Of all days, today had to be the day for the rain to fall down.  Of all days, today had to be the day for the storm to be at its heaviest.  Although, Ryan thought, if yesterday saw no rain and today saw all of it, tomorrow would be pretty awesome.  He thought back to yesterday and how he had almost been caught, by Nathan of all people.  Mr “Moral high ground”.  “The guy needs to loosen up”, he muttered to himself, as he turned the corner through the lunchtime rainfall.  “You are only young once.  Besides, how is it my fault that women can’t bear to leave me?” He drove through the streets, heading towards the diner.  It almost didn’t matter to him that he was heading for lunch without his colleague; he’d catch up later anyways, as he always did.  Right now, Ryan was interested in filling the gap that had appeared in his stomach since breakfast.  He slowed his car to a stop outside the diner, parked it up and walked confidently into the refuge from the cold and wet weather that was plaguing the city.

 

As he looked around, he saw Sunny in one of the corners of the diner, away from some of the customers.  She looked concerned, upset, angry, and a bunch of other emotions that Ryan could not pick up on.  Next to her stood Tiffany, with her arms around the short waitress.  They were talking to Nathan, which explained why he wasn’t at the school, but now left open more questions, although Ryan knew what he was saying to his girlfriend.

“Hey, what’s going on?” he asked as cheerfully as he could, pretending to be unaware of the conversation.  “I thought you were going to wait for me.”

Nathan slowly turned and looked at his colleague, his steely glare fixed on the topic of his conversation.  “She knows,” Nathan informed her.  “I told her.”

“Told her what?” he asked, trying to maintain his oblivious demeanour.  He could feel his anger growing, the betrayal he saw in front of him fuelling his rage.

“I told her everything, Ryan.  I couldn’t hide it from her.  Not that.”

“He’s lying, right?” Sunny asked.  “There is no one else, right?”

That one question was all Ryan needed to hear.  There was no innocent façade.  No oblivious attitude.  No more pretending.  “Why you …” Ryan lunged at Nathan, pushing him into the nearby wall.  Almost miraculously, Tiffany managed to pull Sunny out of harm’s way in time.  Ryan grabbed Nathan, pinning him against the wall, pushing his arm into his throat and punched him in the gut.  Nathan used as much strength as he could muster to fight off his attacker, but nothing could prevent the onslaught he was being dealt.  “I told you to stay quiet!” he shouted, customers now clearly in fear, some screaming, some even running out of the diner.  “You said you’d say nothing!”  He grabbed Nathan’s shirt and picked him up, before punching his face, his fist landing square on his cheek.  “You said you wouldn’t tell her about Rachael!  She doesn’t need to know about her!”  He raised his fist to land another blow, only to be stopped by the firm grip of Heechul on his arm, one arm around his waist.  As Heechul pulled Ryan backwards, Leeteuk pulled Nathan out of the way.  His face was red, his cheek cut, his glasses broken and lying on the floor.  Despite their efforts, Ryan maintained a tight grip on Nathan’s shirt.

“Who’s Rachael?” Tiffany asked, firmly and calmly.

Those two words stopped the next blow from being fired more than Heechul and Leeteuk did.  Ryan turned his head to look at his questioner, frustration and anger clear in his voice.  It seemed like the most incredulous question he could have been asked.  “What?”

“Who’s Rachael?” she asked again.  “Nathan never said anything about someone called Rachael.”

His eyes widened and his fist dropped to his side.  His grip loosened and Nathan was pulled away.  “What?” he asked again, much calmer and more subdued than earlier.

“Nathan told us that you’ve been sleeping with Nari, your student.  He said he saw you both in the classroom yesterday.”  Tiffany shook her head.  “There was no mention of a ‘Rachael’.  Who is she?”

Speechless.  For the first time in Ryan’s life, he had no words to say.  He looked at the manager, eyes wide with fear and dread.  He looked at Sunny, who had been crying on Tiffany’s shoulder during the fight.  She was clinging to her manager for dear life, her eyes fixated on him, confusion and anguish blasting through as clear as anything.

