“Or he’s bailing,” Shira said.
“Shira!” Narissa shouted. “Don’t act like that.”
“You honestly expect me to believe after he says he wants a relationship with Mercedes and then sleeps with her in the same night, he gotta leave town for some emergency the next day?”
“I expect you to not jump to conclusions and make this situation any worse.”
Mercedes stared at her phone as the two bickered, doubt gnawing on her very being. She struggled to disagree with Shira. It was far too convenient. Maybe I was too hopeful about this… She couldn’t have expected her bad luck with men to just up and disappear.
She got to her feet. “I’m… going to go for a walk.”
“Mercedes, don’t,” Narissa begged. “Try to be positive.”
She left the room without saying anything. She couldn’t be positive. She was always doing something wrong with her choices in men. She was always doing something to make them change their mind about her. I’m always the common denominator…
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Steam rose up from Mercedes’ cup of coffee, the strong maple and honey aromas wafting into her nose, as she sat at a window table in a small coffee shop. She tried to keep herself calm, reminding herself Takashi was different, and this really was an emergency. She’d get an answer in a few hours, at most a day or two. But the doubt of past experience wouldn’t let it go.
A bell tinged when the front door of the coffee shop. Mercedes’ eyes darted over in that direction for no reason but for a temporary distraction. To her surprise, Emi strolled in, her boyfriend, Jason, right behind her. Mercedes went back to looking out the window, taking a sip of her coffee, the sweetness of the flavors mixed with the nippy nature of the coffee beans, tantalizing her tongue.
“Mercedes?”
Mercedes turned her gaze to find Emi looking right at her. She smiled. “Hey, Emi.”
Emi bee-lined it to her. “Talk about a happy coincidence.”
Mercedes’ brow furrowed. “Is… something wrong?”
“Not exactly.” Emi sat down in the empty chair on the opposite side of the table. Mercedes noticed Jason hadn’t followed, and instead had gone to the counter to order. “Have you heard from Takashi at all today? I tried to call Rei earlier to make sure we were still on for this weekend, but my call went straight to voicemail. Same with Takashi. It’s not like either of them. I’m hoping you might know, since you probably have more contact with Takashi than I do these days.”
Mercedes nodded. “I do… sort of. I last talked to Takashi”—she looked at her phone—“almost forty-five minutes ago right before he hopped onto a plane unexpectedly. I guess there’s some sort of family emergency going on.”
Emi’s brow knitted. “I hope everything is okay.”
Mercedes looked down at her cooling coffee. “Me too…”
“Are you okay?”
Mercedes looked up at Emi to find her brow creased and her eyes giving away her concern. Mercedes smiled. “Yeah. I’ve just had a long week. Trouble with my cybernetic.”
Emi pursed her lips. “That’s weird. Cybro Industries technology is top in the world.”
Mercedes chuckled. “Trust me, it’s not your run-of-the-mill issue. How it happened has stumped everyone, so we’re doing a bunch of testing to see if we can recreate it and then learn how to prevent it in the future.”
“Well, I’m sure with Narissa on the case, you’ll figure it out in no time.” Emi looked up at Jason when he approached, two cups of coffee in his hands. “Mercedes said Takashi and Emi are dealing with a family emergency.”
Jason frowned, his posture shifting a little. “I hope everything is okay.”
Was his response delayed? He was only a moment or two longer than she’d expect from anyone else, but it was enough to make her feel like he was lying. Mercedes couldn’t shake the uncomfortable feeling he got from this guy.
Emi nodded as she stood up. “Me too.”
Something on Jason’s person beeped and he pulled out his phone. Emi gave him a quizzical glance, and he smiled at her in a way that sent a chill down Mercedes’ spine. “Just a confirmation on a report I asked for.”
Emi shook her head. “You need to learn to relax on your breaks.” She looked to Mercedes. “Thanks for the information. Sorry to have interrupted your alone time.”
Mercedes smiled back at her. “Don’t worry about it. It was nice to see you again.”
The pair left and Mercedes pulled out her phone.
Takashi, I don’t want to look clingy, but I’m worried. Please let me know what’s going on as soon as you can.
She sent the message and then went back to thinking, her thoughts going back down the dark rabbit hole.
The airport terminal bustled with the usual foots traffic Takashi would expect for an international airport. He watched the luggage claim carrousel for his suitcase, his fingers twitching on his leg. C’mon, move faster!
When his bag came into view, he rushed over and yanked it off the conveyer, not caring if anyone thought him rude. He whipped out his phone as he rushed to the exit.
No new messages.
Doesn’t matter. Even though he was supposed to get one from his father, Takashi guessed he got held up. He sent off a text to his sister.
Getting a cab now. Meet you all at the shop?
A moment later, a reply came in.
Yes. See you soon.
