Candy III

The drive ended up being rather uneventful, as Sachiko had guessed even before Ame, her fiancé, had arrived to pick me up. Sachiko assured me that Ame would do most of the talking and I only needed to reply something short. Luckily, Sachiko was able to listen to our conversation all of the time and help me say things the real Sachiko would say.

Ame seemed normal so far. She acted a little too feminine at times but I couldn't judge her by that. Most of the topics she brought up were related to work and what had happened to Sachiko and her during the week past week. She had a lot to complain about. A lot.

We parked next to a tall building after forty minutes of being on the road. We were on time despite the traffic delaying us a few more minutes than we expected.

The door clicked when I pulled the handle, then Ame's hand lay on my shoulder.

"You haven't learned to wait for me to open the door for you, have you?"

"Ah, right."

A smile remained on her face despite her words being a complaint. Along with her tone, it reminded me of Mom's gentle scoldings even though she would be mad at my brother or me.

She grabbed her purse, climbed out of the car, and walked around it to open the door for me. I moved my legs out first, then she extended her hand in front of me. I grabbed it with my free hand and she pulled me until I stood on my high heels.

Once beside her, she lifted her elbow. It took a second for my brain to process what she was doing. I hooked my arm around hers. I had never been arm-in-arm with someone else. Not even when Jun and I were dating. Despite not thinking about anything specific, my heartbeat rose slightly.

We walked out of the parking lot into the building and waited for the elevator in the tiny, though fancy lobby. The doors slid open not long after and we stepped in. Ame pressed the last button at the top of the panel and the doors slid close. A mechanical noise came from above and my body became heavier.

Ame and I were alone. Sachiko hadn't said a word in a while. I didn't know if we were still on a call. No sound or warning had indicated otherwise, so we should've been.

Out of nowhere, Ame placed both of her hands on my shoulders. I raised my head to look at her and see what was going on. Before I blinked, our lips touched. They continued to do so for an eternity.

Ame moved back a little, yet I could still feel her breathing.

"You didn't kiss me today," she said.

No words would reach my brain as I stared at her. My heart was going to burst out of my chest at any second.

"Tell her you were waiting for her to do the same," Sachiko said through the earphone.

I repeated the words automatically.

"I was waiting for you to do the same."

Ame's smile never went away and I didn't know her well enough yet to be able to read her mood.

"You're finally being more assertive," she replied. "Good."

She gave me a peck on the lips before letting go of my shoulders and stepping back beside me.

It took several breaths for my mind to be able to form thoughts again.

A woman just kissed me…. A friend's fiancé just kissed me while she's listening to the entire thing…. What the hell is going on with my life? I hope Sachiko didn't hear any more than the words.

The doors slid open, followed by a bell. Another couple stepped into the elevator as soon as Ame and I stepped out.

People were queued up in front of a door, almost reaching the elevator.

"What the…? This is what we get for making a reservation?" said Ame.

She didn't sound very pleased, but she had every right to complain. In favor of the restaurant, Valentine's Day had taken place in the middle of the week. Most people were probably celebrating late.

Although the queue advanced fast, our reservation was supposed to be twenty-five minutes earlier. The two staff members at the entrance apologized to everyone for the delay, including Ame and me. Ame didn't have a problem with being blunt, while I preferred to keep quiet.

A waiter asked us to follow him through the cramped hall. Luckily, Ame and Sachiko had made the reservation in a corner next to a window that extended from the floor to the ceiling.

I couldn't take my eyes off the view outside even after sitting down. The city glimmered, alive with its nightlife, and seeing the moon glowing behind the tallest tower was the icing on the cake.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" smiled Ame.

"It is," I replied.

Yet it didn't feel right. This view was supposed to be seen by Sachiko, not me. The secret was close to being spilled out of my mouth, but I held back… for the most part. I couldn't hold back from taking Sachiko's phone out of the purse on the table.

"Can't help but take a pic?" asked Ame.

"You bet."

I raised the phone in front of my face.

"What are you…?"

Sachiko stopped talking as soon as I started sharing the back camera on the call. She remained silent for the little time she could see what I was seeing. Sadly, I couldn't share it for too long or Ame would get suspicious. I opened the Camera app and quickly took a picture before putting the phone back in the purse.

"It's only the two of us now," said Ame.

And Sachiko and another thirty couples.

She continued, "We're so close to living together. We're finally going to be able to spend more time alone whenever we want."

Her open hand rested on the table. She stared at me until I grabbed it, then she closed it.

"I love you."

Hesitant, I replied, "I love you, too."

The same waiter from before approached to ask for our order. We hadn't even opened the menu, so I rushed to choose something. Only then did I realize I didn't know what Sachiko would order. The only thing that came to my head was something spicy since she had eaten the spiciest ramen when she was in my body. Luckily, Sachiko picked up the situation without me saying anything and guided me on what not to order.

Both Ame and I placed our orders, then the waiter walked away with them written on a notepad.

"What do you want to do first in the new house?" wondered Ame.

