Myra’s Big Mistake – Chapter 9

I make the switch in my head immediately. This is not a business meeting or even a friendly dinner. This is a date. A date? I haven’t been on a date in literally forever. The last few men I met and slept with were not ‘dates.’ They were a few drinks at the bar and a one-night stand. After my pseudo-relationship with Daren, I didn’t have the heart to try again.

And I haven’t dated anyone in at least a year, not since Mochi and I have been together.

Speaking of which, he comes trotting up to our table with Ringo next to him and the head waiter following behind.

“Is this all right, Mr. Maeda?” The head waiter wrings his hands for a moment until Mochi approaches me, and I scratch his head. “Ah. Okay.” He bows and leaves hastily, probably before Nosuké can fire him for questioning his better judgment.

“Myra, you’re still here.” Mochi’s voice is filled with awe. “Is it going well?”

“It is,” I whisper to him. “I think there’s food for you with Ringo.”

“Ringo says that Nosuké is interested in you,” he stresses. “Not just about your father.”

I laugh at him. He’s such a little meddler.

“That may be true. Let me get back to my dinner, okay?”

Mochi joins Ringo at their plates. Watching them sit side by side and eat is the cutest thing ever. I sink into my chair and breathe out a relieved sigh.

“You’re more relaxed when he’s around. The sign of an excellent pairing,” Nosuké says, bringing my eyes to his.

“He’s my best friend, next to Ruby.” I clear my throat and decide that I won’t mention her again for the rest of the evening. This whole thing feels like a betrayal, but maybe it’s not. I’ve always put my friends’ and family’s needs before mine. When do I get to come first? “So, you want to know about my family…”

I make my way through the ranks, starting with my older brother, Ean, and working down to Rosa and Demi, the youngest of the Kimura sisters.

“They’re both in high school now, and who knows what they’ll get up to. Though I’m pretty sure they’ll both test into the I.A. with no issues. If that’s what they want.”

We’ve finished the dinner courses, and Nosuké has moved on to bourbon and water. I stopped drinking after the saké was gone. I tap my foot under the table and think about something sweet to go with this meal. Maybe cheesecake. Yeah, a fluffy soufflé style cheesecake.

“Sorry. I’ve been talking too much. You have a sister, right?”

“Half-sister.” He turns his glass around on the table. “Serena. My mother died when I was ten, and my father remarried.” His demeanor is neutral, so I decide to pry.

“And do you like her? Your step-mom?”

This elicits a smile. “I do. I love her. She’s a wonderful woman. Just the fact that she puts up with my father is another reason to make her a saint.” He sips his drink. “Do you get along with your mom?”

“Yeah. Pretty much all the kids do. She’s caring and understanding. Maybe a little too pushy about us all finding ‘someone.’” I roll my eyes. “But she’s always been great.”

“I have heard similar things about her. She seems like a lovely woman.”

Silence.

“You want to talk about my father?” I feel we’ve broken a rule somehow by coming back to him full circle.

Nosuké sighs. “Not especially, but I suppose we have to.” He sets his glass down and looks off into the restaurant. We’ve been here for almost two hours now. “The weather is nice tonight. Do you want to go out for a walk on the beach?”

Mochi runs to my side and bounces on his back legs. “Oh yes. Let’s go to the beach. I love the beach.”

I halt a giggle as he bounces. He and Nosh often spend a lot of time on the beach. There’s a fair amount of sand in my bed at all times.

“He likes the beach,” I tell Nosuké.

Nosuké smiles as he pushes in his chair and reaches for my bag. “Ringo barely tolerates the sand. He’ll stick to the rocks.”

Heads turn and eyes focus on us as we leave the restaurant together, and everyone bows or runs to get out of the way. When the door closes behind us, I look back at all the restaurant employees through the window.

“Do you notice when people do that?”

“What? Go out of their way to be deferential to me?”

“Yeah, that.” I join him as he gestures to the casino floor.

“I do. But I don’t call attention to it. If I want them to be casual with me, then they try even harder to be something I don’t want. So I’m just polite and calm, and I never tell them to do anything differently.”

Hmmm, that’s interesting. Polite and calm. I can be polite, but calm is definitely something I need to work on.

