June 1975, Reno, Nevada. 21-year-old Albert Kelly is currently at the payphone. "Yeah. I'll call you later. I love you, too, mom. Bye. Bye. Bye. BYE!" he said as he quickly hung up. The white-haired man exhaled as he went back to his car. A 1968 Ford Mustang.
Albert Kelly just got back from the Vietnam war after it ended 2 months prior. He was in Vietnam for 2 years straight. What was he going to do now? What was the next chapter, the next step in his life? He didn't know. He didn't know what to do or where to go. He didn't know what to do for his love life either. He already had 3 ex-girlfriends. In high school, he dated 3 different girls. One after the other, they all ended the same way. A slap in the face. They all told the same lie to him too.
Little did he know, this next girl would change his life forever.
Now, he was at a local Reno food court area. As he sat down with a steak burrito wrapped in foil and a Sprite...
"Konichiwa." he hears a voice say. He turned around to see a young woman of East Asian descent wearing a dress with flowers and flowers in her hair. She also looked to be around his age. Maybe a little older.
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"May I sit with you?" the girl asked politely. "Oh yeah, go ahead." Albert said to the young woman. "Wow, she's pretty." Albert thought. The girl then sat down with her soup and lemonade and said to Albert, "Arigato.". Albert was confused. What did that mean? "Thank you." she said again. "Oh, you're welcome." Albert said to the girl. This was gorgeous and adorable, and he didn't know what to say to her. You'd think that after dating 3 girls, he'd better at talking to them and starting a conversation with girls. To be fair, he hasn't dated anyone since high school and the last time he dated anyone was 4 years ago, already. Those relationships were messy. They made him even know less about how girls work. He just decided to let her talk first.
"So, what's your name?" she asked. "Nathan Albert Kelly. Call me Albert." Albert said. "Nice to meet you, Albert, I'm Akiko Tanaka." Akiko said. "Wonderful to meet you, Akiko." Albert said, "I like that dress on you.". "Aww, arigato! It was my grandmother's dress. She gave it to me through inheritance after she died. I think it's absolutely gorgeous." Akiko said. "Well, it is." Albert said.
After a while of talking and eating, Albert and Akiko finally stood up. "Well, it was nice talking to you." Albert said. "Wait, before you go." Akiko said as she gave Albert a napkin with her number on it. "This is in case if you ever want to meet up for coffee or something." Akiko said. "Sure that sounds... nice..." Albert said.
Present day, 2023/2024, Japan
Right now, Albert was in his car, driving along the Japanese west coast. He looked to his right and saw Akiko smiling.
