Chapter 4
I was getting ready to go to school as the day of the concert approached. It would be tomorrow that we would open the concert that Naomi's father had asked us for. I was relatively calm, I was never much of a nervous person, however, Naomi was a nervous wreck when I saw her at school. As soon as she looked at me, she immediately came running to me
"AKIRA, AKIRA."
"What is it sweetie, calm down. What's going on?"
"The concert is tomorrow!"
"I know, I know. I'm looking forward to it, aren't you as well"
"Akira, my nerves are killing me!!"
"But why? You sing so well, there's no need to be nervous."
"I can't explain it, I have a riot exploding on my belly. I even feel a little sick."
"C'mon. There is no need for that. Do you want me to accompany you to the infirmary?"
"If you don't mind..."
"Of course I don't mind, let me just let Fujimoto know that we're going to be there."
After calling Fujimoto and explaining that Naomi and I would be in the ward since she was feeling unwell, we both walked there and explained the situation to the nurse on duty. She said she couldn't do much, since it was mostly psychological, however, she advised Naomi to lie down there for a while to recover from the indisposition. I stood by her.
As soon as the nurse left us alone there, I tried to talk to her for a while to see if everything was okay.
"So, Naomi, are you feeling a bit better?"
"I'm still a little nervous..."
"If you're that bad, we can ask your father to cancel..."
"NO. That is completely out of the question. We're not going to cancel just because I'm nervous. This will have to pass eventually."
"I know Naomi, but I don't want you to be suffering either."
"Be honest with me Akira. Aren't you really nervous at all?"
I raised my hand for her to see that there was no tremor and added:
"Zero nervousness. Honestly, I'm more worried about you now than I am about the concert."
Naomi stood up as if determined to fight her nervousness, even though she was still clinging to her belly.
"Take it easy Naomi, you don't need to force it. Not being nervous is something that requires some mental strength and, especially you who have had little interaction with people your age so far, your resistance to pressure is naturally lower than a person like me. Don't worry. I guarantee you that when you start singing at the concert all your nervousness will disappear during the song we are going to play. And at OUR concert, when we play all the songs we have planned, during all of them your nervousness will disappear as well. I promise you. But for now, try to rest a little."
"Okay, okay. I'm going to believe you because you're more experienced at this. In fact, I even think I'm feeling better."
"I'm glad, I'm glad. Don't you want to sleep a little to see if the nausea goes away?"
"It seems like a good idea to me. But please don't leave my side. I'm ashamed that someone here at school sees me sleeping and I'm alone."
I smiled a slight smile on the corner of my lip when I heard these words and said:
"Of course, sweetheart. I'll stay here until you wake up, don't worry."
Naomi thanked me with a huge smile on her face and turned to the other side of the bed to sleep. I took advantage of the moment I wasn't in the classroom with anyone to upset my head and I took the opportunity to read a little, something I hadn't done for a long time due to the intensity of the training I had to put on the guitar. Take the opportunity to dive a little deeper into the strategies of power described by Machiavelli in his book, which helped me to form my power of manipulation together with the "48 Laws of Power". I felt that even though I inherited that power from my father and from reading these books, I felt that there was something more I could get out of them, so I devoted some of my free time to rereading them to see what I could learn that I haven't in my previous reads. While Naomi rested peacefully on the bed in the ward, with a smile on her face even after she had fallen asleep, there I was, reading about power dynamics as I used to do long before I met her. I remember perfectly that, before I met Naomi, even spending good afternoons with Fujimoto and Saito, most of it was only spent in my room, alone only accompanied by contemporary and older geniuses and their words. It was good to be remembering what I did before I met her at this moment while I watched her sleep. It was almost a metaphor for that, even when life seems to change a lot, in reality it never changes, it just evolves. I continue to read my books accompanied by the same geniuses as usual, however, this time I have Naomi with me, in addition to Saito and Fujimoto.
I stayed there for about 50 minutes, while, when we were already in the middle of the first break in the morning, Naomi started to stretch:
"Are you better now sweetie?"
She looked at me with a huge smile on her face and said:
"To be honest Akira, I don't think I could be better."
"Really now?"
"Yes. I don't know if I was in a bad mood only because of nervousness or also because I didn't sleep very well. Probably a mixt of both. However, now that I've slept a little nap, I feel much better. What time is it?"
"The second class of the day is about to start."
"Shall we go to class?"
"Unfortunately, we have to. Let's go."