Eventually, Sunny managed to find her voice in the midst of the silence.  “Who is she?” she asked softly.  There was no response.  “Ryan?”  No answer.  “Nathan?”

“She came into the school yesterday, claiming to be his girlfriend,” he confessed, catching his breath.  “She’s an American woman who had flown to surprise him.  When she introduced herself, I went to find Ryan.  That was when I saw him with Nari.”

“His … girlfriend?”

“That’s what she said.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Ryan pleaded, turning his body to Sunny.  As he reached out his arms to hold her, she shirked away, cowering.

“Why didn’t you tell me about her before?” Sunny asked.

Nathan looked at Ryan, fury and rage clear in his eyes.  “I told him I wouldn’t.  I gave him the benefit of the doubt and said I wouldn’t say anything unless you asked about her.”

“Why would she ask about her?” Tiffany asked.

“I hoped something like this would happen; where Ryan would slip up and say something like he did now.”

“And then she’d have to ask?”

Nathan nodded.  “I didn’t want to keep it from her.  She doesn’t deserve something like that to be kept from her, and I didn’t want him to get away with it.”

Tiffany paused, and looked to Sunny.  She watched her friend dry her eyes on her sleeve and give a heart-breaking sniffle.  “Do you believe her?”  Nobody answered.  She looked back at Nathan.  “Well?”

“Her?”  He turned his head towards Tiffany.

“Rachael.  She said she was his girlfriend.  Do you believe her?”

He took one look at the fearful waitress in her arms.  He couldn’t lie any longer.  He couldn’t keep it hidden any more.  The woman he loved was hurting and he knew he was just prolonging the agony.  She deserved someone who was going to treat her right, and Ryan most certainly was not.  “Yes, I do,” he answered firmly.  “When I saw him with Nari, I couldn’t believe a word he said.  He said he was going to see her last night to ‘fix’ this, that she was his ex-girlfriend and that she could not let him go.  I don’t believe him for a moment.”  He looked Tiffany square in the eyes, even from the distance they were at.  “I believe Rachael is his girlfriend, and I can’t believe otherwise.”

Tiffany nodded and looked at Ryan.  “I think you should leave.”

“What?”

“You have come in my diner and harassed one of my customers.  Some have left the diner and probably won’t come back.  Most that are still here probably don’t want to be here any longer.  You have caused damage to my diner’s reputation, you have upset god knows how many people, and most importantly, you’ve hurt my friend and employee.  You are going to leave here and you are not going to return.  You are not going to come near this place, and you are not going to come near Sunny.  Do you understand?”

Ryan did not move.  He stayed, defiantly, standing his ground.  “Sunny, it’s not what you think.”

“She said ‘leave’, ,” Sunny spat, wiping her nose on her sleeve.  “I can’t believe I trusted you.  I can’t …” she shook her head and looked away from him.  “Just get out.”

He stayed for a moment.  “I’ll speak to you tomorrow, when you-you’ve calmed down.”

“No,” she turned, let herself out of Tiffany’s grasp and walked towards him.  “You won’t speak to me tomorrow.  I don’t ever want to speak to you again.  I never want to see you again.  I never want to walk the same street as you again.  You are dead to me, Ryan.”  She pointed to the door behind her and looked straight at him.  “Get out.  Now.”

It took little more than three seconds before he turned and walked out.  Not once did he look back.  He knew best not to; ‘hell hath no fury like a woman scorned,’ they say.  He pulled open the door and walked out, infuriated that his life of luxury had been exposed.  All of the good things he had, the women he had lined up, none of them aware of each other.  It was all falling apart.

No wonder the rain was falling so heavily today.                                                                 

Silence remained as Ryan took his leave.  Some of the remaining customers slid out to take leave of their own.  Sunny dropped her arm as the unwelcome visitor left.  Leeteuk released Nathan from his grasp, and quietly offered to check over the wound. A shake of his head told him not to bother.

