A Morning of Healing and Hope

Remembering the events from few hours back. It hit me with realisation that he was getting married. The boy i loved and crushed and my best friend is getting married to another. It broke me from inside. I wanted to be alone so i asked Zen to drop me home.

" Are you ok?" He asked in concern.

"I just want to be alone" i said to him. He drove away in silent understanding my urge to stay alone at the moment.

Next morning i felt my head brust in pain. I guess it was the effect of crying almost the whole night up. Remembering the events i felt like as well hang a “Mug Me” sign around my neck. Plus, i felt like a drowned rat with my bedsheet wet. I could feel the pain i was being caused last night and the last thing he needed was the press of countless bodies hurrying to work surrounding me. I didn’t have the strength to go with the mob flow.

Thank goodness i didn’t have to come in until the afternoon. In anticipation of Valentine’s Day Miss Pierce gave the entire office the morning off. I finally regained enough strength to make it to the bathroom, he opened his eyes and raised his head just in time to catch a glimpse of a shirtless man in sweats with a messy mop of black hair, a perpetual scruff on his jaw, and the sparkling blue eyes known to man. They should really make it illegal for hot men to wear sweats that hung low on their hips.

“Zen” i said in shocked. “What are you doing in my room in my house?” i almost shouted out.

He smiled and came near to me and sat at the edge of the bed.

" I am sorry to say. But right now i am not in your room your house but you are in my room and my house", he chuckled at me.

The realisation hit me in my face. I look throught out the room and blushed at the thoughts of making false accusation on him.

Then he told me what happened after i felt asleep in his car. Why i was in his room. He chuckled at me andx got up from the bed and walked towards a room which i guessed to be the bathroom. I lifted the blanket to get down t he bed just to realised that i was i naked underneath.

"Ah" i shouted out in shock and covered myself with the blanket.

"What"he asked looking towards me.

" Why am i naked. Who took off my clothes" i asked in embrassment.

"O, that" he answered and smiled. " You were all messed up last night so i undressed you and put you to sleep".

I blushed in embrassment. I felt uncomfortable picturing Zen taking off my clothes but it war arousing at the same time.

" And don't worry. I didn't see anything" he added seeing my uneasiness.

I sigh in relief at his confession.

" except the sweet little mole on your left butt cheek" he said in nihongo. He said the whole sentence in nihongo which sounded extra sexy and flirty when said "Anata no hidari no o shiri no hoho no amai chīsana usu o nozoite".

I hide my face in full embrassment. Then he entered the bathroom but heading out he winked at me and said "Do you mind joining me".

I blushed at this comment i nodded my head with a no and hid myself inside the blanket. I heard him giggle.

Then i stayed under the blanket until he took bath. He took bath and came out. The thought of him coming out of the bathroom naked made me want to peek out of the blanket. I peeked from under the blanket and saw him half naked. To my disappoinment a towel was hanging on his hips. He turned and saw me peeping and chuckled.

" You can come out and see me i don't mind" he said chuckling further.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to" i replied embrassed at my action.

"Its ok. By the way breakfast is ready. I am going down first. Freshen up yourself and wear something from my wardrobe" saying so he left the door with the door locking sound of the knob.

After he left i peeped out of the blanket to see if he really left. The room was empty. So i slided myself out and entered the bathroom. The bathroom was really stylish and it had a very japanese feel in it. A typical Japanese bathroom consisting of two rooms. The watery glass wall tiles and bamboo wood cabinets were a nice touch. A little further in was the sink and the actual bathroom where the shower and a deep bathtub were. The toilet was somewhere else on the premises. The rooms were separated by shoji screen doors. It wouldn’t surprise me if the apartment had a tatami tea room to entertain guests in. The tub was custom-made concrete that could be filled to overflowing and had a custom-designed waterfall spout. The floor was limestone that incorporated precision laser-cut slots, providing a drain right around the tub, so splashing around wouldn’t be a problem.

In a similar style to the tub was a concrete bench with a shower above it. On a ledge were a shallow wooden bucket, ladle, and stool to be used by whoever was taking a bath.

Not even with . . . I pushed thoughts of Ian away. He no longer had any place in my life. He had moved on and so should i?

After appreciating the setting of his bathroom i took shower and dressed myself in the clothes given to me. It was a white shirt which was long enough and reached almost to my knee. I put on the boxer ge gave me. The shirt was so long and big that it hid the whole boxer beneath it. It was like i was only wearing the shirt.

After i was done i went out the room. I went out to be greeted by a very elegant looking inner balcony seeing over the living room under. I went down the stairs. The holding srand of the stairs being made with bamboo coulored shapes.