We both walked together to the room where the people who were looking at us and were beginning to murmur. Naomi suddenly became a little more tense again:
"Akira, I think people are getting the wrong impression of us."
"Don't worry Naomi. All the rumours of this school pass through me before they become something that can no longer be controlled. So far my sources haven't told me anything, which indicates that rumours haven't started to spread yet, so you don't have to be worried."
"By the way, something that I was already meaning to ask you, what do you mean with this talk of sources, spies and all that you talk about? Sometimes you even make me look like someone from the secret services or something."
I thought it was funny how she put things, and I laughed, but then I explained the whole story to her:
"No, no Naomi, nothing like that. Let's say it's another of my powers. As I know many people who owe me favours, I always ask in return for constant information about their surroundings, forever. People accept it, firstly, because of my persuasive power and, secondly, because simply telling me where they are and if there is someone, I ask in the vicinity really has no cost. This is simply how I originate my so-called "sources". In fact, some people who are very gossipy even do it for pleasure."
"Okay, yes, that even makes sense. But what about spies?"
"These are more advanced source levels. In exchange for information, money, or favours, a person I know or even don't even know sometimes acts as a spy to find some person, place, event, or something similar to that. This becomes useful to know if the people I talk to are really reliable in some aspect or simply to find places in a "mysterious" way."
"You really have no limits Akira. Is there anything you don't know how to do or obtain?"
"Draw."
"Can't you draw?"
"I swear. I do whatever you want in the world. Except drawing."
Naomi laughed, perhaps because of the speed with which I answered the question but also because of the seriousness with which I answered:
"But why? Is it something you don't like or don't know how to do?"
"I like it, but I don't know how to do it. To this day, it was really one of the only things I couldn't learn very quickly."
"And do you intend to try again one day?"
"Maybe, I don't know. It will depend a lot on the projects that I will have now throughout my life. Do you draw well?"
"I actually do. I thought about going to an art school but, according to my own parents and the teachers at school, I wasn't going to learn anything I didn't already know there."
"You had never told me that. Are you that good?"
"We can say yes."
We had already arrived at the classroom which meant that we had to separate ourselves to go each of us to our seats, so I just ended the conversation by saying:
"Today after classes, what do you think about going to rehearse for The Rock Oasis and then you show me your talent?"
"That's fine by me!"
"Then I'll see you soon, sweetheart."
"See you soon Akira."
The morning classes passed with a slowness that I didn't even want to believe. I did everything during these classes that if there were no witnesses no one would be believed. I was able to read the prince from start to finish, fill two pages of writing with my non-dominant hand, write sketches of 5 different lyrics for new songs and still manage to sleep a little sleep. It's completely ridiculous the time I'm wasting here. I would like to be able to go out, since my parents are already rich and I already have my life plan outlined, however, nowadays you can't do anything without high school and people even look differently at those who choose not to complete it. In addition, my mom always fantasised about my final graduation. So, I didn't want to tarnish my reputation for both people and my mom, and I submitted to endure two more years of martyrdom in exchange for social acceptance.
Finally, it was at least lunchtime so I could rest a little and talk to my friends. I found Saito with a huge smile on his face leaving his classroom and remembered that he had had the meeting with Suzuki! With the drop in caffeine that my body had suffered after a few hours and the deep night that I slept, neither I nor anyone else remembered that Saito had been on a date while each of us was at home sleeping like rocks.
"So, brother. How did the date go? I was so sleepy I didn't even remember."
Saito continued with his huge smile on his face and said the following:
"Let's get lunch and I'll tell you."
"Okay Ok bro. As you wish."
Saito has always been a cheerful person who always has a smile on his face, however, the smile he was sketching today was somewhat different from other days. He was so open, so vivid, and so sincere that I thought of countless possibilities for that meeting, but they were all certainly positive. I could tell that he was holding back the enthusiasm to tell the story when we went to call Fujimoto to join us, he was already grabbing him by the arm and fetching the food with lightning speed. As soon as we sat on the school's terrace, in a place that was already kind of "reserved for us", Saito dropped the bomb after Fujimoto and I started looking at him with a look of unease.
"Brothers, my friends, I must inform you all that, as of yesterday, the girl Akemi Suzuki is, officially, MY GIRLFRIEND!"
Fujimoto and I were ecstatic to learn that our friend Saito had succeeded in his task, and we began to take him on the air with a joy almost equal to his. We were almost as happy as if we were actually starting dating.
