bed. A bed with a pullout bed underneath," he explained while bending down to pull out the mattress underneath.
"Hmm, I see... it's easy to pull and not that heavy as it looks." He muttered to himself, then stood up. "They said we can pull it out whichever side we want." He added, then looked at her.
"I'm sorry that you do have to endure this arrangement because no matter how I think about it, you sleeping on the couch is risky. But don't worry, I'll be the one who will sleep on the pullout."
"I don't mind sleeping on the pullout or wherever. It's just... it's the ~ " she stopped mid-sentence having difficulty to spit out what she wanted to say.
Will I ever be comfortable staying in this room with you around? She wanted to ask, but that's clearly her sole problem, wasn't it? She sighs deeply.
"Look, if you're afraid that I will jump you or something... Trust me, I won't."
She looked into his eyes and felt his utmost sincerity. She knew she should only feel reassured, but how come his promise also made her feel somehow insecure?
"But it doesn't mean... you had no sex appeal or that I don't see you that way. It's just that I have strong confidence in myself with things like that."
She smiled bitterly. "I know. This is where my being flat-chested comes in handy." She muttered and started walking to the door.
"Wha ~ wait." He said, stopping her. "Where did you get that? Because clearly that's not what I've said."
"You said that before." She replied promptly.
"But that was only a joke." Suddenly recalling the instance, she was talking about.
"Whatever," she said, shrugging and continuing walking out.
"Where are you going?" He asked.
"I'll go and get my things downstairs,"
"I'll help you," he said, quickly following her.
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They returned with Akane hugging her pillows and blanket and Ranma lifting her big and heavy suitcases.
Akane pulled out the pullout bed and put her things down.
"Are you sure you want to sleep down there, not here?"
"Yeah, I'm fine here." She replied, covering the bed with the extra blanket he provided.
"If you don't mind sharing the closet with me... You can put your clothes and things in there."
To Ranma's relief, her sunken face lights up. "I don't mind. It's kinda hard pulling things out from a suitcase every time."
"I thought so," he replied, smiling softly.
Akane then started pulling her suitcases. "Where is it?" she asked, looking around.
"It's in the bathroom next door."
"I'm going to take a quick shower. Can I also use the bathroom?" She asked.
"Why are you even asking? Everything I own is yours, too."
She snorted as a response, forbidding her heart to react with his honeyed words, then hurriedly left the room.
Her jaw dropped to the floor the moment she entered the "Bathroom Next Door." Seriously. She could live here instead.
Its size is almost the same as her bedroom back home. And of course, everything is got to be luxurious. But what caught her attention was the big elegant marble soaking tub surrounded by sleek marble sitting in the middle of the wide and well-lit room. And this got to be her bed. She thought, smiling to herself.
"So, where's the closet?" She muttered, looking around, and found the mirror door just beside the entrance. She walked back and slowly opened the sliding mirror door. Of course, it's big and elegant and still amazes her.
The room is filled with his things, but there's still plenty of space left for her. She immediately retrieved her suitcases and emptied it. When she was done, she sat down on the mini sofa to look at her hard work.
Who knew that one day she'd be sharing almost everything with Ranma? The funny thing is... she couldn't or shouldn't be happy at all because it was all life's prank on her.
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When she returned to the bedroom, Ranma was already sleeping on the bed. She then took careful steps towards her space, sat down on the pull-out bed, and courteously turned her back on his sleeping form. She then picked up her book and began reading.
Then silence. Just the flipping of book pages and Ranma's soft breathing.
But she couldn't concentrate. The truth is... she's been dying to turn around and sneak a peek at sleeping Ranma but knew it would be rude.
Just a quick glance. She told herself, and then slowly and through her loud beating heart, she glanced at Ranma's sleeping state.
Oh! He looked stressed... and exhausted. She thought. Lines and dark circles around his eyes were visible, looking up close... but why does he still manage to look handsome?
Without thinking, she lifted her hand, daring to touch his perfectly shaped brows and thick lashes.
To her horror, Ranma's eyes suddenly opened.
"What are you doing?" he asked. She immediately retrieves her hand.
"Uhm," she stammered, blushing badly. "You've got something on your face.
Ranma then sat up. "You comfortable there?" he asked instead, dropping the subject.
"Hmm," She hummed, looking anywhere but him.
"Did you find the walk-in closet?"
She nods. "I did," she mumbled, still not looking.
Then silence.
Again and again. He's not making fun of her. She noted.
"Take this." He said, making her glance his way.
She stared skeptically at the card he was handing to her, then back at his gorgeous face.
"That's where I'll send your paycheck and allowance," he explained.
"I get the paycheck... But the allowance, what about it?"
"You're my wife... I think I ought to give you part of my salary."
She blushed. Here goes her stupid, stupid heart again. "There's no need for you to do that," she said. "We're just acting anyway," she added, shooting her budding hopes down, then glanced at Ranma. His face... it is as if she shot his heart down, too.
He turned his back on her when he noticed she was watching. "But household expenses are real, though." He told her while yawning loudly. "Ah! Got to get back to work." He added, stretching his back and arms as he stood up.
Akane's stare lingered at him as he stepped towards his work table and started tapping on his laptop.