I reached the floor and looked around the room. It was a pure elegant and stylish japanese style house. With a modern furnitures in it. At the corner was a grand piano. I was looking around thats when someone startled me from behind.

"Enjoying what you see" a familiar voice said.

"Ah" i said in startling voice.

He chuckled at my silliness. Then i nodded in agreement.

Then he led me to the dining table. The table was full with japanese dishes. He went behind the deck wearing his apron. My mouth watered for two different reasons. First, because Zen looked hot and in control while cooking. Second, because of what he was cooking.

I swallowed and said, “You’re making me tamagoyaki?”

His insides melted as Zen expertly rolled the egg omelet in the traditional Japanese rectangular pan using wooden chopsticks.

“There’s also natto, nori, broiled aji—”

“Steamed rice, miso soup, and tsukemono,” i finished in awe. “You made me a Japanese breakfast?”

I scanned the dining table where bowls of rice sat among bowls of rice and my favorite pickled ume plums or commonly known as umeboshi.

My heart swelled to five times its size. I was afraid it would burst out of his chest from joy. Unexpectedly, what did burst out of him were tears. They welled up fast and ran down his face to drip off his chin.

Zen pursed his lips. “If you’re going to cry, you might as well do it while eating".

Sniffing and wiping his watery eyes with the back of my hand, i approached the perfectly made table. He hadn’t seen a breakfast like it since Tokyo.

But i couldn’t deny that Zen preparing me breakfast was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me in a long time. A fresh wave of emotion came as he pulled out a chair and sat down. I picked up the chopsticks and murmured “itadakimasu” which was the traditional phrase said before eating. Then i reached for the bowl of rice and seasoned it with soy sauce then topped it with the fermented soy beans. But before i could take my first bite, a yellow rectangle of rolled egg was placed on top of the natto. I looked up to see a concerned expression on the handsome businessman’s face.

Zen rolled his perfect blue eyes and sighed. “Stop crying or . . .”

Then, as if making his mind, he took a seat and pulled me onto his lap.

I yelped in surprise, almost spilling my bowl of rice and natto, but i didn’t protest. The second i was enveloped by Zen’s scent.

"What are you doing?" I managed to ask him.

"I am feeding you"

"I can feed myself you know" i glared at him in protest.

Ignoring my protesting he took the bowl and chopsticks from my hands. He used the chopsticks to pick up the tamagoyaki. I gave up my protest parting my lips, taking the yellow brick of goodness into my mouth. It was amazing.

“Naki yame kudasai,” he murmured against the top of my head.

The request for him to stop crying in Japanese sounded so much sweeter, which only caused more of the waterworks.

“What’s the story?” he asked. “It’s obvious Ian is more than just a friend.”

“Ian and I started going out in my junior year of college. He was the best damn thing that ever happened in my life. Before him I was just coasting along, content to keep moving forward without a real goal in mind. He was the one who convinced me to aim to become the editor-in-chief of Rebel after Cassandra retires.” i shook my head in disappointment. “He showed me what I could do if I applied myself.”

With an unreadable expression, Zen listened. He nodded once in a while to show me he was paying attention as if the seriousness of his features hadn’t been an indicator of his rapt interest in what i was saying. So continue on he did between more shots.

“I was so in love with him that I was willing to move to Tokyo for a year just so we wouldn’t have to do the long distance thing.”

“Ah, that explains your proficiency in Nihongo.”

“Damn straight. His too.” He slapped the tabletop, welcoming the sting in his palm. “Three years into our relationship, I was ready to settle down. Or so I thought. You saw him tonight. Wasn’t he the most beautiful thing on two legs you’ve ever seen?”

“I’ve seen better,” Zen muttered.

“Well, to me, he was the sunshine after a long winter. I was fucking crazy about him.” He snorted. “I had everything planned. Valentine’s Day. Reserved the best table at our favorite restaurant. I even had the ring. Harry Winston. A karat for each year we were together. Princess cut—”

“Because she was your princess,” he interrupted, disgust clear in his statement.

"Everything was going smoothly. I was about to meet and propose him after our dinner last night.”

Tears rolled down my cheeks. He came near me and wiped my tears and kissed me on my forehead. That was surprising i guess.

" You know what. I think he was not the one for you. Don't loose hope yet. Who knows the one for you maybe around you. You just have to see" he winked at me.

That made me smile. Then the wall clock rang 7 times indicating it was 7 am already. I should leave or else I'll be late for office i thought to myself.

I finished my breakfast and waved him bye and left for my home.