After we had calmed down a bit and let Saito return to the ground, we began the interrogation:
"Did you managed to stay sleepless the whole date, did the coffee work?"
"You won't believe it my dear Nakamura. The coffee had almost perfect timing. His effect only started to fade when I was paying the bill, which meant that the goodbye kiss was initially given on the chin due to a vision failure on my part. But she thought it was funny and didn't notice that it was sleepy, so mission accomplished."
"How beautiful brother. Great salvation that this was then. That coffee will already have history from now on."
"Bro, bro, so what about the meeting in general, how did it go?"
"I'll explain the Fujimoto scenario to you. We are in a fancy restaurant and I arrived exactly a few seconds before she also arrived. If it hadn't been for Mr. Yamaguchi, I would certainly have been late. Other than that, dinner was pretty standard I tried to talk about all the topics that Nakamura's spies provided me with and, before we ordered dessert, I said I wanted to smoke a cigar and asked if she would accompany me. Her eyes lit up before me and she agreed without hesitation. When I lit my cigar, I sat next to her on a sofa that had a direct view of the sea and started talking to her about abstract themes of the stars, how beautiful she looked and all that, and all of a sudden, we kissed and..."
When we heard this, we didn't even let Saito say anymore and we started to take it back on the air
"WHAT A GREAT MAN!"
"I haven't ev..."
"We don't even want to hear anything else Saito, it's not even necessary. You are the KING. OUR KING"
While we were at our celebrations, I noticed that Naomi was having lunch alone with a sad face on the other side of the terrace, looking at the horizon and saying nothing. I was so moved by the story that Saito was going to tell me that I completely forgot to pick her up to join us. I felt a complete regret in my conscience for having made her wait and eat part of her meal alone. I motioned with my eyes to Fujimoto to put Saito back on the ground and explained why.
"Man, I forgot to pick up Naomi to come with us."
"NO WAY. I didn't remember it either."
"Just like me, now that you've spoken I've noticed."
"Come with me to apologize for our forgetfulness, it's the least she deserves."
"Yes, you're right, in fact, I'm going to take full responsibility because I was the one who made you go faster, which certainly had some impact on your short-term memory."
"Thank you very much for the act, Saito. Let's go to her then."
Naomi was so distracted from reality that she wasn't even hearing the footsteps that were going towards her. He continued with only his sad face focused on his bento and slowly ate the food that was there.
As soon as I brought my face close to hers, she got a death scare and was a little blushing and embarrassed by the situation:
"What a scare you gave me Akira."
"Sorry Naomi. I forgot to pick you up for lunch with us because Saito rushed me to tell me something that I was completely distracted from the rest."
"Yes, it's true, Mrs. Aisaka. I hurried him to tell him the story of my encounter that he was so eager to know that he completely lost focus on everything around him and in his head. I apologize immensely."
Her face lit up a little more and an almost perfect copy of her smile took over her face:
"There is no problem, Akira. Even you can forget things from time to time."
"Of course there's a problem, and I won't feel like me anymore until I make up for what I did. What do you want me to do?"
"You don't have to do anything Akira. I'm serious."
"But please, Naomi, I insist. I need it otherwise I won't feel good about myself. Let me think."
As I looked at my surroundings to try to remember something I could do, I simply remembered that Naomi is one of the people who takes a bento to school, that is, she should be the one who has the job of cooking it every day. That was my form of redemption.
"I already know what to do. Naomi, next month, I'm going to cook your bentos."
"What?? Seriously Akira, you don't need to bother."
"Seriously Naomi, I need to do this, otherwise I won't feel good about myself. Please."
Then yes, Naomi's smile that I know took over her face, and she returned to her usual energy while talking to us.
"Okay, okay, I grant you that honour. BUT IT'S GOOD THAT YOU ALL COOK THEM VERY WELL!"
I put one knee on the floor while holding his hand and said:
"I promise I'll do everything right."
Naomi blushed when I did this and initially, I didn't understand why. It was only when I received a message from my sources asking if I was asking Naomi to date on the school terrace that I realized that the scenario we were in, for those who were not listening to the conversation, was a little contradictory.
I got up immediately, also a little blushing after better understanding the second meaning that this situation could have and asked my sources to deny what they saw as just a misunderstanding to kill the situation there. It would not be pleasant for rumours of this kind to start appearing:
"Ahhh. What I wanted to say is that I promise that I will do my best in the kitchen, and I will vary the dishes every day with exotic or traditional things, depending on what I think will please you that day. In fact, if you prefer, you can send me a message in the morning or even at night asking for what you want."