“Sunny?” Tiffany asked.

“I’m ok,” she assured her manager.  “He’s gone.”

“I’m sorry, Sunny,” Nathan apologised.  “I didn’t want it to turn out like this.”

She took a few moments to compose herself before she could break down again.  She could feel the heartbreak coming already.  “I think you should leave too,” she replied.  “You knew about him.  You knew what he was like.  You could have warned me.  As far as I’m concerned, you’re as bad as he is.”  She shook her head.  “I’m sorry, Nathan, but I don’t know who to trust any more.  You just … you need to go.”

Nathan stood still as Sunny walked away, holding herself together as best as she could.  Patrons watched as the waitress walked past, before turning back to the remnants of the argument that had only recently ceased.

“I think you should go too,” Tiffany looked meekly at Nathan.

“But …”

“I know,” she assured him without hesitation.  “You did what you thought was right, but I don’t want her to be upset any more than she already is.”  She put her hand on his arm to comfort him.  “I’ll talk to her, but I’m not going to promise anything.  Ok?”

Nathan sighed.  He didn’t think this would happen.  Sure, he wasn’t expecting for Sunny to be eternally grateful and to throw herself at him as her “saviour”, but he definitely wasn’t expecting for her to put him in the same group as Ryan.  Still, he reasoned, by telling her, he was responsible for her pain.  With that, he bowed respectfully to Tiffany, to Heechul and Leeteuk, looked around at the customers with sorrow and silent apology in his eyes and left.  As he walked out, he left behind the petite waitress, her cute nose, her churlish laugh, her bright smile, her seemingly inhuman levels of energy and her beautiful brown eyes, which watched him as he left from a gap in the staff room door.

No wonder the rain was falling so heavily today.

 

---

 

The rain kept falling, harder now that evening than it had all day, soaking anyone who dared to challenge its downpour unprotected.  Nathan didn’t care for its games.  His own dilemma consumed him.  He thought he had done the right thing.  Surely Sunny deserved to know her boyfriend was being unfaithful.  If his girlfriend was ever to be unfaithful and Sunny were to tell him, he would be eternally grateful to her for the information, not turn her away and declare banishment from his sight.  Perhaps Sunny valued such honesty from Ryan more than from people outside of her relationship.  Maybe she genuinely assumed Nathan was in on the whole thing.  Whatever it was, she had shunned him and it hurt.  Now, he was left to spend the night walking along the banks of the Cheonggyecheon waterway and over the Mojeongyo Bridge, almost attracting the falling rain like a magnet and allowing it to soak into his skin.  The beauty of the river was lost on him right now.  The street lights and bustling crowds were little more than an inconvenience to him.  He walked to the middle of the bridge and stood, watching the water flowing away from him.  People walked past him: family, friends, lovers, business partners, business rivals.  Good friends, old friends, newlyweds, young loves and old flames.  None of them were of interest to him, nor was he of interest to them.  The heavy rain fell onto his face, washing away tears he had cried on his way there.  Now, he was cried out.  Now, he was just restless.  Now, he wanted the day to end.

Now, he was underneath someone’s umbrella.

He turned to his right and saw the barmaid from the previous evening standing next to him, a large black and white golfing umbrella in her hand.  She smiled at him, her sweet smile and concerned eyes almost pitying him as he stood in the rain.

“You’re a little taller than I remember,” she smiled.  He forced a quarter-smile in response as she handed the umbrella to him.  “Walk me to my car?” she requested.  Almost obediently, he took the handle of the umbrella from her and held it between them, feeling her linking her arm with his.  “I guess it didn’t go well, huh?” she asked.

“She doesn’t want to see me again,” Nathan shook his head in defeat.

“She does,” she squeezed at his wet sleeve.  “She’s just angry.  You’ll see.”

“No, she seemed pretty clear that I was as good as dead to her.”

“Trust me on this; you’re as alive to her now as you always were.  She’s just mad at him for cheating on her and she’s taking it out on you for telling her.”

