Chapter 9 – Secrets

Note:

[i] [/i]- thoughts

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Women’s Locker Room

“See you later,” Ruka said as she waved goodbye to her fellow racer. When she heard the door close, she immediately pulled her tank top up to her shoulder and slid it off her head in one swift motion. She opened her locker and took out a brand new clean tank top and put it on her. She then grabbed the dirty tank top and shoved it into her duffle bag. She took off her racing pants and put on the jeans that she wore that morning. She then grabbed her blue button-up shirt that was hanging inside her locker and slid one arm after another into the sleeves. As she was buttoning up her shirt, she heard a faint creaking sound of the door opening. She stopped buttoning her shirt and froze. She could hear her soft breathing as she listened to the darkness. She shifted her eyes from side to side to check if anyone was creeping up on her.

She waited for a few more minutes, but no one came. She heaved a sighed of relieve. She slammed the locker door closed and aggressively grabbed her duffle bag from the floor. As she was walking towards the door somebody suddenly grabbed her from the back and covered with a hand to prevent her from screaming. Ruka struggled from the person’s grasp. Although she couldn’t see his face, she was sure it was a man due to his incredibly strong grip. And judging by his Sparco shoes she knew he was a racer. But who could it possibly be?

As she continued to struggle to get free from him she felt a cold moist feeling on the back of her neck. When she realized that the man was kissing and her skin tears began to form in her eyes. She tried to scream desperately for help, but no sound came out. Suddenly she felt the man’s hand begin to her chest as he continued to on her skin. But that didn’t end there; she felt his fingers travel from her chest down to her pants. Tears uncontrollably fell on her cheeks and on the man’s hand. Before he could place his hands inside her jeans, she bobbed her head onto the guy’s face making him let go of . As soon as his grip loosened, she elbowed him on the stomach causing him fall flat on his back. Before the guy could have a chance to get back up, she grabbed her duffle bag and made a run for the door.

She ran as fast as she could without looking back with her tears still falling on her cheeks. When she reached a park, she stopped and dropped on her knees. She wrapped her arms around her body to cover up her chest. Her lips trembled with fear thinking about the whole incident that just occurred. “No……no….” She stuttered. “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” She screamed out loud. She can’t believe she was almost . But to think she was harassed like that by some maniac that could possibly be her colleague frightened her even more. She felt dirty and ashamed. Her tears continued to fall as she cried hysterically alone in the cold dark park.

________________________________________

‘ding dong’ the doorbell went. Takeru got up from the couch and walked towards the door. When he opened the door, he found a man carrying Kei on his back. Takeru immediately ushered him inside the house. He led him to Kei’s room which was right next to his. Slowly and gently they placed him on his bed.

“Wow, he’s really heavy.” The man commented. Takeru just smiled. “Oh, by the way I’m Jeonghoon, Kei’s colleague.” He said raising his hand for a handshake. Takeru warmly accepted his handshake. “I’m Takeru, Kei’s roommate.” After they had introduced themselves Takeru immediately offered him a drink, but he declined. He explained that he just dropped Kei off and was in a hurry. With that they said their goodbyes and Jeonghoon left.

After he escorted Jeonghoon outside, Takeru wondered where Ruka was. It wasn’t normal for her to be still out this late. [i] Did something bad happen to her?[/i] He wondered. He shook his head vigorously shaking the thought away. [i] No, don’t think like that. She’s just probably out drinking with her friends.[/i] Although he tried to be optimistic, he still had this worried feeling that something might have happened to her. So he decided to stay up and wait until she comes home.

________________________________________

The next morning, Takeru found himself lying on the couch. He rubbed his eyes as he tried to remember what happened last night. [i] I was sitting on the couch watching tv, then the doorbell rang and I found Kei and his friend at the door. I led them to Kei’s room, and then he left. Then I went back to the couch and—[/i] His thoughts were disrupted by the sudden noise that came from the kitchen. When he glanced towards the kitchen something suddenly hit him. [i] Ruka! [/i] He yelled in his mind. He walked to the kitchen and was met by a just awoken Ruka.

“Where were you last night?” Takeru asked.

“Erm….. I was out drinking with some friends.” She replied casually. “Souka,” Takeru replied back. Ruka grabbed her mug and poured hot coffee into it. Takeru grabbed his own mug and poured coffee into it as well. As they settled down, Kei walked in from the hallway. He scratched the back of his head as he dragged his way towards the sink.

“Good morning,” Kei yawned as he greeted everyone.

“What happened to you last night?” Takeru asked. Kei pretended not to hear the question and continued pouring the coffee into his mug. Takeru repeated his question a little louder than the last time. This time Kei had no excuse to dodge the question.

“Nothing happened last night,” He lied. It was obvious to the two that he was lying. Takeru decided to change the question and made it even more specific. “Why were you drunk last night?”

With his back still facing at the two, Kei bit his lower lip in annoyance. He turned around and said, “Ok, you’ve caught me,” Ruka and Takeru both raised their eyebrow. “What do you mean?” Ruka asked suspiciously. Kei continued, “Last night……..I was at a business party. Jeonghoon and I met these women, and we…….we—”

“Don’t tell me you….” Ruka cut him off. Kei nodded his head. “That’s great!” Takeru yelled out. “Your finally living your life.” Takeru added. Ruka nodded in agreement. Kei smiled weakly. He was glad that they’re bought his lie, but it also reminded him of what happened last night. He excused himself and headed towards his room.

When he checked his phone he found six missed calls and three messages from Naomi. He clicked on the first message, it read: ‘Are you alright? Please pick up your phone.’ He clicked on the next message, it read: ‘Please pick up. I’m worried about you. Please give me a call, I need to talk to you.’ [i] She’s worried about me? That’s a first.[/i] He thought. He clicked on the third message, it read: ‘Kei, please meet me at the park tomorrow at 10am. I really need to talk to you.’ Kei let out a sigh. As much as it hurts him to see her again he decided to meet her anyway.

When Kei arrived at the park, he found Naomi sitting on that same bench she sat on last time when he was stalking her. When she noticed his presence she immediately got up and walked towards him.

 “Oh, thank god you came. I was worried about you. Last night, you suddenly walked away from me. I thought something might have happened to you and—”

“Well I’m fine, alright? Is that all you wanted to talk to me about? Are we done?” He asked in a hoarse tone without facing her. Naomi was silent. She was surprise to hear him speak to her in such a rude way. “Kei,” she said in a soft tone. She raised her hand and was about to touch his cheek when he pushed her hand away.

“What else do you want from me!?” he said his voice almost cracking from the tears. Naomi looked at him in the eyes. She saw pain and sadness in them. Slowly and gently, she walked closer to him and wrapped her hands around his waist.

Although he wanted to push her away, he just didn’t have the heart to do it. Yes he was upset that she chose another man over him, but he still loves her. He wants her. He wants her so badly. Without noticing, he began wrapping his arms around her as well.

“I’m sorry,” he heard her say. Kei bit his lower lip and replied, “it’s ok.”  He hugged her even tighter.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Hey everyone! How did you guys like this new chapter? So Ruka was harassed by one of her colleagues. In the next chapter or the one after it, Ruka will begin to act paranoid around the house. Takeru will become suspicious of her (he may even start stalking her). There will be more Naomi and Kei moments in the next chap. This time they might actually be happy moments. So watch out for it!

So stay tune for chapter 10!!! =D Please leave comments!