"But how is it possible in the morning. Aren't you going to make the benthos with the leftovers from the previous day's dinner?"
"I know that this is the tradition, however, my parents always taught me to cook so that there are never any leftovers and it is something that after learning you cannot quite avoid. Therefore, when I make bentos, it is always in the morning before coming to school and as the box is thermal, I still eat food not exactly hot but warm in my lunches."
"Really? But I've never seen you eating your own lunches here. You usually always go to the canteen."
"That's because since you know me all I've done with my life is play guitar non-stop. Now that I'm trained, I can keep my life more normal and go back to making my lunches and, this next month, yours too."
"Then I'm glad you remembered that. It will be good to get back to cooking!"
"It's true, yes, ma'am. So, let's go to our usual place"
"Yes."
We returned this time all together to our special place on the terrace. It was a place that we had chosen due to the sun exposure that was one of the best in the school that, deep down, it was possible to see the sea from the beautiful beach of our city that was where we spent most of our summer. In addition, it was somewhat removed from other places which meant that we could have conversations about any topic we wanted without the intervention of external people. When you got back there, Saito updated Naomi on the whole story she had told us so far, and she had a very similar reaction to ours and even put herself in a position to start taking Saito to the air, however, both Fujimoto and I were already exhausted from lifting him which made her give up the manoeuvre. However, as I listened to the whole story again, there was something quite simple that I had forgotten to ask:
"Speaking of. Since you're dating, may I know why she's not having lunch with us and especially with you right now?"
"It has to do with the fact that she's a rising model. According to what she told me, taking on a relationship in public would be too bad for her career and would greatly hinder her job opportunities, and with my permission, we decided to keep the relationship out of the public eye. Only close friends of mine and hers know."
"Even so, can't you be together?"
"We can't be able to be in a school setting. She says she wants to avoid as much as possible any possible rumour that may happen and I completely understand that. She told me that in five-star restaurants or even in my house we could meet at ease since no one would know. Other than that, it was better to avoid it."
"Five-star restaurants?"
"Yes, she told me that there is not so much risk of being spied on there because there are usually fewer people."
I reflected a little on what Saito said because, somehow, it didn't seem very correct to me. It's okay that meeting at his house does make sense, but five-star restaurants. What does this have to do with spying on models? I could even use the argument that the paparazzi would not have the money to enter there, however, since the models are known to be eccentric, the risk of being seen by a rival company or something similar was even higher, not to mention that in these restaurants there are usually more people than in a normal restaurant, just a different social status. I felt a slight attempt at manipulation here but, since I didn't even know the girl yet, I gave her the benefit of the doubt for now and turned a deaf ear to what I heard, since I was the only one who showed any adverse reaction to what Saito said, I thought it could be paranoia in my head. While this was still in my head, Fujimoto asked:
"And when will we be able to meet the girl then?"
"I asked him that. She said that as long as it was in the previous places, there was no problem, and she even enjoyed meeting us."
"So what do you think about we all go to Malibu for dinner this weekend?"
"Good idea Nakamura. I'm going to talk to her and we're all going to eat at Malibu."
"Guys, I'd love to go with you, but I don't have enough money to eat at such a fancy restaurant."
"Don't worry about it Naomi. I'll pay for your dinner."
"What?? You're crazy Akira. I can't let you afford such an expensive dinner."
"Don't worry about it. Who do you think will pay for Saito and Fujimoto's dinner?"
"Are you also going to pay theirs??"
"Yes. Fortunately, I have been blessed with my parents' money that they let me use without restrictions, so I can afford basically anything that people want. Since you are my friends, you don't have to be ashamed to ask me because, honestly, it doesn't even matter to my parents."
"But this is strange. Generally, the rich people I know our age are all extremely lazy and stupid. It seems that since they were born rich, they think they don't need to work anything in life and, besides, they usually don't give anything to anyone other than headaches. How did you manage to come out so different?"
"I owe a lot of that to my father's education actually. He grew up poor and had to build his fortune from scratch without anyone's help. He knew perfectly well that as I was going to be born rich that I could have problems, so he educated me in order to avoid that problem."
"And what kind of education was that?"
