Ean’s Rare Gift – Chapter 2

Karina

He really does not see that I’m flirting with him. Or I’m terribly bad at it.

Yeah, I think I’m terribly bad at it.

I thought for certain that if I mentioned the pairing club and gave him my best smile, he would suggest we go together. He eventually did, but it felt like an afterthought. Sigh.

I must be awful at flirting. I’m not getting my message across.

Matt used to say he fell in love with me way before he knew I was interested in him. My problem is I get too nervous and start talking a mile a minute instead of using flirty gestures like looking into his eyes or touching his arm or whatever. I’m awkward. I really should just strip naked and throw myself at him.

I laugh at the picture in my head. Me naked and Ean with his eyes wide and panicked.

“What’s so funny?” he asks, holding the gate open for me.

“Nothing. Just thinking about Charlie. He’s a bit of a klutz in the kitchen.”

My eyes linger on his hands and forearms. I love powerful hands and arms on a guy. My mouth dries as I imagine his hands on my hips, dragging up the inside of my thigh, touching my cheek. Hot damn. I wish I could stop my imagination. But those hands… It’s one of the many qualities that have drawn me to Ean and keep me coming back for more.

This is stupid. He just said I’m his friend. Friend.

Turn your attention elsewhere, Karina.

We’ve reached the nearest encampment on an old estate at the edge of our neighborhood. This place used to be one of the samurai lord estates with long, low buildings, wide wooden front porches, and endless gardens. The buildings were in good shape and the grounds meticulously kept until the town was abandoned decades ago.

When the Terrans arrived here thirty years ago, this whole town was deserted, and many houses were in disrepair. We have since built many newer, modern buildings instead of rehabilitating these older ones. But the older buildings serve a purpose. We have converted some into apartments. Others have been transformed into museums. This one temporarily houses thirty people who all need actual homes.

Ean stops and stares at a collection of metallic objects on the low stone wall surrounding the estate. He picks up a metal keychain that has a bird charm on it.

“Huh.” He turns it left and right. “This one’s new.”

“What?” I turn and shut the gate behind us. A narrow gravel path ahead runs through a square kilometer of trees and flower beds. The garden ends at a wide road leading up to the mountain paths.

“Oh, there’s always a pile of random things here. I think the kids collect them.” He shrugs as he puts the keychain down and picks up a bottle cap. “It’s cool to see what they find. I think this is from before the colonization.” He turns it over and rubs dirt from the label. “Yeah, the date here is pretty old. Huh.”

I smirk as he slips it into his pocket.

“What?” he says with a laugh.

“Nothing. Do you also pick up interesting shells on the beach?”

His smile widens, and my stomach clenches. Sometimes he reminds me of Matt. “Of course I do.”

“Thought so.”

He leads the way into the encampment, and guilt tries to surface as I watch his ass in front of me. It’s glorious, simply perfect. I know he works hard to stay in shape, and it shows. I’d love to run my hand over it and squeeze. Mmmm. Come siamo carini. Bellisimo.

Hello, Karina! It’s guilt here, calling you to stop what you’re doing!

I push it away. It’s been five years. Surely, Matt would want me to move on, right?

Or maybe I should be mourning him for the rest of my life? I never know if that’s the right decision or not.

Ean glances back at me, and I look away, clearing my throat.

The estate’s edge is lined with cherry blossom trees and surrounded by thick pine forests. The trees are still new, planted in the last ten years, but they stand tall and proud, their branches just starting to spread out. When we arrive, we pass a small pond inhabited by a placid turtle and goldfish. It’s a popular area for the children to play in. From above, it would have looked like a giant bonsai garden, bent into such a degree of intentional asymmetry that one would be mesmerized. Where human eyes find the discarded and decrepit, those who live in this place find treasures. I take a deep breath, smile, and let it all out.

“Where to first?” I ask.

“The Miyagis.” He approaches a sheet fluttering in the morning breeze hanging off the side of a dilapidated front porch. “Morning!” He raises his voice since there’s no way to knock and let them know we’re here.

The sheet parts, and Emily Miyagi smiles out at us. She clips the sheet back. “Morning, Ean! What’s this? Oh.” She brings her hands to her mouth as Ean offers her two coffees. “Oh, no. Please. We cannot accept.”

“Of course, you can.” He continues to offer it to her. “It’s a gift to celebrate the lottery tomorrow.”

Emily’s husband, Ryū, joins her at the threshold. He’s wearing his work overalls and carrying his lunchbox. “Good morning, Ean. What brings you here?”

Ean hands him a cup of coffee. “I thought I’d come by to see how you’re all doing before the big day.”

He takes the coffee cup and raises it with a smile. “We’re doing good. Thank you. Excited and hoping for the best.” He sips and smiles. “Ah, Karina. You make the tastiest coffee in Yamato.”

I wave his compliment away. “Oh, you’re too much. Thank you.”

