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“Hello?”
I say as I open the front door and take off my heels. Whenever I’m late he’s usually in the kitchen warming up dinner, but he’s not there today.
“Babe?”
I set my tote down on the floor next to the stairs and make my way to the second floor.
“Hiromi? Where are you?”
I open the door to our bedroom, but he’s not here either. Shoot, maybe he’s late today?
“I’m in here, honey.”
A low voice calls from the en suite.
“Oh hey! I thought you would be downstairs…”
My thoughts derail as I open the door to the bathroom and see Hiromi in the bathtub, arms and legs spread reaching out, fully clothed.
“What are you doing, love?”
I approach cautiously. This behaviour is odd, to say the least. When I reach the foot of the tub, his hand instinctively wraps around my thigh. He doesn’t open his eyes or turn to face me, but his fingers start to circle the skin underneath my pencil skirt ever so slightly.
“Have you ever taken a bath while in your clothes?”
Hiromi raises his free hand to his hair and brushes his fingers through the disheveled strands. His other hand moves to wrap his forearm around both my legs now, moving me closer to the tub.
“Can’t say that I have.”
I reply with a light chuckle. This is odd, but he’s all there, I think. I reach down to brush my fingers through his hair now. He smiles.
“We used to do it all the time in grade school. It felt amazing because I thought it was something that we were not supposed to do. I needed to feel that today.”
He explains and sighs heavily.
“Tough jury today?”
I ask. Everything making more sense now.
“He got life with no parole. I couldn’t save him. Couldn’t save him from those greedy bastards.”
He finally opens his eyes. He looks at the ceiling first, jaw clenched, almost as if he couldn’t look at me while talking about his client’s demise. Then, finally, he rolls his eyes towards me in that peculiar way only he knows how to.
“I’m really sorry, babe. You dedicated so much time to that case.”
I lean forward and give him a gentle kiss on his forehead. My fingers never stop caressing his hair. The strands are coarse, because he never takes the time to condition his hair. I notice a couple white strands in the midst of the brown. I don’t remember them being there before.
“We’ll appeal. I just need to get my mind off of it so I don’t go insane before we start the process tomorrow morning.”
He smiles and reassures me. His hand now holding my cheek. His eyes scan my face like he’s looking for clues that the world isn’t entirely cruel. I give him a big smile in return.
“If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
He laughs. Actually laughs for the first time ever since he took this case six months ago. His timbre is deep and rumbles through the bathroom. The wrinkles around his tired-tinged eyes deepen, and his hands pull me in ever so slightly.
“You sure about that?”
Hiromi asks, a smile still etched in his face. That’s when I realize his question earlier wasn’t theoretical. The arm around my legs lifts me into the tub. The hand at my cheek slides to cup the back of my neck, steadying me as he moves my body into the tub. I don’t fight. Mostly because I know I won’t win. I don’t want to win. I accept my fate and laugh while he effortlessly brings me into the tub with him. Fully clothed. Water splashes over the rim, protesting my addition.
“HIGURUMA!”
I bark and playfully smack his arm, now wrapped around my waist. His other arm follows suit, and I can feel his head lower to rest on my shoulder. He exhales against my shoulder, like he’s been holding that breath in since the verdict.
“You know you’re gonna clean all this water, right?”
“Yes ma’am.”
He replies. His voice muffled but I can feel every vibration of his timbre moving through my neck and reaching my ear.
“That’s what I thought.”