"Quite simple. My father simply paid for my food. To live in this house, he imposed on me a limit on the work I had to do in the day, whatever it was. I had the freedom to choose between learning new things, exercising, or even working in a physical or online location. I did this all my life, however, since my father noticed that even when he and my mother were away, I continued day after day to work on anything for a good part of my time, he then said that you already had enough responsibility to use their bank account without restrictions. Since I was already well educated, I continued to work in the same way as usual, however, now I could start using paid learning sites due to having the means to do so and buying equipment to exercise more effectively."
"Let me say that your father is an absolute genius. That's something I'm sure no one with money thinks of doing."
"Exactly. And that's why sometimes there are rich people who are cool, yes, but, in the vast majority, they are either dumb, or arrogant, or lazy. Or even all of this."
Naomi stopped to think a little, made a slightly upset face and mumbled something that I couldn't understand:
"Tr..."
"Naomi, did you say something?"
"No, nothing, nothing. I'm glad you're not like the others. In that case, then I make a point of attending dinner as well."
"Do you need help buying a dress or do you already have one?"
Naomi made a slightly embarrassed face, blushing a little, and added:
"If... If you can help..."
"Of course I can. Today we are going to my tailor, and we will get you a nice dress. I take advantage and make a new suit for myself and so we can go to combine and everything."
She finished, still a little flushed
"It... it seems good to me."
"So, it's agreed Saito. Saturday?"
"Saturday my lovely guys. Cigar to celebrate my new love life?"
"But of course!"
After we had arranged dinner, Saito was already leaving our side to go to his class until I remembered something extremely important to ask
"Speaking of Naomi, when will our opening for the concert take place?"
"It's tomorrow."
"And what day of the week is tomorrow?"
She put her hands to her head and said:
"Saturday. IT'S SATURDAY."
Saito turned back quickly and asked
"WHATT??"
"Calm down Saito, let's find a solution. We're only going to play one song, and we start at seven. That is, at a quarter past seven we are ready to go there. Mr. Yamaguchi comes to pick us up with the limousine, which makes us arrive at the restaurant in about fifteen minutes. To save time, Aisaka and I get dressed right after the concert and take a run to the limousine. That being the case, you tell Suzuki to be there around seven-forty so there is no risk of delay and there should be no problem. Does it seem like a good plan of action to you?"
"I don't know bro... She said she didn't like dinner after seven, but then I find a way to convince her."
"It's nothing special, it's just eating a little later, I find it hard for her to care that much."
"Okay, I'll talk to her. In any case, prepare for the eventuality."
"So bet it, Saito. See you soon."
Now, after this point clarified, we each went in our own direction in search of ending the day of classes that separated us from a decisive day in our lives. The day Naomi and I would open our first concert, the day we would meet Suzuki, a day that would probably be marked in our friendship forever. To be honest, I couldn't see anyone else occupying our circle of friendship, however, a few months ago I couldn't see anyone else, and Naomi appeared in our life, that is, this bad feeling I had inside me could be wrong, however, I wasn't ready to succumb to my sentimentality yet. I asked my spies to find everything in her life that they could find and provide me with everything by tomorrow so that I could confront her with the rotten things I could find. I have to make sure that each of my friends finds a woman who completes him, not destroys him. I tried to make all my efforts to inform during the time of classes to be able to find free time after them to take Naomi to the tailor and try to get us some nice clothes for tomorrow's dinner.
As soon as school was over, Naomi came to me while I was finalizing the call with my tailor:
"Yes Mr. Fujiwara, I need to take measurements for a suit and a dress with a deadline of tomorrow."
"Absolutely, Mr. Nakamura. Stop by the tailor shop when you can today to take the measurements, and you can count on a quick manufacture that will be ready tomorrow morning. Will Mr. Yamaguchi come to pick them up as usual?"
"Yes, it will. Again, thank you for your availability on such short notice, especially for a short-term delivery. You can count on a generous tip in the final payment."
"Thank you very much Mr. Nakamura, but there is no need for it. We are friends, both me and you and me and your father and me and your mother. I am the one who has been manufacturing your family's suits and dresses for at least a generation. There is no need to pay me more than what you owe."
"If you know my family well, you know very well what I'm going to say to that, don't you?"
Mr. Fujiwara sighed, and answered my question:
"Yes, I do, Mrs. Nakamura. If you have at least half of your father's stubbornness, I know that no matter what I say, you will put extra money there as a form of thanks. Thank you very much."
"There's no problem. I am the one who thanks you for your work, which is always impeccable."
"Come on, young man. See you soon?"
"Very soon, Mr. Fujiwara. See you soon."