Takashi wasted no time calling the cab company to make sure his ride would be there to pick him up soon, as he’d arranged before his flight. He needed to get to the shop. Nothing else mattered right now.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Mercedes looked down at her phone as she paced in her hotel room, reviewing the line of texts she’d sent Takashi over the past three days. None answered. She’d called numerous times, each time no answer and a quick voicemail left. He promised to contact her when that “emergency” was taken care of, yet nothing. Pain flared in her chest. What emergency would prevent him from contacting her in the slightest? The only reason she hadn’t completely given up was because no one in the guild had seen him online. Of course, that didn’t help her settle down.
Mercedes rotated the phone in her false hand, paying attention to how the artificial nerves fired off. Today, Narissa had implemented the next stage of nerves, and this time things had gone a bit smoother than the first stage, though Mercedes did require a few hours of adjusting. After that period, Mercedes found her neuro-mod acting better, even though the sensations had caused her some issues. Narissa jotted down notes, theorizing her mod wasn’t overreacting, but instead it was confused. More testing would be required, and Mercedes aimed to do just that. This stage two didn’t quite feel real yet, but it was only a matter of time, and that thought excited her to no end.
“Miss Mercedes,” Tasha’s voice came from the hotel room structure. “Narissa has arrived, and she’s messaged to say you have a delivery at the front desk.”
“A delivery?” Mercedes’ brow furrowed in thought. “Please tell her to bring it up with her.”
“Of course.”
Before Mercedes had decided to come back to her room to rest a bit, she and Narissa agreed to hang out tonight. Mercedes knew it was because Narissa didn’t want her thinking too much about Takashi and stressing over the situation, and she appreciated her friend’s gesture.
It didn’t take Narissa more than three minutes to make it to her door, and Mercedes greeted her with a smile—until she saw the bouquet of flowers in her friend’s hands.
Before Mercedes could say anything, Narissa spoke in a cheery voice. “I guess someone finally reconciled with her boyfriend.”
Mercedes’ brow rose. “Huh?”
Her friend handed the flowers over. “These are from Takashi.”
<
br /> Mercedes took the gift and looked at the tag, her eyes darkening at the sight of the neat handwriting scrawled on a tag.
Missing you <3
Takashi
Narissa pursed her lips. “Based on that scowl, I’ve missed something.”
“I haven’t heard from Takashi at all.”
Narissa pushed her way into the room. “Well, maybe he’s still busy with that issue?”
Mercedes glowered at her friend. “Too busy to answer a text or phone call, but can set up flowers to be delivered?” She tossed the flowers on the counter in the kitchen. “Yeah right.”
Narissa frowned. “Have you tried contacting him again?”
Mercedes sighed, her shoulders sagging. “Yes. I tried about ten minutes ago with a text. Still nothing.”
“I could send him a message.” Narissa whipped out her phone. “It’s not an issue.”
Mercedes shook her head and went to go sit on the couch. “What’s the point? He can’t be bothered to contact me directly, why would I want a response through a friend?”
Narissa sat down next to her and placed a hand on Mercedes’ shoulder. “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation. Don’t let it get to you. This is Takashi. He didn’t bail. Hell, he sent flowers, so he’s thinking of you.”
“Or it’s just some elaborate joke.”
“Don’t,” Narissa warned in a dark tone. “Don’t you dare start going there. I won’t have it.”
“Well if you have any legitimate reasons for him to act this way, be my guest to enlighten me, because I can’t think of any.”
Her friend’s lips spread into a line as even her keen brain struggled with this. None of it made sense, but she could see the pieces in front of her. He was screwing with her, and she didn’t appreciate it one bit. He’s just like the others and I was a fool to believe otherwise.
Takashi frowned, pulling the phone away from his ear when Mercedes’ voicemail answered after five rings. He ended the call and looked at his phone history. Several calls and more than a dozen text messages unanswered over the course of four days. He even sent her flowers yesterday and received no response.
He didn’t get it. Why wasn’t she answering him?
He promised to let her know what was going on the moment he had the chance. The day after the fire at his mother’s shop, he tried to call her to explain everything. He hadn’t wanted to bail on her like that. He knew it wouldn’t be good for their budding relationship, especially with the poor timing, but it couldn’t be helped. He wouldn’t let his family handle this problem without him.
It made his thoughts narrow and single-focused, causing him to forget anything else, but once things calmed down, he realized how he shouldn’t have gone to that extreme. I should have told her what happened right then on the phone. Maybe she’d be talking to me now…
Small feet scampered up the stairs from the first floor and Mia burst into his room. “Niisan! You have a delivery.”
Slipping his phone into his pocket, Takashi’s brow knitted. “I didn’t order anything.”
“I know. It was a florist delivery.”
Mercedes? Takashi jogged past his sister, patting her on the head, and headed downstairs. He looked around the foyer for the delivered package, but found nothing. Brow furrowed, he called up to his little sister. “Mi-chan, are you pulling my leg?”
She appeared at the top of the stairs. “Not this time. Okaasan took it into the kitchen.”
Shit. In all the craziness, he’d neglected to inform his mother, of all people, about his new relationship with Mercedes. He braced for an earful as he entered the kitchen.
Takashi found his mother hovering over a white box on the kitchen table. Her eyes snapped up to him and he stopped dead, swallowing hard. She looked beyond livid.
