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The lock of the front door slid into place. It was late, from the perspective of the day; on time for her, and no one else was to step into the apartment. Commonplace shuffling of bag and shoes underlid the sizzle and pop of vegetables dancing on an oil slick pan.
She wanted to turn and greet her, but the smile brimming on her face would give away the seriousness of the fight she put both of them in this morning.
“Kimura-san! I’m home!”
Quick, light steps bounded closer to her before stopping mere inches from her left side.
“Welcome back.”
Stirring the green peas just to occupy her hands, Kimura Julia’s mask was well put on as she turned her gaze over her shoulder, finding the usual grin on Naoko’s face. Her smile grew bigger when she finally received recognition. Julia quickly turned back.
“It smells really good,” the other woman leaned the rest of the way in, and over Julia’s shoulder. The taller of the two decided to stay in silence.
“Oh! What are these?”
Julia’s turn towards Naoko was due to her question. What could there possibly be in their tiny flat that they’ve both haven’t seen a thousand times over?
It was a packet of corn chips.
The poorly hidden smirk on the teacher’s face was the direct cause of Julia’s dropping blood pressure. Her neck creaking like a forgotten well pump as she turned back to the stove.
The pop and corn starch grease stench of the opened bag fought, and dominated the air. In between chews, Naoko bounced around the room.
“How was your day Kimura-san?”
Clicking the gas off, Julia balanced the loose handle of the old heated pan in her right hand, while shoving past the other woman with her left hand. “Fine.”
“Are you finally ready to accept my apology?” The twitch of Julia’s left eye didn’t get past Naoko’s keen sight. Poising her to walk the three steps into her side.
“Now usually, you know me to never make light of your emotions, but really, I think I have no fault for what happ-”
“Why couldn’t you have just closed the window like I told you!?” Julia huffed, with the clang of the spatula into the now empty pan. The green peas sat perfectly divided between two plates of salmon, missing the action that had just occurred.
Naoko’s footsteps closer didn’t pause, just becoming softer as she continued to approach the other woman’s stiff frame.
“Kimura,”
The chips were tossed onto the nearest countertop, and fingers were wiped on the slacks she wore. Julia closed her eyes and pretended she didn’t see it, or could feel it staining her shirt as Naoko wrapped her arms around her waist.
“You just don’t know how heart-breakingly cute you looked when it happened.”
Tension built and built right at the her anterior cranial fossa, wrapping around like one of those plastic, unforgiving headbands she remembers wearing in her childhood. She shook her head quickly. Naoko is her present. Naoko gave her a future.
The kiss the woman behind her put on her nape, was enough to wake her from those cascading thoughts. It’s almost as if she knew. Maybe it was her racing heart and shallow breaths that gave her away.
Two firm hands placed on either of her shoulders turned her around purposefully, forcing her to meet Naoko’s grounding eyes. As her hands slid down Julia’s arms, her face read calm as a flat sea for a few more seconds, just enough the loosen the knot around Julia’s head, and slump her shoulders to standard. The other woman wasted no time in continuing her defense.
“I should’ve taken a picture, but that robin wasted no time huh?” Julia’s eyes rolled to the back of her head as Naoko’s rambunctious laughter echoed off the four walls.
“Not. Funny.”
The grasp on Julia’s waist returned, and tightened as she tried to turn away. Naoko’s toned forearms didn’t give way.
As her laughter subsided, Julia fully turned, and Naoko brought the two closer. Julia had no need to turn back around to know the shorter woman was balancing perfectly on the tips of her toes as she rested her chin over her shoulder.
“I’m terribly sorry. I should have closed the window in the bathroom last night like you told me to.” A breath separated her next words, “I’ll also apologize on behalf of the intruder, as he was surely taken by surprise at having you walking in while he was getting some me-time.” As she carefully enunciated her last sentence, Naoko slowly slid back, creating space to avoid the smack that surely was to come.
“You little shit!”
“Hey, I’m older than you!"