As soon as I hung up the call, I immediately called Mr. Yamaguchi to ask if he was ready to come and pick me up. After he answered in the affirmative, Naomi and I waited for him outside the school. We walked a little only to a covered place to get shade from the scorching day that was:
"What hellish heat."
"Hot like a damn oven. At least you're wearing a skirt, and you can still air your legs. Now I'm here sweating like a mule."
"You're right. If I were you, I would be dying."
"I'M DONE. I'm going to take my shirt off, I don't care."
"AKIRAA! Are you insane? What will people think?"
As I was taking off my tie, I replied:
"I've never been one to worry about it."
"But everyone will be looking at you..."
She put her hands to her mouth when she realized that I had already taken off my shirt and was greeting a person on the street.
"So... then but..."
"Naomi, I'll tell you a quick secret of what I've learned, one of the basic pillars of my power of manipulation. There are only two ways to get respect. Either out of love or out of fear. All the people you are here watching either respect me for being who I am or, the few who think they are too important to admire such value, are afraid of me because they know perfectly well the power I have in the world of information. In addition, something very important to achieve this respect is to know the limits of society not to cross or respect them, but to walk on the margins of them, thus achieving absolute respect. How I meet all these conditions means that, to a certain extent, I am untouchable."
"Okay, I understand that part. But even knowing that, aren't you ashamed? What if someone you don't know passes by?"
"If I don't know it, it means that there are no moral grounds to judge me for. If she does it, that's fine. I learn that he is a person I don't want to meet."
"Wow, I'm impressed. This philosophy of life is quite good. Congratulations."
I blushed a little listening to these words in the emotional voice of the usual Naomi:
"It's nothing special, it was something from one day on I started thinking and noticed that it was in fact more useful and functional."
"Really, from what day?"
When Naomi uttered those words, my smile faded from my face and I started to get stuck in my own mind. The rainy day had returned to my eyes with real realism. The earthy environment, the cold rain that fell on my face, all this seemed as real to me as it was on the day. However, as soon as I looked at my hands in the illusion of the moment, Naomi stirred me which brought me back to reality
"What happened Akira? You turned white when I asked you what day you adopted your philosophy."
For a moment, I considered telling her what had happened, however, Naomi was a person I had always seen with a huge smile on her face, except for the moments when she hit me or was nervous and that, even so, it was always possible to see a shred of happiness on her face. Telling her this could forever affect the way she saw me and even life, so I preferred to avoid the subject, at least for now.
"It's nothing, I think it was the heat that made me blackout for a few moments. I'm fine."
I clearly realized that it wasn't my best performance, just like Naomi also realized. There was a silence that lasted for a few seconds as I tried to smile at her, something that was still impossible for me. However, perhaps out of respect or fear of finding out, she "accepted" my lame excuse despite the fact that, deep down, she realized that it was a lie:
"It makes sense, the day is really hot, you may have felt bad. Are you better yet?"
"Yes, I am. Look, Mr. Yamaguchi is already there, let's go to him."
It was only as we walked towards the car that my mind began to separate illusion from reality, and I was able to regain access to my rationality, my smile, and my normal way of being. I didn't have the complete notion that this memory could still corrupt my life and rationality the way I thought, however, even after a year had passed, there was still nothing I could do to stop it. Perhaps only more time could heal the wound of that moment. Maybe only more time with Naomi, Saito and Fujimoto could make me recover. What mattered was that he was already well and could go back to the time he had already planned as usual.
Naomi still had her smile a little stuck due to my moment of weakness that she witnessed, however, as soon as I opened the car door with my usual smile, she seemed to be more carefree and smiled again also in the way I was already used to seeing. She will probably forget my lie in a while, and everything will be fine. Perhaps it was the first time in a long time that I lied, however, I only aimed to preserve Naomi's happiness, so, as it was not for my own benefit, it was a justified lie.
"Mr. Yamaguchi, take us to Mr. Fujiwara's store please."
"Mr. Fujiwara's store? I hadn't been there in a while."
"It's true. However, tomorrow we will have a special occasion and both Naomi and I will arrange it, to leave the restaurant all mouth and open with our beauty."
"It seems to me an excellent idea, sir. To Mr. Fujiwara's shop then!"
When Mr. Yamaguchi started the car, for a few moments I felt the silence inside. Not talking, because at that very moment I was discussing with Naomi colours that she might like. However, there was a lack of music to improve the atmosphere.
"Mr. Yamaguchi, what Cd's are available in this car?"
