Hana

A Rendezvous

Yuzu

Taking a shower, I hum my favorite songs and wash off all the sweat from the ice show. I dry myself quickly and put on my casual clothes. Black Armani T-shirt and jeans will be fine. I walk out of the bathroom and see Nam sitting on the sofa.

"Going out?" He asks.

"Yeah."

"Can I go with you?" Nam stands up excitedly.

I look at Nam with a you-know-who-I'm-going-out-with look, and immediately he knows the answer.

"Ok, fine." He sits down again. "Say hi to Meg for me."

"Sure, Nam." I pat on his shoulder to appreciate his being understanding my "date".

"When will you be back?" Nam says. "I need to let Brian know."

"About after dinner." I smile and walk to the door.

"Bye~ Nam." I open the door. Before I close it, I can hear Nam's faint sound.

------

In the elevator, I wait for a long time to reach the first floor. The crowd in the elevator is obviously annoyed by stopping at numerous floors. Dinner time, I guess. By the time when we reach the 13F, Akira walks in. The entire nerves in my body tightens up and the atmosphere changes with a stare to his eyes. I look down to the floor after Akita moves to the opposite corner of the elevator. It's time to draw the lines. I keep my angry breathe until we finally reach the lobby. I look at my watch. 6:45. 25 minutes before the time Meg told me through Line. That will do.

Akira seems to notice me as well and both of us stay in the elevator after the crowd rushes out the metallic cube.

"How's the ice show?" Akira asks quietly. He seems to be less aggressive than the past few days.

"Shocked that you weren't there. But it feels awesome." I reply with some insult and annoyance in my voice.

"Meg said that she didn't want to go to the show with me any more." He explains.

I look up to him with surprise. My reactions are both based on the frankness from Akira and the courage and audacity of Meg to stand up against Akira.

I keep my silence to let him continue. But I don't move my eyes away from him.

"I've been thinking about Meg for the whole day. She said that my love is not love. I don't know what that means." Akira nearly weeps.

I frown from his words. After repeating what he said again in my mind, I learn that this young man is immature and has no reasoning in his mind. No wonder why Meg said that. Meg thinks like an 19 years old even if she's only 15; I know that from the first day when I watched her video. Akira's "love" is just a pure affection to Meg's beautifulness and an attraction to her aura.

"Wake up, Akira! Meg told me what you've done to her, and I think it is absolutely disrespectful to a lady." I try to speak calmly.

"I thought she liked it." He murmurs.

Akira is a man who will have a huge trouble in his future, especially with other lady. I cannot hold back the flame in my chest any longer.

I walk up to him in the corner, slam my hand on the wall of the elevator so hardly that it actually numbs my palm, grab his collar with my another hand highly that even if his taller than me, he has to feel intimidated. I shut my lips and bite my teeth tightly. I inhale and exhale loudly to let him know I'm not in a good mood.

"Akira, If it wasn't Meg who told me not to be beat you, I think I hit you in the face." I said silently but with threat.

"How dare you do such thing to her. Meg is the ruby in the whole world. She doesn't deserve your dirty, selfish affection." I say every words slowly but with emphasis. "From now on, I will protect her." I let go of his collar.