Author's foreword.
There are a few things to keep in mind while you're reading this. The main character in this story is a boy I once loved. We had what you might call a "holiday romance"; like getting a boyfriend at summer camp, but then never seeing or hearing from him again after everyone goes home. This special boy touched my heart and left his own personal mark on it. I've tried to erase it with serious relationships, flings, and even almost got married once! (Ugh!) I don't think I'll ever forget "Michael", and I'm not sure if I ever want to. For that short time we had together, he was my everything, and I was sure he felt the same way. Anyway, before I start blubbering again, this story is from his perspective; well, I'm going to try to write it that way.
Ch. 0 - Gettin' Schooled (Meet the cast)
Connor and I had graduated from the same high school in Leominster, and gone to Boston U together where we met Erich; same majors and everything. After finishing at BU, we mostly bummed around for a year, had menial jobs. We decided to take some time off after busting our humps for four years. I had had no idea just how much frikkin work went into a degree. And all that crap you hear about college being the time to party? Not if you're actually there to learn! Over the four years we were there, I can count on both hands the number of parties and events I attended. Can't say the same for Connor. That's all he did; and I'm the only reason he graduated. And Erich? Well, he was a balance of the two of us.
Connor had been a traffic and parking enforcement officer in Worcester for seven months, until he thrashed some middle aged jackass for parking his Beemer in front of a fire hydrant for four days in a row. In Connor's defense, the man did provoke him, and jabbed a finger into his chin. Connor layed him out across the hood of his $70k Sapphire Blue BMW with a right cross that would have made Mick from Rocky proud. He copped to assault and battery, but got off scot-free after witnesses saw the pompous jackass he hit "willingly and knowingly provoke action in the form of self-defense." A friend in traffic enforcement surprised him one day by bringing a copy of the traffic camera's tape over to the apartment a a gift. We made a night of it. We got some beer and snacks, invited a few friends over, and cheered in unison when Connor punched that SOB. It was liking watching a pay-per-view boxing!
I had roomed with Connor, partly because we were such good buds, but mostly because I wanted to keep an eye on him. He had a few close calls in college with drugs, alcohol, and other shit. I'm not saying I ever had to save his life, but I threw my share of punches on his behalf. I think sometimes he would start trouble because he knew I was always close by. He knew that if a fight started, or if voices were raised, that was like the Bat Signal to me. I always came running; no matter what. Anyway, I took to working at a comic book shop a few streets down from our apartment. It was fun... sort of. What can I say? The regulars were alright, and the occasional dad telling his young son about how many comic books he had when he was a kid always made me smile, but the ones who wished to wax philosophical about the books drove me nuts. The pay wasn't great, but the owner let me take pretty much whatever I wanted whenever. At the request of a few local high school kids, we started carrying Manga. I never read it but I had to admit (to myself) some of the ways they drew the girls was just adorable.
Erich, being the athlete that he can be spent the next three months as a bike messenger in New York City. Growing up in Northern New Jersey he spent most of the time he should have been in school on the streets of NYC, so he knew them pretty well enough. He rented a shitty room in a shitty building on the Lower East Side, but made the most of it. He saved enough to move back to Worcester with us after a few months. He said he thought he might like it, but didn't. "All risk, no reward." Connor and I agreed.
A few weeks after Erich moved onto our couch, we all three saw the same ad in the Boston Globe about a school up in Maine looking for, "Young, Vibrant, Strong Willed" individuals to live on campus and work. We decided, "What the F-", we really weren't going anywhere with the way things were, and had yet to put our degrees to good use.
The trip us was long, and the bus was cramped and smelled like the inside of a tuna can. Luckily, I slept most of the way there. We caught a cab outside the bus terminal and eventually made to this school. "Woodley School". After touring and a few meeting with various supervisory types, we agreed to stay that day and signed up. Because of our Bachelor Degrees we were entitled to a modest base salary increase. They also offered us any further schooling in Psychiatry or Psychology would be paid for by them.