"Well, let me see. In the Maserati the following are available. "Nevermind," "Definitely Maybe," and "California."
"Is California here? The Blink-182 one?"
"The very one, Mr. Nakamura."
"Do you know it Naomi?"
"Of course, I know it silly! I was the one who showed you. You must want me to break your face right ow"
"Calm down, I was just messing with you ahaha."
"I could see that I had to pass now! And what music are you going to play?"
I thought for a moment what would be the appropriate music for the situation in which we found ourselves
"Do you speak English fluently Aisaka?"
She was a little confused by the question but answered:
"Of course I do baka. Do you think I don't know what I say in the songs?!"
"Yes, point taken. So, I'm going to put on a song for you now."
She started making the mind map of what song on the album I could be talking about, and it didn't get there until she started playing. As soon as she got angry with me in the car and Mr. Yamaguchi told me about the album, I immediately remembered her. "She's out of her mind". As soon as she realized what song it was, she immediately started to attack me and call me stupid, however, I was just waiting for the chorus to arrive to start singing:
"I'm in deep with this girl but she's out of her mind. OH OH OHOOOOH."
She blushed a little when she heard "I'm in deep with this girl" but continued to hit me:
"Akira Nakamura, stop it. I'M NOT UPSET."
I would really like to explain to him that hitting me saying that was a bit contradictory, however, I was so electric that I couldn't even speak, I could only laugh at the whole situation. After a while of hitting me, Naomi also lost control and started laughing at the situation. Even Mr. Yamaguchi sketched a slight smile from the corner of his mouth that did not go unnoticed. And we were all very happy until we arrived at Mr. Fujiwara's store.
We both thanked Mr. Yamaguchi for the ride, and I asked him to wait for us at the door of the store.
Mr. Fujiwara's shop, despite being exactly the same, seemed to me even more beautiful than usual. The chandeliers that illuminated the place, along with the walnut woods where different fabrics and different colours were arranged. In the windows, suits made just for display that had a huge beauty that I didn't even want to be looking at too much so as not to lose my mind and buy all of them. Naomi seemed as impressed as I did to see such beauty in one store.
"Good mornings. Mr. Nakamura, Mrs.Aisaka."
We both bowed to Mr. Fujiwara and gave them our compliments.
"So Mr. Nakamura, what will it be today?"
"Naomi, do you already know what colour you want your dress to be?"
"I was thinking about red-wine, what do you think?"
"I love it. I don't happen to have any suits of that colour. What is your opinion, Mr. Fujiwara?"
"Red-Wine is indeed a rare colour, although it is very beautiful. I think it's excellent."
"Red-wine will be then. You already have my measurements, right?"
"Yes, I do, sir. But I need the characteristics of the suit as usual."
"The normal ones. Two buttons and Italian silk are my only requirements and for the rest I leave the best options to you."
"As you wish, Mr. Nakamura. And what about the girl?"
She blushed a little and continued:
"You know, Mr. Fujiwara. I've never been to a store like this before, I don't know what I have to choose or how to choose."
"There is no problem at all, Mrs. Aisaka. Here's what we do. I'll show you some dresses and, whatever you like best, I'll make it for you with the designated colour. Does it sound good to you?"
"Sounds very good to me, Mr. Fujiwara."
"Then as far as the fabrics and that are concerned, Mr. Nakamura can help you and so can I."
"Thank you very much for your patience, sir. Let's go see the dresses then."
"Please follow me miss."
While Mr. Fujiwara showed Naomi the dresses both in the magazine and some that were stocked in the store, I was looking for some models of suits too, to see if there was anything I hadn't thought of yet. The shirt would be red wine, the suit would be black with maple details on the inside and on the bow, the vest would be equally black with maple details on the inside and on the strap. The shoes would be the classic black V-shaped loafers accompanied by a gold buckle belt, with the letter N symbolizing my family's symbol. I would choose to wear a bow tie instead of a tie (to add more class to the thing). Black to contrast with the shoes and eyes. And, to finish, a pocket watch specially ordered for the occasion, which was in my house waiting to be used one day. My father bought it at auction for many thousands of US dollars because it was allegedly a pocket watch that belonged to the former leader of the Peaky Blinders gang, something that skyrocket its value after the series was released. And so, my outfit for tomorrow was done, assembled simply using my head. As soon as I finished putting it together, as I already knew exactly how I would ask Mr. Fujiwara, I sat down a little waiting for Naomi to get hers ready as well and the dinner situation would be ready. I wandered with my eyes closed through my mind for a moment until I heard a pounding of heels on the floor, however, when I opened my eyes, I was not prepared for what I was going to see.