On the walk through the casino, I start to pull inward. Everyone acknowledges Nosuké and stares at me. I lag a half-step behind Nosuké after being stared down by a pair of women at the bar. It was easy to pretend we were on a date at Kisetsu. Now I’m just awkward and out of place.

“Sorry. Am I walking too fast?” He looks down as he slows and places a hand on my lower back. “You’re wearing heels.”

“I’m, uh…” I’m conscious of how close we are to each other, how his hand is on my back, and how the surrounding whispers intensify every second. “I think you might want to step away from me, or the wolves will tear me apart.”

Nosuké knocks out of his own bubble and glances around at the people watching and listening as we make our way to the boardwalk doors. Our pairs are right behind us.

I lean in and lower my voice. “I’m the mayor’s daughter, and not even the pretty one at that. Everyone is wondering what the hell you’re doing with me.” My cheeks heat, and it’s hard to swallow.

“They can keep wondering,” he replies, moving closer and directing me away from the crowd.

My knees wobble before they reach the door, and Mochi sprints in front of me. “Myra, you don’t look so good.”

“I’m okay,” I whisper as the door opens and the fresh spring air hits us. For a moment, I close my eyes and breathe deep. “I’m okay,” I repeat.

“You’re okay?” Nosuké asks, not knowing my conversation with Mochi.

“Yeah, but we should cut this night short before the rumors start. I’m sure you don’t want to be associated with me.”

He turns to face me as people stream around us on the boardwalk. It’s an unseasonably warm evening, and lots of people are out. Yamato doesn’t have an abundance of family-friendly attractions, but the boardwalk food stalls get a lot of business on a night like this.

“You can’t be sure because you’re wrong. If I didn’t want to be associated with you, we would not be here, period. Now,” he says, his tone of voice final, “let’s get ice cream and walk on the beach.”

I pop back a bit, unsure how to handle a man who talks to me like this. But I’m not angry. More confused because usually no one cares this much.

A trace of despair sits like a rock in my chest. I hope I’m not being taken advantage of.

We each get cones of ice cream and walk down the ramp to the beach. Mine is strawberry cheesecake (close enough), and Nosuké picked double fudge.

We reach the bottom, and sand stretches out before us. “Hold on.” I try to carry my bag and the cone and slip off my heels at the same time, but I rock to the side and nearly topple over. Nosuké grabs my elbow and steadies me, taking my cone for me. “Thanks. Sorry. I’m not very graceful.”

He watches with amusement as I get out of my heels and pick them up. With my ice cream back in my hand, we walk side by side to the water’s edge and make our way up the beach.

“How’s the double fudge?” I ask, wiping my lips with a napkin. Any lipstick I had been wearing is now long gone.

“My favorite. Yours?”

“I like it,” I say, turning the cone around. “I think it would be better with chunks of actual cheesecake in it. Maybe a little more eggy, like a custard.”

He huffs a laugh. “You missed your calling.”

We both turn at the sound of a shuttle lifting off from the spaceport on the other side of town. I watch it cross the sky and disappear far above. My calling was supposed to be space. It was all I thought of as a kid.

“Yeah, probably, though not as a pastry chef,” I say.

“What’s that?” Nosuké continues us back on our path.

“Oh, my big mistake. The reason I’m stuck here and not up there.” I point at the stars above us. “I gave up too quickly.” I eat another mouthful of ice cream. “Though I’m not sure what I would have done for the agency at this point.”

“What did you want to do?”

“Human resources. I wanted to manage projects and help everyone go into space if they wanted to. Then I wanted to transition to mission planning.” I sigh as I kick some sand, and it blows against my bare leg. Down the beach, Mochi is gallivanting in the sand, kicking it up, and rolling around in it. “But even the basic test for admin positions requires knowledge of physics and chemistry and on and on, and I just couldn’t remember all the terms. You know how the I.A. is. Only the best of the best. They even screen the janitors for aptitude.” I crunch into the cone. “I guess I’ll never make it into space now.”

“Never say never,” Nosuké replies.