“Have you gotten the final numbers yet?” Emily asks, cradling the cup between her hands. “The kids were asking this morning before they left for school.”

I open the bag of pastries and give them each one while Ean explains the situation. Every six months, Yamato City Council disburses new, available apartments via a lottery system. This time there are three new complexes with units available, and they have promised Ean eighteen three-bedroom units, ten two-bedroom units, and five studios by the council. He also has five wild card slots that may or may not prove fruitful. So he has a guaranteed number of apartments he can get, but the three complexes are in wildly different locations. One is four kilometers outside our town with little public transportation.

He shrugs. “You know we do our best, but the lottery system is tricky. There are other players at work besides us.”

“We never had luck with trying to get them ourselves,” Ryū says, sipping his coffee. “All the non-profits do much better.”

Ean presses his lips together and nods. “It’s a lot of forms and meetings that most people cannot attend. But when it’s your job, it makes it much easier.”

Ean’s not-for-profit foundation generates just enough money to employ himself and a few assistants. They get by on subsidies from the government and donations from wealthier families.

I smile as I listen to them speak about these important matters. It has always been a plus that Ean is so empathetic and caring. He wants to see these people find homes. He’s not in this for glory or money. It’s the right thing for him to do, and I love that about him.

He’s not living paycheck to paycheck, though. He comes from a large and prosperous family. His father is the current mayor of our town, and his mother runs the office of a high-profile law firm. I’ve only met four of his six sisters. Yeah, a huge family. I’m an only child, and the only family I have left are my parents and grandma who all live in Izumo. My late husband’s two sisters and their kids, including Charlie, live here. I hope he’s holding down the café okay. There are no messages from him when I check my mini-tablet.

Smetti di preoccuparti. Stop worrying about him, Karina. It’ll be fine.

“Anyway, I don’t want to keep you from work,” Ean says, bowing. I put away my mini-tab and bow as well. “We have more coffee and news to deliver to everyone else.”

Emily raises her hand. “See you tomorrow, then.”

Ean sighs again as we walk away.

“I hope the lottery works out. Even my guaranteed allotments could go down in flames.”

I keep pace at his side as he makes his way farther into the encampment. “I guess the word ‘guaranteed’ doesn’t mean what it used to.”

He stops for a moment. “You know how bureaucracy is. How long did you wait on the list to get your place?”

“Three years. I applied right out of culinary school when Matt and I were still living in Izumo.” I nod. “They promised me two other places before I got what I have now.”

“It’s a tricky business.” He tilts his head at the next tented area. “So let’s keep everyone caffeinated and full of sugar and carbs. They’ll need it to get through to tomorrow.”

“This is really sweet of you,” I say, the words tumbling out of my mouth. “The coffee and the pastries. You didn’t have to do this, but you did it anyway.”

I may be toeing the line here between friends and more. It’s dangerous territory when he’s always putting me in the ‘friends’ box. I know all too well how demoralizing it is to find out someone was only your friend because they wanted to fuck you. I school my face and bring it back into a serious expression. The sweet, wide-eyed look is inappropriate here. I’m not a twelve-year-old with a crush.

His eyebrows pull inward for a moment. “Uh, thanks. I consider it a part of my job, actually. The community is just as important as individuals. When we work together to take care of each other, everyone benefits.” He smirks, one side of his smile higher than the other. “My mom taught me that.”

He’s about to walk away when he spots a crow sitting on a nearby roof. She looks our way, the sun glinting off something metallic in her mouth. The crow moves, and the sun creates shadows and highlights across her wings, like a feathered lightning bolt, ready to strike. She flies off, revealing another hole in the roof of this house that doesn’t have a tarp over it.

“Shit,” Ean mumbles. “This place is falling to pieces. They can’t move out of here fast enough.”

I set my free hand on his upper arm. “It’s going to be okay. They’ll all be out of here soon enough.” The stench of mildew and wood rot mixes with the smell of ‘cake,’ our local herb that’s either smoked or consumed in edibles. It hangs in the air, a reminder that many people here want to numb their worries away.

“But there are four more families in a rundown old wood shop I must take care of next. It never ends.” For once, Ean looks tired, defeated. I never see him like this. All the stress of the last few days must be getting to him.

That’s okay. I have enough positivity for both of us.

“It does,” I insist. “One family at a time.” We both turn and look out over the buildings of this neighborhood. “The old gets replaced by the new in a wide circle of life. We just have to keep at it.”

“You’re right.” He shakes off his worry and brings his smile back. “Just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Well, Mrs. Morina will be happy to see us,” he says, changing the conversation. “So let’s bring her some of your pastries. I know she loves them.”

He holds out a hand to me, and it takes a moment to realize he’s reaching for my bag, not my hand. Not wanting to argue with him that I can carry it myself, I slip the strap into his fingers, being careful not to touch him.

“She does,” I say, agreeing with him. “Let’s go.”