“You so sure about that?”

“Yeah,” she nodded.  “And she’s probably shocked to know how you feel about her.  I mean, you did tell her, right?”

“I told her that he was being unfaithful,” he recalled, “and she didn’t believe me.  Then he came in, saw us talking and, when she told him what we were talking about, he punched me.”

“He did?”  Nathan lifted his finger and pointed to the cheek facing away from her, which had long stopped bleeding but was now quite bruised.  "Did he say anything?"

He nodded.  "He did nothing to deny it, at first.  He told me I should have kept quiet.  By that point, it was too late; he'd admitted it and she knew.  He couldn't weasel his way out of it and she dumped him there and then.  She threw us both out and said she never wanted to see either of us again."  He sighed heavily.  “It’s fine, I deserved it.  He was right; I should have kept quiet for him.”

“Why?”

Nathan shrugged.  “Wasn’t any of my business, was it?  I broke her heart.”

“Bull,” she frowned, stopping him in his path.  “You care about the girl.  You’re in love with her!  And she was being hurt by someone you work with; you tried to protect her!  It was every bit your business!”

“I thought I did the right thing,” he muttered.

“You did do the right thing.  She just needs time to realise that.  Give her that time, you’ll see.”  He shook his head and continued walking in the direction they had before.  “I never asked you last night; what’s your name?”

“Nathan,” he replied.

She nodded approvingly.  “Nice name.  Well, Nathan,” she continued, “you just wait and see.  She’ll come around and she’ll see just what you were doing, and she’ll be thankful to you.  I promise.”

He shook his head again, dismissing her sincerity.  They walked on through the crowds in silence, sheltered from the storm underneath the honey brunette’s umbrella.  Nobody bothered with them.  Nobody spoke to them.  Nobody looked at them.  Automated reactions led to people moving out of their way, but none cared much about their presence.  It was a few minutes more before they reached the structure for the nearby multi-story car park.

“This is me,” she turned to him.  He handed the umbrella back to her.  “Keep it,” she smiled.  “You’ll need it more than I will right now.”

“But it’s yours.”

“Not any longer,” she smiled wider.  He sighed, resigning himself to further defeat.  He bowed in gratitude.  “Good night, Nathan,” she bowed, turning to take her leave.

“Good night.  Wait,” he called out.  “I didn't ask you either.  What’s your name?”

The woman turned around as she walked through the door and smiled the same sweet smile she had all night.  “Jessica,” she replied, letting the double doors close behind her as she left him standing in the rain, sheltered by her umbrella.