We watch as Mochi plays with another animal about his size far down the beach. They chase each other around and chitter happily. Nosuké reaches out and takes my hand in his, and the contact is so electric that I pull away after only a few moments. I turn my eyes from his and curse myself for being hesitant. But how could I not? This is uncharted territory for me.

“So, now the big question,” Nosuké starts, and my body tenses. This is the end of me thinking this was a date. “What does your father like to do?”

I finish off my cone, wipe my hands, and chew in silence for a moment.

“That’s not the question I thought you’d ask.”

“Humor me.”

I laugh. “I’ve been humoring you all night. Why not another fifteen minutes?”

He frowns, disappointment crossing his face, so I continue.

“What does my father like to do? Complain about his children, the town, the politics, all of it.”

Nosuké shrugs. “Well, I know the man likes to complain. It’s all he ever does to me. But there must be something he actually enjoys doing.”

I think back on all the times I saw him happy. “Festivals, pretty much. He loves to eat festival food, stand outdoors all day, play games, and talk to people until he’s so tired he’d fall down dead if you didn’t take him home.”

“Festivals…” Nosuké looks out at the water.

“Yeah, he loves them. He’d go to one every weekend if they were available.”

Nosuké reaches out to touch my elbow and stop me. “Do you think… maybe…”

“What’s that?” I ask, turning to face him.

Whatever he was going to say disappears in a flash of his eyes. The breeze whips my hair into my face, and I lightly dislodge it from my cheeks and eyelashes.

“Do you think, maybe, since this is a real date and not just a fact-finding mission, you’d allow a kiss?”

This stops my heart dead in my chest. “This was a date?” He nods. “And you want to… kiss me?” I touch my hand to my chest. I could barely handle the handholding. What would a kiss do to me?

His lips twist in a buried smile. “Yes, you.”

What do I do? Don’t be stupid, Myra!

He just said it. This is a date. This is the real thing. And I would actually love to see what a kiss does to me. I step a little closer.

“I’ll allow it,” I tell him, matching my gaze to his.

He slips his left hand around my waist and settles his body right up against mine. Breathing is difficult, but I inhale when his breath rushes over my lips and meet him halfway. The kiss is the searing heat of an oven left on for hours. It’s all-consuming, and it sends warmth through my whole body. I open up and let him in, circling my arms around his waist and squeezing him. Mmmm, he feels solid and real. Real. It’s really happening. If someone had told me this morning that I’d kiss Nosuké by the end of the day, I would have thought they were crazy.

A burst of ocean breeze curls around us, relaxing me into his arms. I’ve never been kissed like this before, like the guy actually means it. Like Nosuké wanted this kiss from me, and he would do anything for it to last forever.

I pull even closer and relish his hard chest and stomach against my softer body. I hum as he tilts my head to the side and dips me back.

“Myra Kimura!” The shrill voice rings out over the beach, and I nearly jump out of my skin, my lips torn away from Nosuké in a rush.

The world swims, but I spot Ruby stomping across the sand towards us, her arms pumping furiously.

Oh. Oh no. Oh shit.

I retreat from Nosuké and shiver away from his warmth. It’s a shock to my system, like dousing boiling vegetables in ice water. He’s dazed and staring into space, not able to talk. That kiss was just as good for him as it was for me. He’s struggling to catch his breath.

Oh gods, Myra. I’m so dumb. I belatedly realize that Mochi was playing with Nosh in the sand. They’re both running back to us.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ruby’s voice cracks as it reaches a new octave never before heard by any human being.

“I… I… Uhhhh.” I swallow to keep from throwing up.

Ruby’s face is bright red. She is light-years beyond pissed.

“Spit it out,” she yells at me, and tears pool in my eyes. I’m fucked now. When Ruby gets angry, she’s mean.

“Hey,” Nosuké says, stepping in front of me. “Calm down, Ruby.”

“Calm down? Calm down? You’re kissing her? What is this? A date?”

My mouth is sealed shut. Even if I open it, I’m sure nothing would come out. I press my fingers to my lips and wish I could have frozen time in the kiss.

“Yes, it’s a date,” Nosuké says, and my head jerks up. I expected him to deny it now that he was on the spot. “I took Myra out for dinner, and I was just about to walk her home.”