Anyway, we adjusted well, and got along with most of the staff and "residents". They wanted the students to be called residents to make them sound more adult. Whatever. Just a bunch of bratty spoiled rich kids here, if you ask me. It was alright, though. Our work was pretty simple, make sure they followed their schedules, took their meds, and helped in group counseling.
Sad to say, though, this school took better care of the staff than it did the students. We got weekly pizza and grinders parties when we were supposed to be having staff meeting about things like changes in policies, new state regulations, etc. The real kicker was the staff Christmas/Hannukah party. It was more like a frat/sorority mixer than anything else. The beer and cocktails flowed liked water, and it was just... that crazy. I guess being stuck out in the woods taking care of a bunch of fucked up kids can really wear on you. Connor, Erich, and I had only been there about eight months, but were pretty comfortable. Those two went out and had fun in the party, I sat down on a leather couch and drank so much beer, I was later told by Erich that I let Carrie, the pretty redhead from bookkeeping, grind into me while slapped her behind shouting, "Ride 'em cowgirl!" I don't remember. /shrug. Later that night Connor shook me awake and jumped on me screaming , "WE WON, WE F-CKIN' WON!" I slugged his arm and told him to stop shouting and say it straight. He looked down at my zipper and said, "Looks like you won, too, huh?" After I zipped up, he explained he had put our names in for the Key West paid vacation, after which we'd join up with the some of the vacationing staff in NYC for a night of dinner and shows, and then sightseeing for the next 3 days. We had won! We were flying out from Bangor in two days. Good, I need to get the smell of beer out of my clothes, and bubble gum perfume off me. I looked down at my hand, it also looked like Carrie had scrawled her number in pen on my hand, underlined with a drawing of a ...nevermind.
Two days later, we were off.
Vacations are great, right? Right. Well, usually. A vacation in Key West in an amazing house nestled close to the beach? Awesome! Yeah, Key West may be not much more than a tourist trap, and a lot of the folks there just came down to go to Margaritaville; but, free is free. Anyway, the vacation was great. We relaxed, drank a bit, went to beach for the...scenery and generally had a good time. We partied extra hard the night before we had to get up and pack. With our heads splitting open, we basically crammed our stuff into our duffel bags. Our party "guests" were gathering up their clothes from our rooms and getting dressed. We said our goodbyes, and with kisses on the cheek and false promises to call, they scurried out the door.
'Hate to see 'em go, but love to watch 'em leave, right?' More bubble gum perfume to wash off.
An hour later we were heading North on Highway 1, bound for a noon flight out of Miami. The last 2 weeks had been great; we partied, did some wreck diving, fished for marlin and tarpon.
I couldn't have picked a better couple of guys to go with either.
Long flight, but business class was nice. Erich spent the flight trying to flirt with the attendant. He mistook our free business class drinks as her being nice to him. We had to break it to him that all of our drinks were free. He looked a little disappointed but played it off. A bruised ego can hurt.
There was a car waiting for us at JFK at took rather quickly to The Warwick hotel
Ch. 1 - Arigato
The morning after, Connor and I, who were sharing a room at the Warwick, had agreed to go to the MOMA, which was a few blocks walking distance (if that) away. The only reason we had gone together is because I had enough cash to get us in, and he had about enough for a small lunch from a street vendor. I wasn't worried; he'd saved my tuchus at a restaurant in Key West when I had worn my swim trunks all day and left my wallet in my pants at the house.