 

~~~~~

 

From that day, Nathan's world made almost no sense.  From the outside, everything looked as it always had done, but he felt so confused with things that happened, and whilst these things were small, they still consumed him.  The day after meeting Jessica on the bridge, he returned to the bar in an attempt to give back her umbrella, only to be told by the owner that she had quit that very night.  Apparently, she was returning to the States to be with her family and to pursue her dream career in fashion design.  The owner joked how the umbrella must have been her final gift to him and asked that Nathan keep it.  Not only that, but students that were normally more unruly in his class were now quieter and becoming more studious.  Students that had been the most boisterous and loud since he started were becoming more interested in their studies, yet he hadn’t changed his work plan or his techniques.  They were asking more questions, ling for knowledge, absorbing all of his answers.  They all paid attention to him and all worked harder than any of the students had before, and yet they were just as they always had been in every other class.  It was almost as though Nathan was the “special” teacher who was able to gain respect simply by being there.  Ryan had been fired from his job and had left the country; a proviso from Nari’s parents in exchange for no involvement with the authorities.  She had also been removed from school and would soon be finding somewhere else to study.  Everything was different, but life still had to carry on.

Two weeks had passed since he had last entered the diner.  He took Jessica’s advice and gave Sunny time to cool down. He allowed her space to vent her anger.  He gifted her with his absence at the moment when he needed her presence most.  It was lunchtime, and Nathan remained in his classroom.  The exam period was approaching, and he had a lot of marking to do.  The hallways were silent and the sounds of laughter and shouting came from the playground.  As he read through the essay his student had submitted for their newest assignment, he could hear heeled footsteps walking along the corridor, becoming louder as they neared his classroom.  There was a knock at the door, slightly hesitant, but with purpose.

“Come in!” he called, not looking up from his work. He heard the door open tentatively, and a familiar voice called out to him.

“Hey, you busy?”

He looked up and saw Tiffany standing in the doorway, dressed in blue tight jeans, white blouse and black jacket, with her hair tied up as it always had been.  She smiled hopefully at him and held a large brown paper bag in her left hand, holding the door open with her right.

“Yea-yeah, come … come on in,” he replied, remaining stuck in his seat. He pushed the assignment aside, affording his impromptu guest his full attention, or as close to “full” as his mind would allow.

She smiled and entered the classroom, closing the door behind her.  “I’ve bought you lunch,” she declared, handing him the brown bag.  “Figured you could do with some.”

“Thank you,” Nathan smiled politely, accepting the offer.  “I almost can’t remember the last time I left the classroom during lunch.  I’ve been swamped.”

“Explains why I haven’t seen you at the diner recently, I guess,” she smiled, seeing the piles of papers on his desk.  If there were ever any doubts about his workload, which there weren’t, they would have all disappeared in that moment.

“Yeah.  That and Sunny doesn’t want to see me again, remember?” he reminded her.

“Nathan, come on.  You remember how she was that day.  She was mad.  Everything she thought she knew turned out to be a lie.  I don’t think anyone would look at that moment and think she would be saying anything rational.”

He smiled a little.  “Still, I don’t think she would want me around just yet.”

“You so sure about that?”

He nodded.  “It’s for the best.  I’ll come back soon.  I promise.”

“‘Soon’?”

He paused.  “Soon,” he assured her, non-committedly.  “I have a lot to do, with marking and everything.”

She shook her head and looked around the classroom.  “She misses you, you know.”

“Really?” he lifted his eyes towards her, unconvinced.

She nodded and smiled; clearly Sunny had been on his mind a lot. “She watched you leaving.  Something tells me that hurt her more than Ryan cheating on her.”

He looked out of the window at the students, watching them.  Friends talking about the events of the day, flirting with crushes, arguing with others over petty things.  Few would be looking towards their adulthood at their age, but he knew some would make promises to be friends forever.  Forever.  He could barely remember any of the friends he had at their age, and he wasn’t exactly Mr Popular.  He sighed heavily.

“Nathan, listen to me,” Tiffany rested on the desk directly in front of him.  “Sunny needs you more than she - and you - realize.  I haven’t seen her smile once in the last two weeks, not like she used to anyway.  She smiles for the customers, but it’s painted on, and you can tell.  She’s already becoming a shell of her old self.  Ryan may have done a number on her, but you’re literally her only cure right now.”

“Sounds a little dramatic,” he mused.

