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On the cracked and dirty concrete sidewalk of an empty parking lot outside an enormous baseball stadium is a lone wooden bench where two friends sit chatting after a game. The stars shone brightly and the moon was high in the sky, illuminating their faces. They wore matching smiles, one of complete joy to be in the company of the other. They talked about anything and everything and yet, nothing at all. Looking from the outside in, one would think they were the best of friends. Beyond that surface, there was a longing to become more, to be more than they were.
Halting the conversation between the two was the sound of a heavy door opening behind them. They turned towards the source of the noise and found a young man, no more than twenty-five years of age, with tanned skin, short, dark hair, and piercing eyes. He was someone who they recognized, an up-and-coming member of the same baseball team Q-Taro was on. The man hesitantly approached, half-raising a hand as a kind of greeting.
“Hey guys! You’re still here?” The dark-haired man asked with a pleasant smile that would make any girl swoon. Well, all except one who was in love with another.
“Yeah, for a little longer at least. You did pretty well today,” Q-Taro spoke, giving a rare genuine compliment.
“Thanks!” The man responded before quickly changing the subject. “Hey, do you mind if I ask you guys a question?”
Mai sat up slightly, giving the man her attention. It was rare that anyone on Q-Taro’s baseball team showed any interest in her. They often joked that she and Q-Taro were in a romantic relationship but that’s where most of their interest stopped. She was happy to be able to answer any question that this man may have.
“Sure! What do you want to ask?” Mai answered agreeably.
The man reached one calloused hand behind his head to rub at the base of his neck. A slight blush colored his cheeks, hardly visible in the faint light that the moon provided. “Well, I… I know the guys often joke about this but I just wanted to know if umm…” The man’s words came out nervously but both Mai and Q-Taro waited patiently for him to finish his question. “Are you two in a relationship?”
Mai’s face flushed a dark shade of red. It was the same reaction she always had whenever one of Q-Taro’s teammates would tease them about their relationship status. She never knew how to respond to these types of situations. Q-Taro was always much better at handling them than she ever was.
“No, we’re just friends!” Q-Taro replied quickly and, while Mai knew it was the truth, she couldn’t stop the stabbing pain in her heart at his words.
Mai’s face fell for a singular moment before smiling once more, however, this time, it didn’t quite reach her eyes. She knew there was a whole other myriad of worse things he could’ve said but it still hurt that he hadn’t hesitated for even a moment.
“Oh!” The man chirped happily. “In that case,” he started, turning his full attention to Mai. “Would you maybe want to go on a date sometime?”
“Sure,” Mai answered without really even thinking about it.
It was almost an automatic response after having her heart broken. She would normally shoot down anyone who asked her out as the only person she loved was right beside her but if he truly only saw them as friends, what was the harm in going on a date with another man? After a whole year of pining over the same man and flirting with him at every opportunity she got, if he still didn’t feel the same way, the chances that he ever would seemed slim at best. So, although she doubted it, perhaps going on dates with other people would allow her to begin the process of getting over him.
The young man perked up, a stupidly large grin splitting his features that showed off his perfectly white teeth. “Great! I’ll text you the details tomorrow,” he said before practically skipping off to his car.
The two friends sat in an awkward silence for a long time after he had driven away, unsure of what to say to each other. Eventually, the two parted ways, and both left feeling that things were completely unresolved. As Mai walked the short distance to her home alone, she wondered what may have happened between her and Q-Taro if she had instead rejected the young man’s offer.
It was about a week later that the two met up once more, this time at Mai’s bakery. The smell of fresh bread and other sweet treats permeated the air of the quaint shop. It had been a relatively slow day so Mai hadn’t seen the harm in inviting Q-Taro over. They stood side-by-side behind the glass counter filled with numerous different types of cakes, cookies, and pastries. Their conversation flowed smoothly, save for a few brief, uncomfortable silences here and there.
Mai had ended up going on a date with Q-Taro’s teammate a few days ago and as much as she wanted to talk about it, any time she tried to bring up the subject, Q-Taro quickly changed it to something else. It wasn’t that the date was all that special in any way and they even agreed that they were better off as friends but she hoped to have a conversation about it nonetheless. She simply couldn’t understand Q-Taro’s absolute refusal to discuss the subject, instead, it seemed he wanted to pretend that it never happened.
