After spending two weeks in Russia, we were off to our next destination: Egypt. We arrived at Cairo International Airport in the afternoon. We were greeted by the warm and dry air of Cario. The smell of spices filled the air. It was coming from street vendors just outside the terminal.
Joseph, as always, stretched dramatically,
"Alright, boys, the land of pyramids awaits!!! Who's ready to climb a pyramid and make history?!!...."
Abdul shot him a warning look. "Joseph… if you get arrested here… I'm not helping you."
Joseph grinned, nudging me, "You hear that, Shin? Guess it's up to us to be the heroes when things go south…."
I muttered, grabbing my backpack, "I'd rather not get arrested in the first place… I have a family to take care of…"
But deep down, Joseph and Abdul both of us knew that it was only a matter of time before Joseph found a way to get us into trouble…
Cairo was buzzing with life. The streets were crowded with people, and we could hear the horns of cars all around us. Everywhere we looked, there were vendors selling trinkets, jewelry, and colorful scarves.
The afternoon sun cast a golden glow all over the town. Ancient buildings stood alongside modern ones. The whole city felt like this place was caught between two worlds…. modernity and ancient history…
As we made our way through the busy streets toward our hotel, Abdul looked quieter than usual, his eyes were scanning the crowds. He looked like he was searching for someone…
"You, okay?!..." I asked him, nudging him lightly.
"I'm fine," Abdul muttered, though there was something in his expression, a kind of nervousness and anticipation.
Joseph raised an eyebrow. "Abdul!! Nervous?? What's going on here??!!..."
Abdul shook his head quickly. "Nothing!!!...."
Joseph grinned, sensing there was something wrong with Abdul, "No way. You've got that look… The 'I'm-expecting-to-see-someone-special' look…."
I grinned too. "Holy shit, Abdul!!! Are we about to meet someone important??...."
Abdul gave us both a flat look. "Shut up, guys…"
It was our second day in Egypt. The Pyramids of Giza and the ancient monuments stood majestically before us. We stood at the base of the massive stone structures, astonished by their sheer size and beauty…
"Can you believe this?!" I said, shading my eyes with one hand as I stared at the pyramids. "These things are thousands of years old and still standing…."
Abdul, ever the logical and thoughtful one, nodded thoughtfully. "The precision of the construction is insane... No modern tools, just pure engineering brilliance..."
Joseph, on the other hand, had a very different kind of brilliance brewing in his mind. His eyes sparkled with mischief as he stared up at the nearest pyramid-like it was his personal playground….
"You know…" Joseph said, stretching his arms. "I think I can climb it…"
Abdul turned to him slowly, his expression flat. "No... No… you can't…."
"Oh, I definitely can…" Joseph replied, already bouncing on his feet. "Come on!! When's the next time we'll get a chance to climb a pyramid?!..."
I groaned. "Joseph… climbing the pyramid is illegal. Don't even think about it…"
"Illegal... There is no word named illegal in my dictionary!!!" Joseph grinned. He was clearly ignoring every ounce of common sense between the three of us…
Abdul rubbed his forehead, "I'm not bailing you out if you are sent to prison…."
Joseph patted Abdul's shoulder with a grin. "Relax, man…. I'll be quick. No one will even notice…"
Before we could stop him, Joseph took off toward the pyramid like a man on a mission.
Joseph leaped onto the first massive stone block of the pyramid with the enthusiasm of a child. "Guys! I'm on it!!!" he shouted, waving dramatically. "This feels freaking amazing!!!"
"Get down, you fucker!!!..." Abdul hissed while glancing nervously at the guards patrolling the area. "Do you seriously want to get arrested?!..."
Joseph grinned down at us from the second block, striking a ridiculous pose. "Come on!! Take a picture!! This one's going on Instagram…."
"You are going to jail!!!..." I groaned, trying to signal him to climb back down.
Joseph laughed, climbing higher. "If I get arrested, I'm going down as a legend…"
Just as he reached the third layer of stone, we suddenly heard the sound of a whistle…...
"Oh no!!!" Abdul muttered, glancing toward the entrance.
Two uniformed Egyptian guards were already running toward us, shouting in Arabic and waving their arms.
Joseph turned to us from his perch, still grinning like an idiot. "Uh-oh. It looks like I've been caught…."
The guards reached us just as Joseph clambered down, his hands raised in mock surrender. "Gentlemen!!!" he said with a grin. "I come in peace…"
The guards, clearly angry, grabbed him by the arm and started dragging him toward a small holding area near the entrance of the site…
"Joseph, you absolute idiot…" Abdul muttered, rubbing his face in frustration as we followed the guards. "Do you have to do something crazy everywhere we go?!...."
Joseph, still grinning, looked over his shoulder at us. "Come on!!! Admit it. That was awesome…"
"No. It wasn't…" Abdul growled. "You're lucky that they just didn't throw you off the pyramid…"
Joseph shrugged. "Details."