Anyhow, I paid for us to get in and we wandered around for a few hours, and he complained at how we had missed the Chuck Close exhibit by a few months. After my fourth coffee, I had to use the restroom, and decided I was hungry. I asked Connor if he wanted to get something to eat at the Cafe 2 in the MOMA, and he said, 'Yeah, but after I hit the head." Good idea. Afterwards, we plodded over to Cafe 2 along the sidewalk, and grumbled to ourselves in line that we could have gotten here from the damn museum if we had just looked enough. I was surprised at how few people were there, considering that it was just after noon. There was one corner of the cafe taken up by what looked like a tour group. After quickly scanning the group, I noticed they were all Asian. And, they were all girls. Maybe a school trip? Whoever they were, they noticed me looking at them and got really quiet. I quickly turned my head back to the menu and asked the server for a Reuben sandwich. I heard a few of the girls "whispering" loudly in Japanese (Oh, he's so tall!, Look at his eyes, they're blue like the ocean!, I wonder if he would come home and be my boyfriend?...) and after a split-second pause they all started to giggle. What is it with girls and giggling? It's incredibly cute, but incredibly frustrating. It makes guys feel uncomfortable. I paid the lady at the register, and walked over to the table Connor had selected. I set my tray down and before I could open my mouth Connor asked,
"What the hell was that about?"
I asked what he a was talking about as I sat down.
"You know. Those girls. What the hell were they giggling about? Was your fly open or something?" I instinctively reached down to check my zipper, but everything was fine.
He laughed and said, "Just kidding. I think they saw you staring at them."
I instantly went on the defense. "I wasn't staring! I was just looking..."
He just looked at me. "Yeah, right. What, you got a thing for Asian women?" My cheeks went red, and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.
"I...I don't think so." I stammered, still feeling a little embarrassed. He chuckled, and his voice took on a softer, deeper tone,
"Nicholas, it's only natural for a young man of your age to be interested in girls. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. It just means you're a healthy young man."
He put a hand on my shoulder and patted it twice, " I'm proud of you, son. Now get on over there, grab one of those girls and give her some.."
I batted his hand away, and said, "Gee, thanks dad!" I went back to my sandwich. I muttered, "Idiot." He couldn't help but laugh, so I decide to pry into his head a little.
"So...," I began, "How's it going with Brooke?" He nearly choked on his soda. Bingo; I had got him! I cracked a big smile and let out a low "Hehehe."
"Bastard", was all he could muster. His relationship with Brooke was supposed to be secret. Yeah right. Those two spent way too much time together to 'just be friends'. Even the lunch hall workers at the school ask 'Miss Brooke' where her boyfriend is. At least they started to after Lloyd walked in on the two of them in the back kitchen, kissing. I suppose it still was a secret. A secret that a hundred or so people knew about. I looked up from my the last bite of my sandwich and could tell that he was a little distressed.
"Hey man, I'm sorry if what I said was a out of line. I didn't mean to be an ass about it."
He waved the apology off, "It's alright. I just get a little nervous when people talk about it." I understood where he was coming from. The school didn't exactly look favorably on the staff becoming couples. They said it might jeopardize the professional relationship we need to maintain to help the residents.
Connor broke the uncomfortable silence with, "I wonder what they would do if they knew you could understand what they were saying?"
I chuckled just a little to loudly, "Probably blush and run out of here.",
"So what are they saying?" .
"Umm. Not too much about us."
"What do you mean? What are they say-?" he started glaring at me.
"What?" I was a little confused now.
"Us?"
"Well, not really."
"You?"
"Kinda."
"God-dammit," he hung his head then took a big bite of his sandwich.
Connor was 5 feet 8 inches tall, with black hair and an unimpressive face with a pencil line mustache. He was nice enough, though. I guess that counts.
Now, I'm no GQ model, but I come in at about 6 feet tall, dirty blond hair, and built like a Kansas farm boy. I'm just sayin'.
"What would Brooke say?" I threw at him, hoping to take his mind off it.
"I'm just window shopping."
I snorted. "Window shopping."
"Those girls have been looking over at us just about this whole time."
I looked back at him, "Do you think they can understand what you're saying?"
He raised his eyebrows, and muttered, "I hope not."
He was right, though. They were looking up to see if we were looking back, and if we glanced in their direction they would quickly turn back to their table. It was like they were playing a silly game of cat and mouse or something.
Connor had caught me looking again. "So, have you noticed yet?," he mumbled.
"What?"
"Dumbass. Those girls over there have been giving you the eye(s) since we sat down. Since we frikkin came in here! Especially the one sitting on the aisle."