Mai stopped talking for a few moments, simply looking at the man beside her as though she were trying to analyze him.
“What’s up?” Q-Taro asked simply, cocking his head to the side a bit in confusion.
“So about my date with-” Mai started, wanting to gauge Q-Taro’s reaction.
“Hey, do you want to come to my game next weekend? I know how much you enjoy going,” he interrupted in another vain attempt to change the subject.
“Sure, I’d love t-” Mai responded, forgetting for a moment what she was doing. She was always happy when Q-Taro would personally invite her to one of his games because it made her feel as though he wanted her there. Apparently, he had caught onto that and was now using it against her. “Wait, stop doing that!” She exclaimed in exasperation.
“Stop doing what?” Q-Taro asked innocently.
“Changing the subject! You keep doing it!” Mai’s voice rang out loudly. It was rare that she yelled but he was starting to get on her nerves. It wasn’t even about the date anymore. She honestly never cared about it much, to begin with. She just didn’t understand why he kept interrupting her, kept changing the subject, despite her wanting to know the reason.
“Am I?” Q-Taro remained completely unfazed as though she was the only one who noticed.
“Yes! And I just want to know why. Why won’t you let me talk about my date with-”
“Because I don’t want to hear about your date with another man!” Q-Taro shouted before everything went completely silent as though all the air had been sucked out of the room.
They stayed quiet for a long while, processing what he had just admitted. Mai’s heart was pounding rapidly in her chest. She didn’t want to get her hopes up because she had been disappointed many times before. However, that didn’t stop her mind from reeling.
It was Q-Taro who finally broke the silence. “Can… Can we just forget I said that?”
Mai shook her head no. She didn’t want to forget. She doubted she could forget even if she did want to. “Why?” was all she asked, not knowing what to say beyond that.
Q-Taro tipped the brim of the baseball cap he always wore down, unable to look Mai in the eyes. All was silent for a few moments as Q-Taro collected his bearings. She waited patiently. She’d wait forever if that’s what it took to get the answer to her question. Something about this seemed different as though the air between them was statically charged.
Eventually, he said, his voice low and nervous, “Because… I like you, okay?”
“You do?” Mai asked, her voice filled with hope.
“Yeah… no, no need to make a big deal about it or anything. We can just forget I said anything.” Disappointment laced his tone, as though he already expected to be rejected before even hearing Mai’s response.
“No!” she exclaimed, perhaps a bit too quickly. Mai softened her voice, feeling slightly embarrassed. Her cheeks were flushed and a small smile played on her lips. “No, it is a big deal and… I don’t want to forget. I… I like you too.”
Q-Taro shook his head. “No, you don’t. Not in the way I like you.”
“Because I went on a date with someone else?” Mai asked, unsure why he was shutting her down so quickly.
“Yeah, I… If you liked me the same way, I don’t know why you’d do that.”
Mai took a deep breath, hoping Q-Taro would believe her when she explained herself. “I do like you… a lot. These past few months I’d been flirting with you and giving you hint after hint that I like you the way I do but… you never caught on. I thought you didn’t see me that way. I was disappointed but I was fine with it. You can’t control the way you feel. So, when your teammate asked if we were dating and you said no… I felt I had to start to get over you. That’s the only reason I agreed to the date.”
Q-Taro’s eyes met Mai’s for the first time in the past few minutes. His red eyes were brimming with yearning yet, there was a slight trepidation lying just beneath the surface. “That’s it?” He questioned, his voice hesitant.
Mai shook her head gently, her whole being displaying nothing but open honesty. “That’s it.”
Q-Taro’s body visibly relaxed as he let out a soft sigh, a loving smile making its way to his features. His arms, which had been relaxed at his sides until this point, opened to her. She slowly stepped closer to him and when she was within reach, he wrapped his strong arms around her in a firm hug. He buried his face into her hat and whispered a single word that if she hadn’t been listening closely, she wouldn’t have heard. “Good.”
As Mai hugged Q-Taro back, she thought about how lucky she was to have him in her life. No matter how long it may have taken them to get to this point or whatever hardship they were met with along the way, it was all worth it for the future they would share together.