The guards sat him down on a bench near their office, clearly irritated as they spoke rapidly in Arabic. One of them gestured toward us, looking between Joseph and us with an irritated face….
Abdul sighed. "Alright. I'll talk to them…."
Abdul stepped forward, switching to fluent Arabic as he tried to reason with the guards. From what little Arabic I understood, it sounded something like, "I am very sorry for my friend's stupidity. He is... mentally unbalanced…"
The guards glanced at Joseph, clearly unimpressed by Abdul's apology…
Meanwhile, Joseph leaned over to me and whispered, "Hey!! What's he saying?!..."
"He's saying you're an idiot…" I replied flatly.
Joseph grinned. "Fair enough…"
Abdul's conversation with the guards continued, but it wasn't going too well. They crossed their arms, clearly still annoyed. One of them even pointed at Joseph and said something that made Abdul sigh heavily….
"What!! What now?..." I asked.
"They want us to leave immediately…" Abdul muttered. "Or... they're going to escalate this to the police."
Joseph blinked. "Wait!! We're not with the police already?!..."
Abdul gave him a tired glare. "No, genius… This is just security…."
"Oh, cool," Joseph said cheerfully. "So, we've still got room to negotiate!"
Realizing that Abdul's diplomacy wasn't working, I stepped forward and pulled out my wallet. "Alright, let's just... make this go away…"
I discreetly handed the guards a few dollar bills. They exchanged glances, their stern expressions softening just a little. After a few moments, one of the guards let out a grunt, pocketed the cash, and waved us off with a stern gesture.
Abdul exhaled in relief. "That worked!!!"
Joseph grinned, slapping me on the back. "Nice!!! Good thinking, Shin... Now that's problem-solving…"
"You're welcome!!!" I muttered, stuffing my wallet back into my pocket. "And don't expect me to bail you out again if you do something crazy!!!...."
Abdul shot Joseph a glare. "Seriously. If you try anything else this stupid, I'm leaving you behind…."
Joseph grinned, unbothered. "Worth it."
As we walked away from the pyramid, Joseph's excitement hadn't dimmed in the slightest. If anything. In fact, Joseph looked even prouder than before.
"I mean, come on man!!!" he exclaimed while throwing his hands in the air. "How many people can say that they have climbed a pyramid??... Even if it was only for a minute..."
"Exactly zero, because it's illegal…" Abdul muttered. "You're lucky that we didn't end up getting caught by the police and spending the night in jail..."
Joseph waved him off. "Relax Abdul!!! I had it all under control…."
"You were being dragged away by security…" I reminded him.
"Details…" Joseph said with a grin. "I'm telling you; this is going to be the highlight of our trip..."
Abdul rolled his eyes. "I hate you…."
"You love me…" Joseph said cheerfully. "Admit it…"
"I'm considering leaving you in Egypt…" Abdul replied flatly. "I mean it!!!"
On the side of Maki:
The first couple of days after Shin left, Maki told herself it would be fine. She tried to stay busy as much as possible. Diving into her work at Kyodo Technologies, doing the housework, and watching TV shows. But no matter what she did, the loneliness kept crawling in….
At first, she stayed optimistic.
"It's only for a month…" she told herself while making breakfast for one. "I can survive a month alone…"
After some days her patience had started to wear thin.
By the 1-week margin, Maki was already spiraling. She wandered around the apartment wearing Shin's old t-shirt… the one she always wore when she missed him. It smelled faintly of his scent, and she found herself hugging herself while wearing it…
"Well, Shin Takamiya, you sure are living your best life…" she muttered, flopping onto the couch. "Off in Russia, doing God-knows-what with Joseph and Abdul. Meanwhile, I'm stuck here…. alone... Watching TV…"
She glanced down at the shirt and crossed her arms, lowering her voice as she mimicked Shin.
"'I'll call every day, Maki. I swear…' Yeah, right…. Liar."
She stood up, pacing around the living room in an exaggerated imitation of him.
"'Don't worry, Maki!!! It's just a short trip... I'll miss you the whole time!!!'" She rolled her eyes dramatically. "Yeah, I bet you miss me so much… Bet you're too busy drinking vodka with Joseph. Do you even remember you have a wife?!!..."
She plopped back down on the couch, pulling her knees closer to her chest…
"Bet Joseph's got you doing stupid stuff again... Idiot!!..."
Her phone sat on the coffee table. Every time she glanced at it, there were no missed calls... No messages… Not even a "goodnight" text from Shin... She sighed, picking it up and opening Shin's chat.
Maki: Hey... What are you guys up to?
Minutes ticked by. No reply.
"Ugh," she groaned, tossing the phone back onto the couch. "He's probably too busy doing something crazy with Joseph and Abdul…."
Later that night, Maki sat curled up under a blanket, scrolling aimlessly through Instagram, when a new post from Joseph appeared on her feed.