How would she continue to hate him when he's being this good to her?
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Akane woke up and found Ranma where he was before she passed out. She picked up her phone to check what time is it. It's past two, and he's still working? She thought.
She got up to use the comfort room, and Ranma only noticed her when she returned.
"Hey, did I wake you up?"
"No." She replied, shaking her head.
"Not going back to sleep?" he asked when he noticed that she picked up her book again.
"I slept all morning."
"Do you want to eat snacks with me? I kind of hungry pulling an all-nighter,"
She stopped and thought for a moment. Not a bad idea. She thought and stood up. "Okay."
Ranma stood up as well, picked up his laptop, and followed Akane.
"You already read that book. Why are you rereading it?" He asked, talking about the book in her hand. Akane glanced at her book then back at Ranma, startled.
"It's the book you've been so into when I was about to leave to study abroad," he explained.
As far as she could remember, he never asked the title of the books she had been reading, neither asked anything about her beloved books. He had to watch her to notice things like that. Wait! Had he have been watching her without her noticing it? Okay, heart... Calm. Down.
"I tried reading it when I was abroad," He added. "But I passed out after reading more or less three pages. I gather I'm not really into reading of any sort."
Ranma then set up his laptop over the dining table and smiled at her when he saw her looking. "This is really urgent. I had to finish this report tonight and present it tomorrow."
"Then I'll set up the food. What are we going to eat?" She asked.
"How about the red velvet cake mom sent us?"
She nodded and put it out at once. "Do you want coffee? Or juice?" She asked.
"Just water for me," he said, then started tapping on his laptop.
Akane returned to the dining table with glasses of water and juice in her hands then sat down on the chair across from him.
Ranma picked up the water and smiled at her while mumbling "thanks" to her. Then his phone beeps, as soon as he picks it up, the color of his face has disappeared.
"What is it?" Akane couldn't help but ask, seeing his worried sick face.
"My secretary just filed an emergency sick leave. She said she had chickenpox..."
Akane snorts. "Chickenpox? What is she a kid?"
Ranma managed to flash her a smile, but the worry was still written all over his face. Was his secretary that important to him? She thought.
"I told you earlier that I have an important presentation tomorrow. I need her to be there to assist me..."
"Then can't you just borrow one? I'm sure your company has a lot of capable employees that could temporarily replace her," she suggested.
"Well, I could, but tomorrow's presentation is just a start. In this coming week or so, I have several essential meetings scheduled... And I couldn't borrow one for a long term ~ he stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly flickered on her, making her nervous at once.
"W~what?" She stuttered.
"Akane, do you want to replace my secretary?"
"What?! No!" she exclaimed, thoroughly agitated. Never! Her mind added.
But her heart raced about the idea.
Working.
Working in the office.
Working for a big company.
Working with colleagues.
She had dreamed of it. That's before she became an outcast.
"Hiring someone from outside the company would take a long process and such a bother if I were to interview applicants."
"Then select one from your team." she offered, contradicting herself.
"Each and everyone under my team already had more than enough load they could handle since we will be launching a new project at the end of the month. That's why I couldn't just pick one to replace my secretary."
"Borrow one from another team."
"You see, we're in a transition period, so you wouldn't expect me to trust anyone outside my team. So, please? I promise it would be just for a week or two."
Akane looked down, simply avoiding his pleading gaze. "It's not that I don't want to help you..." she mumbled while picking the bottom of her shirt. "It's just that… I don't have enough confidence in myself," she admitted dejectedly.
"What?!" Now it's Ranma's turn to be agitated. "Why is that?" he asked.
She looked up, all stressed. "Don't ask any more questions, okay? I just don't think I can do it. And that's it." she told him and stood up. "I'm going back to sleep."
"Look, your tasks will be just the basics." He told her, following her quickly. "You'll just have to take minutes of meetings. Receive, sort, and summarize messages from phone calls to emails, then submit them at the end of the day. And that's it. I will not ask for more. Ah, you'll need to forward to me anything urgent."
"How the hell would I know what's urgent and not?" She retorted.
His face brightens up. "You're interested. You're just scared. I assure you, you'll be fine."
"I heard that before." She mumbled.
"Did I let you down that time?" he asked. "I'm more than willing to guide you this time. I'll be within your reach the whole time, and before you know it, it's all over."
Akane was caught between wanting to say yes and having to say no. He could tell just by watching her sudden moves and off gestures and all the more while looking into her troubled eyes. She wanted to grab the opportunity but, at the same time, didn't want to. Why is that? Why are you trying to turn down what you obviously want? What are you being scared of? God, this is driving me crazy. He thought, forgetting his previous dilemma.
"Akane..." he called out, what happened to you while I'm gone? He wanted to ask but knew that asking another question would not help him win her yes.
"I'll think about it." She finally said.
"Hey, I don't want to sound like I'm forcing you on this... I know I've already asked so much from you... But how would you know if you can or you can't if you're not going to give it a try? I knew you before, Akane... And as far as I could remember, you're the kind of girl who never backs down to challenge. I indeed need your help but... I'm more on the side of wanting you to just try and accept this challenge."
And I promise to be with you all the way.