Naomi came out of the observation room with a beautiful red wine dress, open completely in the back and with a spiral shape in the "skirt" of the dress, combined with some very simple black shoes, but that matched perfectly with her and the dress itself. I can't help but blush.
As soon as Naomi noticed that I was quite blushing, she also blushed a lot and said:
"Why... why are you so red Akira?"
"Is this something to ask yourself? You look like a Greek goddess."
She was even redder than she already was:
"Akira, we had already talked about it. Don't tell me that, I'll blush."
"No, sorry Naomi, this time I can't even shut up, you look like a fallen angel from heaven..."
Naomi pushed forward to try to hit me, however, since she was wearing high heels, she tripped and was going to fall forward. However, in a quick impulse, I managed to get up from my chair and grab it just before the fall. I grabbed her and lifted her using her belly as support for my hands, which made me get closer to her face. As soon as I witnessed even more closely that angelic beauty in which Naomi was, even knowing what was to come, I finished the sentence that had just begun:
"As I said, an angel fallen from ..."
I got punched in the stomach before I could finish
"Heaven."
"Enough yet?"
"Yes, that's enough. It was worth the punch."
"Am I that pretty?"
"I'll tell you something Naomi. On the day I get married, I just hope my wife to look as good in her dress as you do."
As Naomi blushed again, Mr. Fujiwara exclaimed with a surprised air:
"What do you mean, your wife, aren't you two dating??"
We both looked at each other and smiled
"No, Mr. Fujiwara. We are friends, simply friends."
"But this cannot be Mr. Nakamura. You would be such a beautiful couple, is there any specific reason not to date?"
Naomi and I stared at each other wondering what he had asked. In fact, Naomi and I were quite similar in tastes and way of being, and we were both quite handsome. Why haven't I fallen in love with her until now? Maybe the past is holding me back or maybe I'm just not meant to start a relationship anytime soon. I could see that Naomi was asking herself the exact same questions I was, however, she couldn't know if she had come to the same conclusions that I had. Therefore, as soon as we looked at Mr. Fujiwara at the same time, I said first:
"Well... I don't think there was that "love" that you feel at first sight. I know I'm in love when my heart has a specific sense of "pain." Since I don't feel it, I know I'm not in love."
"It makes sense. The boy has always been quite logical, even in the emotions he feels he managed to find a pattern. What about you Mrs. Aisaka?"
"To be honest, I don't know. Maybe because I've never experienced the feeling before, so maybe it's harder for me to even understand it."
"I tell you that it is a great shame. At your age, having already met someone so similar to you is a perk that not everyone can be content to have."
"Didn't you and your wife meet around this age?"
"We did, young man. And I thank the heavens every day for spending so many years of my life with her by my side. At least think about what I said."
Both Naomi and I looked at each other with a smile and, turning back to Mr. Fujiwara, said in a comical tone.
"We'll think about it, we promise."
"Very well then, this red wine dress, for Mrs. Aisaka and you, Mr. Nakamura, you already have the suit all decided, isn't that right?
"Yes, sir, however, I saw some pieces that pleased me, please follow me to make some changes to what I had said earlier."
I went to each point of the store where they had the pieces I wanted and changed some things in the normal suit, opting for more sophisticated pieces instead of the common ones I always wear.
After we were both decided, we said goodbye to Mr. Fujiwara and returned to the car.
"Mr. Yamaguchi, let Aisaka at home if you please."
"I will certainly leave Mr. Nakamura. Do you already know what song you want to put on this time?"
"Said you had "Definitely Maybe" right?"
"Yes, sir."
"Put "Up In The Sky" please. Do you agree, Naomi?"
"It looks good to me. I'm also very excited, this song sounds excellent."
"So be it, let's take the Mrs. Aisaka home."
Each car trip with Mr. Yamaguchi and Naomi became an unprecedented adventure, just because of the company and the music that accompanied us. I almost forgot in the middle of car music, trips to the tailor and conversations that tomorrow would be the first time we would play live. However, what Mr. Fujiwara said was still ringing in my head. Why I hadn't fallen in love with Naomi yet since we had so much in common. And an even better question. Would this happen given the right time and circumstance? It was a question I still didn't know how to answer, however, I was very anxious to see how things would go from now on.