“A date.” Her voice is dead, empty of feeling. “What the actual fuck?” She throws her arms up. “When were you going to tell me, huh?” she asks me.

“Tell you what?” I’m amazed I found my voice.

“That you were going after Nosuké behind my back?” Her eyes fill with tears. Oh shit. “I thought we were friends. Best friends.”

“We are,” I insist.

Nosuké steps between us. “Myra didn’t know it was a date until she got there. I sprung it on her. It’s not her fault. It’s mine.”

“You? Want to date Myra?” The disbelief in her voice knocks the wind out of my lungs. “I thought…” She pauses and presses her lips together. “I’m so stupid. You asked me questions about Myra at the festival because you wanted to date her, not me. I thought you were flirting with me again, trying to make small talk and warm me up for an invitation.”

Ruby sniffs and wipes the tears from her cheeks.

I sigh. “I thought Nosuké wanted to ask me about my dad, you know? I didn’t realize it was a date until it was a date.”

“Why didn’t you leave?” She jabs her finger at me.

“Because I haven’t been on a date in four years.” Tears roll down my cheeks, and Nosuké looks like he wishes he was anywhere else but here. “And I thought, well, one date wouldn’t hurt. Men never pay me any attention, and I’m sorry. I wanted it.” Her face falls. “I’m sorry,” I say again.

She pivots on her heel, spins around, and stalks off. “Nosh! Let’s go!”

Nosh and Mochi separate, and Mochi trots over to me, turning his leisurely jog into a run. “You’re so upset. We should go.”

“Just a second.” I wipe away my tears with my entire hand. I gesture to both Nosuké and Mochi to stay. “Just… wait.”

I run off after Ruby and catch up to her at the nearest beach exit.

“Ruby. Ruby,” I plead. “Don’t be angry with me. I’m sorry. I… I never thought he would even want to date me. You said you wanted to date him again, but I didn’t think you were serious.”

I still don’t understand it, but it happened. Despite how different we are, I had a good time and could see myself with Nosuké.

“Leave me alone.” She dodges my hand as I reach out to touch her arm.

A burst of anger rises to the surface through my fear of losing her. “Come on,” I bark out. “For fuck’s sake! You’re gorgeous and smart and kind. You have the body of a supermodel and the brain of a prize-winning scientist. I have none of that. None. You can have anyone you want. You have Aki and five other guys who are dying to date you. Why are you mad at me?”

“There is no Aki,” she spits out. “He broke things off with me tonight.”

“Oh no.” My anger fades quickly. “I’m sorry.”

Ruby stops, sniffs up, and sighs. She looks small, defeated.

“Stop being sorry. Date whoever you want. I don’t care anymore.”

I watch her walk off into the darkness before turning around and finding Nosuké, Ringo, and Mochi waiting for me on the sand. Walking over to them, I kick the sand as I go. Stupid, stupid, stupid, Myra! How could I be so stupid?

“Looks like I’m full of big mistakes.” I bark out a laugh and cringe because my tears fly everywhere. I’m a mess now. Not at all attractive.

“I’m so sorry. I was worried that you wouldn’t give me a chance if you knew this was a date ahead of time. I didn’t tell Ruby…” He turns to look out at the waves. “I didn’t tell her because I was afraid it would scare you off.”

“Funny.” I laugh and roll my eyes. “That’s what everyone says about dating a Kimura girl.”

I turn to my Mochi, sitting patiently and waiting for me. He’s covered in sand, and I don’t care. I open my arms and squat down, allowing him to jump up and sit on my shoulders. He nuzzles my ear, and I sigh.

“Let me walk you home,” Nosuké offers, but I wave him off.

“I think we should leave things here. I’m going to go home, obliterate myself with cake, and hopefully pass out into a dreamless sleep.”

He seems sad, but I know he’ll turn around, go back to the casino, and work all night. This is for the best. I doubt it would have worked out, anyway.

“Let’s go home,” Mochi whispers in my ear.

It’s hard to move my feet away from Nosuké, but I do. Halfway up the stairs, he calls out, “I’ll check on you tomorrow!”

But in my heart, I know he won’t. No guy wants to get involved in this kind of drama. Ruby just sank my possibility for romance, probably forever.