"Friend group photo!! Russia is treating us well. Red Square ✅ Vodka ✅ Memories ✅"
The photo showed the three of them—Shin, Joseph, and Abdul—grinning like three idiots in front of St. Basil's Cathedral. Shin stood in the middle, smiling without a care in the world, bundled up in his coat. There were a few comments already under the post:
@Astro_Girl: Wow! Living your best life, I see!!
@VodkaVibes: Joseph + vodka? Dangerous combination.
@Abdul_the_Engineer: Caption needs rework. 😂
@Maki.Takamiya: Wow, Shin. Looks like you're having so much fun. Don't let your missing wife slow you down or anything.
Maki stared at her own sarcastic comment for a moment, then groaned, running a hand through her hair. "Ugh. I sound like crazy woman, don't I ??!!...."
She opened Shin's chat again, her fingers hovering over the keyboard. She typed:
Maki: How's everything? Miss me yet?!
She waited. The message sat there unread.
"Of course!!!" she sighed. "He's too busy with his friends..."
She leaned back on the couch, scrolling through Joseph's stories. More pictures of them exploring Red Square, posing in front of statues, and eating street food. Maki's stomach twisted in both frustration and jealousy. "They're out there having a blast, while I'm sitting here, talking to myself like a crazy woman..."
She tried to reason with herself.
"He's just... distracted…probably…" she said, pulling the blanket tighter around herself. "It's not like he's flirting with anyone…"
Her mind, however, wasn't so kind.
"Unless he is…." she muttered. "Joseph's probably dragging him to bars every night. He's probably surrounded by Russian models right now, laughing, having the time of his life. And me?? I'm stuck here in his hoodie, arguing with my own brain…."
She stared at her phone again, willing it to buzz. "Would it kill you to text me, Shin, you bastard?!..."
After another few days of silence, Maki tried calling him. It rang. And rang. And rang. Eventually, the line clicked, sending her straight to voicemail.
Maki gritted her teeth, "Oh, come on, Shin…"
She tried calling again. No answer. Frustrated, she shot off another message.
Maki: I guess your friends are more important than your wife, huh?
The message sat there, untouched. She threw the phone onto the coffee table and flopped face-first onto the couch. "This is the worst…."
By 2 weeks, Maki's paranoia reached its peak. She sat at the dining table, wearing Shin's hoodie again, talking aloud to no one.
"I mean, maybe he just forgot to charge his phone…" she said, stirring her coffee absently. "Or... or maybe Joseph's hogging the Wi-Fi. That's gotta be it..."
She sighed, slumping in her chair. "Or maybe... he's too busy hanging out with some cute bartender too busy to even think about me." She shot a glare at Shin's empty seat across the table. "You better not be flirting, Shin Takamiya…."
She grabbed the salt shaker and mimicked Shin's voice again.
"'Relax, Maki. You worry too much.'" She narrowed her eyes. "Yeah? Well, maybe you don't worry enough, Shin…"
She pointed the salt shaker accusingly at an imaginary Shin, "If I find out you were talking to some girl, I swear, I'll… I'll kill you…" She let out a sigh, burying her face in her hands. "What am I even doing? I'm arguing with salt now…"
Her phone buzzed suddenly, and she grabbed it, hoping it was a message from Shin. Instead, it was another Instagram story from Joseph.
The story showed a table filled with empty food trays and drinks. In the background, Joseph's voice was laughing, "The legend, Abdul, ordering water at every pub… Truly the king of hydration…"
Maki sighed heavily. "Yep. They're alive. Shin just forgot I exist…"
Maki was officially losing it now. She stood in front of the bathroom mirror, wearing Shin's hoodie again, and glared at her reflection…
"What are you even doing with your life, Maki?!..." she muttered to herself. "Pining after some idiot who probably forgot to pack his brain along with his luggage…"
She placed her hands on her hips, lowering her voice into her best Shin impression.
"'I'll call every day, babe... I promise.'" She scoffed. "Liar..."
Grabbing her phone, she sent another message.
Maki: Well, I hope you're having fun. Don't worry about me. I'm just here. Alone... Starving...
She added a dramatic skull emoji for effect, then hit send. It sat unread—again.
Maki threw her phone down, dramatically collapsing onto the bed. "When he comes back, I will make him suffer. He'll beg for forgiveness in his knees.…"
She paused, then hugged Shin's hoodie closer, her voice softer now. "I still miss you, though... idiot."
And so, Maki waited—half angry, half lonely, and entirely frustrated. The days stretched on, filled with unanswered texts, sarcastic Instagram comments, and one-sided conversations with herself…
No matter how much she tried to distract herself, the house felt empty without Shin in it. And as much as she cursed him in her head, deep down, all she wanted was for him to walk through the door and tell her everything was going to be okay…
But for now, all she could do was wait—and hope that Shin remembered exactly what was waiting for him when he came home…
TO BE CONTINUED