My forehead got a little warm, and I instinctively started pulling on my ear a little. She was the one that had caught my eye, too.
"Erm. No. I hadn't looked. Maybe they just haven't seen too many American boys their age. They might be from a region that doesn't get too many gaijin."
"You're a terrible liar." That made me mad. I glared at him, and he held his hands up and laughed. "Sorry. But I got you back."
"You're a dick."
"Sometimes. But anyway, don't think I haven't noticed you." I played innocent and put on my 'bewildered' face.
"Why whatever are you talking about?" I tried to stay level, but my voice broke a little at the end.
"You've been practically staring at her this whole time. Even when you were talking to me your eyes kept darting over there."
"Sorry," I mumbled," I just..."
"Don't be sorry. Forgive me for saying this, but dude, she's h...!"
"Yeah. I get it!" I interrupted him for both our sakes. I looked over at her again and realized my eyes were just drawn to her.
She suddenly looked up at me, made eye contact, and flashed me a smile that made me blush.
I let an audible, "Ah!", and Connor asked what was wrong. I said nothing, I was just clearing my throat.
"Again with the dishonesty." He held his hand up at me before I could say anything, "Sorry. Just kidding. Just kidding. I think she's flirting with you, man."
"You really think so?" Oh god. I sounded way too desperate just then. I looked up at her and she was looking at me with that smile. That smile! My heart started racing, and my cheeks got even more red. I raised my hand in a pathetic little wave, complete with pathetic little smile. She suddenly turned her face back toward her table and hid herself behind her beautiful, raven-colored hair. I got a bit panicked; had I scared her off? Was she embarrassed by my boldness. I thought it was just a small gesture of interest and now... Dammit!
Connor saw the look cross my face and asked if I was ok. I said it was fine and just remembered something I forgot to do... or something.
"Hmm." Was all he could manage.
I looked back up, and the group was getting up to leave. She was somehow on the other side of the mob, and I couldn't see her. I tried to crane my head to get a better view, but to no avail. Dammit, again! She was going to leave and I didn't at least say 'hi', or 'konichiwa'. I felt instantly bad for thinking that I would have to greet her in her native language. 'They frikkin' study English in school, numbnuts' I scolded myself, 'they would at least know hello.'
"Whatcha looking for?", Connor asked like a little nosy kid. I gave him a look like he was a nosy little kid.
"Just trying to read the menu by the register.' I managed to say.
The girls were putting their coats back on and chattering excitedly about where to go next.
"Can you understand what they're saying?" He asked.
"Not too much, but I think they're trying to decide on whether or not to go back to the hotel, or something like that."
"Maybe you could find out what hotel they're staying at and later we'll go over and..."
"Shut the hell up," I said. He let out a good laugh. He was having fun. He really was a dick.
They had started to file out of the door that lead to the sidewalk, and she was lagging a bit behind throwing away her trash. One of the other girls spoke up and said something to the effect of, 'hurry up, dummy!' I recognized 'baka' as the word for idiot, stupid, etc.
It's funny; you start to learn a new language, and the first things you want to know are how to insult people.
Anyhow, she started for the exit, but didn't take the more direct path to the door the other girls had taken. Instead she walked right by our table, and her coat brushed against my shoulder. It sent a chill down my spine. My eyes half-closed, I smiled and inhaled her scent as she walked by. Roses, and another sweet and subtle spice. My God, it was heavenly. I had to experience that again! I had to at least say something. Just to get close to her again! I turned my head to the door and she had paused to wrestle her coat on, trying to juggle a purse in one of her hands. She finally got it on and hurried toward the door. As she reached for the handle, she turned to give me one last look. It was that smile again. She pushed open the door and ran to catch up to her friends.
"Hey, Dumbass! If you were wondering when the right time to talk to her was, it just passed." Connor's voice brought me back to this world. I looked to where she had been standing, and noticed a glove must have fallen from her pocket as she was getting her coat on.