"Sleep," I answered.

Sachiko chuckled through the earphone.

Ame smirked. "You and your humor. Seriously, what do you plan to do?"

"Tell her you want to make it feel like home," suggested Sachiko.

"I want to make it feel like home."

"And how will you do that?"

"Decorating and spending time together."

Ame's smile widened. "That's a great idea."

The rest of the evening was filled with sentences like that one. Her smile would weaken every time she heard an answer she didn't like, understandably so, but that happened more often than not.

Our dinner took long enough to arrive at our table, allowing me to take a breath from the weird conversation and giving Sachiko a break from having to listen to another woman flirt with her fiancé.

…

A waitress gathered the empty plates from our table not even a minute after we finished. The food was delicious, but I had to prepare to chat for another twenty minutes before leaving. However, something unexpected happened.

"We are very sorry to ask our customers this, but we kindly ask you to free the table as soon as you're able to in order to allow other people to come in."

No matter the reason, a restaurant shouldn't ask something like that from their customers, especially with a reservation. That wasn't the problem for me, however. I knew something was about to go down even though I barely knew Ame.

For the first time in the evening, her smile disappeared.

"Are you listening to yourself?"

The waitress' eyes opened wide. She bowed in front of us again.

"We are very, very sorry…"

"We don't care about your apologies. Not only did you delay our reservation, but you also have the nerve to kick us out."

"We are not…"

"Shut up."

The tables around us grew quiet as Ame raised her voice.

"It's not our fault your organization is awful, and you're ruining our date because of it. We'll never recommend this restaurant and we'll never come back."

Unfortunately, the waitress didn't give up.

"Our most sincere apologies. Please allow us to compensate you with a free reservation."

"And go through this bullshit again?" She scoffed. "Let's go, Honey."

She grabbed her purse and walked away.

I grabbed mine and glanced at the poor waitress before heading out under dozens of gazes. They deserved a complaint, but not a scene like this. I would've apologized, but I didn't want to risk Ame getting angrier.

She waited for me in front of the elevator. More people stepped into it with us, yet the ride down the building stayed awkwardly silent.

"Quite the scene, hey?" said Sachiko. "You're probably feeling bad because I missed out on the date, but believe me, I don't miss these situations."

So, it wasn't the first time. Why is she still with Ame if she doesn't like these things? Do the positives really outweigh the negatives?

Everyone stepped out as soon as the doors slid open. I followed Ame out of the building a few steps behind. She suddenly looked back at me, still lacking a smile. She grabbed my hand and pulled me next to her without stopping, almost making me trip because of the high heels.

Her hand let go of mine as soon as we reached the car, then she climbed in without even looking at me. The difference between her good and bad mood was incredible.

I had just fit one leg inside when she turned the car on. Not knowing what she was capable of, I hurried to close the door and buckle the seatbelt. She accelerated abruptly. For the first time in ages, I feared for my life in a car.

The only positive I could see was that she wouldn't want to keep going through the night.

"She won't say much more after that," said Sachiko. "You'll be safe, so I'm going to hang up. Message me when you can."

Wait, is she really gonna leave me alone with her?

And she did. The sound of the call ending came through the earphone. I took advantage of Ame's distraction caused by her anger to take the earphone off and keep it in the purse discreetly.

We eventually reached Sachiko's apartment and Ame hadn't said a word. However, instead of waiting for me to get out of the car, she turned it off and climbed out.

I don't like where this is going.

She opened my door and offered me her hand. I reluctantly grabbed it, then she gently pulled me to help me stand on my feet. Although she still wasn't smiling, it seemed like she had calmed down.

We walked together upstairs. Her silence was unnervingly ominous. I didn't feel safe with her even though she was a friend's fiancé.

I took the keys out of my purse and unlocked the door of the apartment.

Please tell me she's gonna leave. Please…

Her hands suddenly gripped my shoulders and turned me around. Our lips touched again, though this time more aggressively. It didn't feel bad, but it was wrong. I didn't want to, but I had no other choice but to give in.

I'm sorry, Sachiko….

Ame pushed me into the apartment and shut the door behind us. My purse dropped to the floor as she pushed me further into the room until we reached the bed. I fell on it, then Ame lifted my dress to pull down my underwear.

My heart couldn't handle it. My head couldn't handle it. Nothing could've prepared me for the melting of my body. No other sensation compared to what I felt. Worry. Guilt. Pleasure. Pressure in my chest and a warm liberation.

Ame stood up from kneeling down and pulled up my dress until it came off of me. Her tongue kissed my neck as she wrapped her arms around me to unbutton my bra. The kisses moved down, provoking more sounds to come out of my mouth involuntarily.

Eventually, she stepped back. She stripped herself naked, then lay on the bed, pulling me on top of her. My face remained still above hers. She wanted me to take the lead. I didn't want to, but…

The following minutes became blinks. I kissed her entire body. Our souls penetrated each other, with and without the aid of things I didn't know Sachiko possessed.

After one last blink, we were done.