“What did you do?” she asked.
His fear changed to confusion. “What?”
His mother gestured to the flowers. “What did you do to her?”
Takashi walked over, and peered into the box. He found a bouquet comprised of geraniums, foxglove, meadowsweet, yellow carnations, and orange lilies. He swallowed and picked up the tag.
M
Confused, he flipped it over but found it blank. Why such an angry arrangement but only sign it with her initial?
His mother stared him down. “What did you do, Takashi?”
“I…” He looked down at the arrangement again. “I don’t know.”
“Don’t you give me that. She’s a nice woman and I know I taught you to treat women respectfully. What did you do to get such an angry message from her?”
Takashi’s shoulders sagged. “I don’t know, Okaasan.”
His mother’s face reddened and she went to say something, but the door connecting the kitchen to the backyard opened, and his father walked in. “That’s enough, dear. Yelling at him won’t help the situation.”
His father tossed him a leather baseball glove. “C’mon. We’ll play some catch like we used to.”
“You’re going to reward him?” His mother’s voice rose an octave. “He’s done something wrong—”
His father walked up to her and stroked her cheek, stopping her rant. She gazed up at him, her eyes warm and her cheeks slightly flushed, as she clutched her beaded necklace. Takashi never knew a time when that type of caress didn’t get his mother. He never got tired of seeing the two show their affection for each other so openly. “Trust me, Passarinho. It’s not a reward.”
Takashi winced. His father had a mean arm. He fully expected his hand to go numb by the end of their “game.”
“Mia,” his father called out as he pulled away.
His little sister scurried into the kitchen. “Yes, Otousan?”
“There was a mix-up in the delivery, and the florist said to keep the flowers at no charge. Why don’t you take them for a craft project?”
Mia blinked. “Are you sure that’s the reason?”
Their father smiled. “Go have fun.”
Mia stood there for a moment, shrugged, and snatched the box of flowers. “Okay.”
When she left, his father waved him to follow. Takashi took a deep breath and complied, slipping the baseball glove over his hand. His father was the easier of the two parents to talk to, so this wouldn’t be horrible, but he wasn’t looking forward to the punishment to his hand.
When the two picked a good spot in the small backyard, his father tossed the ball to him. “So you and Mercedes?”
Takashi took a deep breath and threw the ball back. “I asked her the night before I had to run back here.”
“Thought you might have been planning to ask her. It’s not like you to be that eager to go to a seminar. Did you tell her why you had to leave?”
“I was so focused on the issue, I didn’t go into details with her on the phone.”
Nodding, his father tossed back the ball. “Not hard to see where this is going. Did you keep in contact with her?”
“I tried to. But all my texts and phone calls have gone unanswered. I even sent her flowers yesterday.”
“Do you think she’ll be the one you give your necklace to?”
Takashi had told Mercedes how he got the necklace, but he never told her of the tradition from his father’s side. The men were expected to make a necklace when they came of age, and wear it until they met the one person they were sure they wanted to spend their life with. They’d then present the jewelry as a gift. In some instances, like his, the men could be given the necklace as an heirloom from someone in the family they were close with and had a successful marriage. It was a great honor to be offered this token; one he didn’t take lightly when his grandmother handed over her necklace to him. “I want her to be.”
His father grinned. “Have a name for her yet?”
&nb
sp; “She’s not a pet.”
His father threw the ball extra hard, the impact stinging. Disapproval throw. “You know that’s not what I mean.”
Takashi chuckled as he threw the ball back. “I don’t have one like you do for Okaasan, but I’ve been calling her just Mercy.”
His father snickered. “Fitting, though more so for you than her. At this rate, that’s what you’ll be begging from her.”
Takashi laughed, missing the ball when his father threw it. “You have a point.”
His father watched him as he retrieved the wayward ball. “Sounds like we’re missing something. It’s been years since we’ve seen her, but if Mercedes is anything like her mother, she wouldn’t ignore you unless you really screwed up. Having to run home for an emergency wouldn’t be grounds to automatically ignore you.”
Takashi tossed the ball back. It wasn’t that simple, but he wasn’t into disclosing the details of the night he’d had with Mercedes. Sleeping with her and then running off the next day was grounds to be pissed off enough for the silent treatment. Though, factoring in the flowers she sent, it is out of character for Mercedes to act so harshly, even when mad.
His father smirked. “Ah, so that’s it. That is a bigger issue than just bailing.” Perceptive as always. “Don’t worry, I’ve no input on the matter. The pace you two take is your business. And I’m not going to be like your mother and ask when the two of you are giving us grandchildren.”
Takashi shook his head. “I’d like to not think about how eager she’d be for that news.”
His father tossed him the ball. “Don’t be too hard on her. She comes from a traditional family, after all.”
“The interesting mix of raising technique you two used on us kids is burned into my mind.” Takashi snickered. “And I’m not the only one getting the brunt of Okaasan’s antics. I’ve overheard her get on Rei’s case a number of times.”
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