"Go." was all he said. That was all he needed to say. I sprang up from my seat and snatched the glove up in one motion, and barreled out the door. Over my shoulder I heard Connor yelling something about my coat, adding a, "Dumbass."
Good God was it cold! I didn't have much time to care; I was on a mission. The girls were only a bit away from the cafe, and I ran to catch up.
"Excuse me!" I shouted. Everyone on the street had heard me and turned to look, including the group of girls.
Aw crap.
I made a small bow and said, "Sumi masen." Woah. I can't believe I remembered that phrase. I think they were surprised that I knew it, too. They all giggled. Enough with the giggling. Jeez. I held out the glove and said (in English), "I believe someone dropped this." The girls stood there, looking at each other; some were asking whose it was. One of the taller girls near the back of the group was nudging someone hidden behind the rest of them. She said for her to go get her glove. She also said some other things, but I don't think they knew I understood as much as I did. The mob began to part, and she stepped toward me. She looked up at me, and her hair fell away from her face. My god, was she beautiful! Her skin was smooth and pale like a porcelain doll, and her brown eyes were two delicate almonds. My own eyes went wider and my breath caught in my throat. I was stunned. She came closer, slowly, and I could smell her again. Even in the bitter winter wind, that delicate fragrance hung about her like an invisible veil. I almost audibly sighed. She looked up at me and surprise washed over her face. She was still coming closer. I heard her companions gasp, and realized she had stumbled on the sidewalk! I dashed forward as she cried out, and she fell into my arms. Her friends gasped again, and began to chatter excitedly (Did you see that?! He moves like the wind! Oh, he's so heroic!). Her eyes were closed, expecting an imminent collision with the cold ground. She had a pained expression on her face. My heart raced; was she hurt? Did she need me to take her to a hospital?
After a few tense seconds, I finally managed to squeak out, "Are... you ok?" My voice was barely above a whisper. Her reply sounded more like a whimper, but she nodded. She finally opened her eyes and realized how close our faces were to each other. Just mere inches. Her eyes widened, and she struggled to stand up pulling away from me in embarrassment. She was a bit shaky, and it looked like she would fall over again. As I reached out to help steady her, she grabbed for the glove and with it, turned away to join her group again, her cheeks as red as rosebuds.
I was crushed. I felt like I was the one falling now, and my heart was sinking. Maybe it wasn't meant to be. Even this quickly, heartache began to set in. I just stood there, watching them walk away.
Then, she turned around again.
A change of mind, perhaps?
A change of heart? She came close to me, and pressed something into my hand, that scent taking me over again like a spell she was weaving. She put her hands on my forearms and raised her lips to my ear. I held my breath again. She whispered, "Thank you for catching me", and delicately kissed me on the cheek. Her lips were warm and soft, and it was like silk had brushed against my face. She hurried away, and was lost in her group, which had started to uncontrollably giggle. This time... the giggles were cute.
Again, I stood there. I dared the wind to freeze me. I was filled with a warmth from within; starting at my cheek and spreading like a wave crashing onto the shore. The icy air turned tropical, and I felt like I could stand there forever. I wanted to stand there forever; with her so close to me.
"That went well." That voice.
Connor.
Damn.
"You forgot your coat, Romeo." He grumbled, but I could tell he was smiling under the scarf.
"Sorry." I finally managed to say. He held it out. I took it and simply draped it over my arm. He gave me a look like I had admitted to being Jesus Christ or something.
"You're not cold? What are you, stupid? It's f-ing freezing out here!" He was bundled up in his bubble coat with a scarf and cap on. I had on a cotton polo shirt and dress slacks.
"I feel alright." I said, still not fully out of that dream state.
"I'll bet. Now let's go. I wanna see if there's a bar around here." I ignored that statement and remembered that she had put something in my hand. I looked down, and it was a crumpled napkin from the cafe.
"What's that?"
"Napkin. From the cafe."
He shivered and said, "Well, toss it out and let's get going."
I opened it all the way and a smile split my face when I saw what was written on it.
Hilton NY #308 -Kaede-
"I think I'll hang onto it."