“I guess you look acceptable…”
Mizuki eyed Anna from head to toe from the second she came into view. She wore
a black sleeveless dress, complimenting her long legs and her collarbone. Over
it she had a thin shawl. She had a light touch of grey and dark blue make-upt which highlighted her eyes. Also, since she wasn’t a fan of high heels, she
chose a pair of long black boots with shorter heels. She didn’t look as fancy
as Mizuki wanted but she was pretty.
“I wasn’t going to dress for
a wedding. From your voice mails I realized you will do that but here you are,
wearing pants, high heels and a sleeveless shirt.” The older woman scoffed and
crossed her arms in front of her chest. Anna smirked and playfully pushed her
friend.
“I got a call from Chris
before you came. He said your partner had a few problems to take care of so
they may be a little late” Anna rolled her eyes and scoffed. The motion didn’t
go unnoticed by Mizuki who slapped her friend’s arm.
“Anyway, Takeshi called me
yesterday. He wants us to hang out like old days”
“I know. I also know that
won’t happen soon because of our schedules.” Mizuki nodded sadly. It was mostly
her fault because she was the busy surgeon. It was hard enough to have that
night off and she didn’t know when she will have another chance at freedom.
“Oh, I heard your book gets
adapted into a movie. I also heard some hot actors will play in it.” She moved
her eyebrows up and down, having what Anna would have called ‘starry
eyes’. “Call me if you scratch your knee
on the set.” She nudged the younger woman. Anna started to laugh. Why would she
scratch her knee on the set? She was practically just watching everything roll
and give adjustments when needed.
While starting to get caught
into her own world, Mizuki caught sight of the two awaited men. She inspected
them from afar. There was a guy who looked to be around her age with light
brown hair, styled in a certain way, dressed quite fashionably and his friend
who wasn’t dressed to impress but didn’t look bad either. He was taller than
the first one and he seemed to be 100% Japanese. She figured that probably the
fashionable one was her date while the one who didn’t seem to have put much
effort into his looks was his friend.
“Anna” She whispered when
she saw how close they were. Since the brunette didn’t respond, and was
actually facing other way, Mizuki pinched her. When she turned, the Japanese
woman pointed with her head towards the two males. For a moment Anna didn’t seem
very interested but when the boys stopped in front of them, she felt how her
breath had just been taken away. Her eyes widened a little and for a second she
stared intently at him. Faster than she imagined, she turned her eyes away and
tried to avoid looking at him.
On the other side, the
taller man got equally surprised. His eyes didn’t widen but he gasped, even
though it was unnoticeable. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. She looked
different, grown up actually, but she had the same wandering green eyes, the
same petite figure and the same superior demeanour around her.
“Sorry we were late. This
guy here had to run off somewhere just a few hours before the date. He returned
right on time, though.” Mizuki was already swiped off by her date. That man
seemed perfect from every angle and he had a boyish smile planted on his face.
“By the way,” His eyes traveled to Anna who was trying really hard to keep her eyes
on the younger male. “I’m Chris, 25 years old bachelor” He bowed cutely and
smiled towards the unknown person. “This is my friend, Nao.” He nudged his
friend, even though the reaction was very small. “He’s a great photographer;
even got awards for his projects!” The sentence was obviously addressed to Anna
because he was going to be her date and had to look impressive.
“I’m Mizuki, awesome
surgeon” She also bowed towards both guys, politely. “This is Anna. She’s also
a great writer.” Anna smiled nervously to Chris but as fast as it came, it
disappeared.
The way to the restaurant
was horrible and awkward for both subjects. When he wasn’t stealing glances at
her, she would. When Mizuki or Chris would try getting them to talk about
random subjects, they would respond fast and with limited words. Chris was
mostly talking with Mizuki and was walking besides her, so Anna and Nao were the
ones left behind, walking in synch. They didn’t utter a word the whole time and
even after arriving at the restaurant, they would be silent. Even though she
tried not to care, Nao’s stares were very strong. He would watch her do
anything, even ignoring him. For him,
seeing her again meant more than she would have thought.
“So, Anna” Chris saw how
awkward his friend was acting and he was surprised he didn’t take the
initiative yet, like he would had on other dates. He was silent and would watch
the petite woman intently. He had never seen Nao like that so he wanted to know
what was so special about that mere writer. “I heard from Mizuki that you
actually finished business and management. How come you ended up as a writer?”
Anna’s eyes didn’t move nor sparkle. She didn’t care at that moment about
Mizuki or Mizuki’s date. The only important thought she had was how cruel life
just became for her.
“I made a deal with my
parents when I was young. As long as I will give a shot they will support me
through a business career. However,” Her eyes slowly travelled to Nao, who
surprisingly had his head bent down, his eyes set on his uninteresting and
empty plate. “Throughout years I realized I lost my will to inherit the family
business so I gave up.” Chris nodded, analyzing in his head the new acquired
information.
“And what about your
relationship now? I mean, with your parents.”
Anna chuckled and started to play with the fork, making circles on the
napkin.
“I gave up on the life of
young and rich. I took it from the bottom, like everyone else. The only income
was working part time, back then. Now, I am a full time writer and my life
stabilized.” She didn’t take her eyes from the napkin. It wasn’t a sad story;
it wasn’t like she didn’t know what she was getting into. She didn’t want that
rich bachelor’s pity. She was a grown up adult who had every right to do
anything she wanted as long as it was for her own good.
However, even if in her
point of view, she was pretty accomplished with the path she chose, Nao wasn’t.
He lived that kind of life before, where he would walk aimlessly, looking for a
job or for a reason to keep going. He knew she was rich from her attitude but
it seemed as if she kept that superiority even after 4 years. Truthfully, he
blamed himself. They met when she wasn’t sure what she should do in life and he
just nudged her towards a choice that practically ruined her.
“But it’s fine. The first
year was difficult, I won’t lie,” She chuckled while remembering how many silly
mistakes she used to make. However, that wasn't the climax of her feelings. “I
was all alone…” She mumbled, trying to sound as soft as possible so no one
would be able to hear.
“What about Nao-kun?” Mizuki
was trying her best to keep the conversation going or at least make the two
talk with each other. It wasn't going very well. Nao was either shy or not
interested whatsoever in Anna. She came to the assumption that maybe they were
completely different and didn't like each other at all. With all these thoughts
running through her head, in the moment Nao started to talk Mizuki could swear
she wanted to slap both subjects hard.
“I started as a freelancer
but now I have stable connections. As a photographer I'm always on the run.”
He smiled, annoyingly cutely, at Mizuki and continued. “I met a lot of
different people and I can’t say I am able to stay somewhere more than a few
weeks.”
“ I've seen that…” Anna’s
mumble didn't go unnoticed by Nao. His attention was concentrated on her the
whole time. He didn't care what Mizuki thought about him as long as afterwards,
he could talk with Anna.
“Nao is-how can I explain
it- very difficult.” Chris continued, using his hands to describe his friend.
He was very suggestive. “He tried to have relationships before, or at least I
tried to get him to, but he’s always completely parallel.” The defendant
chuckled softly, trying to make it all go away by shaking his head. It didn't work. Chris started to establish Nao’s past relationships which were a
nightmare for him but Anna found it quite funny. She would laugh and would
actually show more than one facial expression.
“At least you’re enjoying
yourself…” This time, he mumbled, while shifting in his seat. He didn't seem to
care if she heard, moreover, the complaint was towards her and it didn't go
unnoticed. She laughed it off as if nothing happened, but for the first time
that night, her eyes sparkled.
