Past's Present to You
Old Fiat
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Chapter 10
Somewhere in the Southern Irish country side:
Giuseppe had decided a while ago it only took one thing to throw you off your work.
In fact he had decided it when he worked in his parent's restaurant. He would get distracted by one costumer and be unable to pay attention to anything the rest of the day.
A few days ago he had received a call from Taro. Okay, that was fine. But this was too big a coincidence.
He (Giuseppe) had received a job offer. The only "downside" was he had to move to Tokyo. The job was costume design for the New National Theater (1)'s dance department. It was well paying and everything, but seriously!
Now instead of making a decision, he was drawing out want he thought Taro looked like now. Most likely his hair was shorter now (false), and his hairline had probably gone back a bit (false), he wore the same cologne (true)…
There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," he called, continuing to sketch.
June came in. She walked over to his desk and snatched up the paper from under his nose.
"Gi, you are a silly thing," she looked at him and smiled. "Shouldn't you be deciding on where you want to go?"
He looked at her.
"What do you think we should do?"
"The children seem quite enthusiastic with the idea of Japan," she set the paper on the desk, took a pencil and began to add on to his drawing. "You could keep this place as a summer house and work in Japan for the rest of the year. We do have the money for it."
Giuseppe grinned. "Why am I even thinking about it?"
"Start looking into properties in Tokyo. In the nice neighborhoods, mind you."
"Taro owns a place in 'Oakwood'. It's where all the rich people live."
"Look into it," she said, without looking up.
What would I do without you? He wondered as he turned on his (rarely used) computer.
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A month later: Tokyo, Japan
Taro drooled just a little on Elizabeth's shoulder. His normally gelled hair was in soft, but tight curls. He snuffled a bit and rubbed his nose on her cotton nightgown. Elizabeth gave him a glare.
"Yuck…" she muttered turning back to the film, The Bodyguard. She was just about to hit him in the stomach when the phone rang.
"Hello?" she said politely.
"Is this the Sakaki house?" a familiar voice asked. The rounded, up-beat formation of words recalled someone, but she wasn't sure who.
"Yes. Who is this?"
"It's Gi!" Now she could remember.
"Gi! How are you?" she picked up the remote and paused the film.
"I'm fine! Is this Lizzie?"
"Yeah. What's going on?"
"Is Taro there?"
She gave a little laugh. "Only his carcass is here. His mind is off somewhere else."
"The Bodyguard, eh?"
She was surprised Giuseppe remembered. "Yes."
"Ah, well. Guess what!"
"What?"
"I am moving to Japan!"
She gave a little shriek. "No way!"
"Yes way! I've gotten a job offer from the New National Theater. I'm going to Tokyo!" He really hadn't changed at all. She could picture him jumping up and down on the bed in one of his mum's Christmas sweaters.
"That is so cool!"
"Isn't it? I've found a house in your neighborhood. It looks so cool there. I can't wait until you meet my daughters. Their names are Jade, Jasmine, and Jennifer. Jennifer is, like, thirteen years old. Do you remember Henry? I think he still keeps in contact with Taro…"
He babbled on. He updated her on the new stuff in Ireland; How her brother was doing, how Christy, Donni, and Lord Roxby were getting on, what the weather had been like, etc. It was so fun to talk to Giuseppe again, she nearly forgot about Taro drooling on her.
"What sort of clothes do you wear now, Gi?" she asked. The image of him in the sweater was too much.
"Huh? Oh, I wear pretty much all-black, all the time. Why?"
"Oh," she gave an uncomfortable little laugh and explained about how she still pictured him.
His loud laugh nearly burst her eardrums.
He stopped and Lizzie could hear him converse briefly with a little girl. "Oh damn it. I have to run Lizzie. Tell Taro, okay?"
"Bye Gi!"
She hung up and hit Taro on the head.
"Oww…" he moaned lifting his head to look at her. "Why'd you do that? Is the film over?"
"No. Gi called."
Taro yawned and stretched. "Neat. What'd he say?"
"He's moving to the Funny Farm. (2)"
"That's pretty cool," he licked his lips and looked at her. She knew he wasn't paying attention. "How about we… celebrate."
"Oh Taro!"
Oh, he had some photo albums those brats would never see. All tucked up and locked up in his school filing cabinet.
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Atobe bit his tongue to stop himself giving a little cry of pain as the razorblade nicked his skin. A little bead of crimson blossomed from the cut.
"Stupid stubble…" he muttered under his breath. Normally he would have screamed it in a high pitched voice, but he could not wake his parents. He simply couldn't. If his mother and father found out he had stubble—ohhh… he wouldn't be able to forget about it.
His cell phone rang from his room. He poked his head out of the bathroom and tiptoed down the hall to answer it.
"Hello?" he whispered.
Oshitari yawned. "Coach says we won't have practice today."
"Oh," Atobe felt kind of let down. "Does he have anymore photo albums?"
"Not that I know of. He can check his office today if you want."
"Okay. I'll talk to you later 'Tari-kun."
"Never call me that again."
Atobe hung up. He placed the phone on his dresser and crept back down the hall. He tried to stay quiet. He had nearly reached the bathroom when his parents' door opened.
"Keigo?" his mother asked. "Why do you have shaving cream on your—Oh! Oh, my baby!"
He had no choice but to make a run for it.
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A(nother) month later (Time sure does fly, eh?): Tokyo
Taro kissed Elizabeth as she walked into her doctor's office. She had been feeling sick for several days now.
She spoke to the assistant at the front desk for a few minutes before Gregory, her friend and doctor, came over.
"Let's get started, shall we?"
The check-up passed fairly uneventfully. Gregory could not seem to be able to find out what was wrong. A nurse walking outside saw him lean over and ask her something. She nodded.
A few seconds later he popped out of the room.
He came back in several minutes later. His smile looked a bit nervous.
"It's… positive."
Elizabeth looked at him in disbelief.
"I'm pregnant?!"
---THE END---
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Awwww…. It's over. I guess I'm going to miss it. Ah well. To the footnotes:
(1) This is a real theater in Tokyo. I looked it up.
(2) 'The Funny Farm' (known by most as 'Oakwood Housing Area') is a place me and OFnFR made up. It's where all the crazy-rich people/crazy, rich people live. Actors, models, etc.
I hope you liked it! Since this is the last chapter, I beg all of you: PLEASE review!
-Old Fiat s. Italy