“Maybe I’m exaggerating, but I’d bet not by much,” she confessed.  “We arranged for a girl’s night last weekend for her.  You know, we stay in, watch movies, eat tonnes of junk food, have a few drinks, try to take her mind off things.  Have you ever seen Sunny when she’s drunk?”  He shook his head.  “I call her a ‘bipolar drunk’; she’s either completely hysterical or she’s near suicidal.  Nothing in between, and let me tell you, Suicidal Sunny is definitely not a pretty sight.”

“Suicidal?”

Tiffany nodded, before realizing her choice of words.  “She wouldn’t actually take her own life, I’m sure of that.  Although, that night, I think even I doubted that.”

Nathan put his head in his hands.  “And you really think me being there will help fix this?”

Tiffany chuckled to herself.  “Let’s just say that Drunk Sunny is a lot more honest than Sober Sunny, ok?”

“What do you mean?”

Tiffany mulled over her answer and shook her head.  “Come back to the diner, sooner rather than later.  Let her know you’re still there for her, that you don’t hate her.”

“Hate her?” he asked, almost offended at the suggestion.  “How could I hate her?”

She shrugged.  “I wish I knew, but she seems to think you do, and you being away doesn’t help that.”  She caught his eyes with hers.  “Trust me on this, babe.  Ok?”

He leaned back in his chair.  “But … ok, let’s pretend you’re right …”

“Which I am,” she interrupted, smugly.

“Why are you the one telling me this and not her?”

Tiffany took a deep breath.  “You know I’ve known Sunny for a long time, right?”

“Yeah …”

“I’ve seen her go through things, and I’ve seen her come out of the other end a champion.  And I’ve seen her come out the other end pretty worse for wear.  But she keeps on fighting, and she does that because she has her values, her morals and her beliefs and she holds onto them for dear life.”

“Of course she does,” Nathan echoed.  “They’re something she holds dear, of course she will never compromise on them.”

Tiffany nodded and relaxed onto the table.  “She’s also stubborn as a mule,” she added.

“So she doesn’t back down without a fight,” he reasoned.

“She’s worse than that,” she giggled.  “She won’t come to see you because she’s scared.  She knows she messed up by throwing you out.”

“She didn’t,” he argued.

“She did.  But she won’t admit it either.”

“Tiffany …”

“Babe, listen to me, ok?  She screwed up.  You came to us and told her the truth about Ryan, even though you knew it would hurt her.  And she ‘thanked’ you by telling you to get lost.  Trust me, she knows she messed up big time.”

“She didn’t mess up.  I broke her heart.  I deserved it.”

Tiffany furrowed her brow, a combination of confusion and anger starting to form in her mind.  “What?”

“I hurt her.  I told her things that I knew would be painful to her.  Of course she’d throw me out.”

She scowled at him.  “Don’t you ever say that again, ok?  You did nothing to hurt Sunny.  You tried to protect her, and she knows that.  Seriously.  That girl is lost without you.  Like, Robinson Crusoe kind of lost.  Believe me, ok?  You did nothing wrong, and if I ever catch you saying that, you’ll have me to deal with.  Got that?”

Nathan closed his eyes and sighed.  “Got it,” he relented.

“Good.”  Tiffany looked at her watch.  “I guess I should let you eat before classes start, huh?”

“Yeah, I … I guess I should get ready,” he smiled bashfully.  “Thank you for bringing this,” he pointed towards the bag, which was still unopened on his desk.

“Not a problem.  Someone’s gotta make sure you’re ok, right?”

“How much do I owe you, then?” he asked, reaching for his wallet.

“A trip to the diner, whenever you’re not busy,” she requested cheekily, standing up to walk out.

“Seriously …”

“I mean it,” she smiled.  “Lunch is on me today.  Just … come and see her.  Promise?”

He sighed again.  “Can you make sure she knows that she has nothing to blame herself for?”

She nodded.  “Will you stop feeling sorry for yourself and blaming yourself for something you absolutely did not do?”

He laughed nervously.  “I guess,” he promised.

“You better,” she warned, before turning to walk out.  “I’ll see you soon, ok?”

“Yeah, I’ll … see you.  And … thanks again.”

She wrinkled her nose and gave a smile, walked towards the door and left Nathan to eat and mull over what she had said.  As she walked through the corridors and into the car park, she thought back to the waitress in her employment.  She recalled the ‘Girls Night’, her colossal fail at bringing a smile and some sort of contentment to Sunny’s life.  She remembered the drinking games that they played, and the game that caused the new period of upset.  The game of ‘Truth or Dare’ that was intended to be fun but instead brought Sunny to the metaphorical edge where she was scared to jump from.  An edge she had avoided for many months.  For the remainder of the evening, all seven of the girls made efforts to comfort her and relieve her of her pain and anguish.  It was a kind of hurt that only one person could cure, and anyone else could only placate with empty gestures, even if they were well intended.  She remembered the one thing most disturbing from that evening, which she only found out about the next morning.

Sunny hadn’t forgotten about the game either.