I Tripped and Fell in Love With You

Chapter 8: Milestone

Click, clack, click, clack..

Emiko's fingers skittered over the keys.

Tab, tab, enter.

The table was a chaotic array of her laptop, the cash box, and a litter of hand written price tags growing in number as she grabbed another, typed the numbers into her spreadsheet, and tossed it aside. The more she worked, the more her hair frizzed.

Clink, clink, clink..

Obito slid the last of the quarters in the dryers filled with their clothes and bedding. He hooked his foot around the leg of a chair behind Emi and brought it closer to her so they could sit together. Fishing his phone out of his pocket, it lit up with a text from Kakashi. Of course his friend was ecstatic at the sight of him and Emi's matching photos on Instagram. Kakashi liked them both and said as much.

Kakashi: congrats on the girlfriend

Kakashi: should i start reserving wedding cake tastings and suit fittings for when you get back?

Kakashi: guy said he'll be the flower girl

Obito: ha-ha

And a few minutes later..

Obito: thanks

The chair creaked as Emi leaned back in it with a huge sigh, rubbing at the corners of her eyes to give herself a moment of relief. Then she returned to her hunched position muttering about a pair of shorts she sold for lower than the listed price and needed to find the receipt on her payment app.

Obito gave her a quick kiss on her cheek, not at all offended when she appeared to ignore it. When she was busy, all her attention honed in on the task; the rest of the world faded.

He tapped his phone to show the time. The picture from yesterday made it to his background. Emi stood in front of him and he had his scarred arm wrapped around her clavicle, his chin resting on her head. Her hands were grasping his arm and her face was turned up in a laugh due to him pulling her into him and rocking her off balance. He just wanted their bodies closer, but seeing her forever paused in a giggle gave him this weightless feeling in his chest, like he had too much air.

In the photo, her rosy round cheeks scrunched her eyes closed and he wore a soft smile. It was something he had to prepare himself for. Hiding the hummingbird flutter of giddiness in his belly at the idea of her wanting to post this for the public to see. People would no longer speculate about their status.

Persuading his gaze from the Emi in the photo to the real one beside him, he took inventory of her brows and mouth drawn in a frown, frantically moving her glare from the screen to her phone. He understood now why his dad stared at his mom over breakfast as she complained about one of her coworkers at the office, nodding along, staying quiet. It was a look of love, of letting her vent, letting her be herself.

Obito's phone vibrated with a text from Kakashi. A simple smile emoji. That meant a lot from him, as he hated using those things. He dismissed the text and opened Instagram to check the notifications that had rolled in since last night.

The usual icons he expected popped up. Mostly younger girls infatuated with Emi's idyllic life. The comments were supportive, if not a bit overly nice. A few even went out of their way to compliment him. Smiling, he backed out of his profile and went to Emi's.

The picture of them had more likes than normal, but the comments were lacking. He tapped on it and skimmed over her caption for the hundredth time since she wrote it. Stuff about this being her last in-person event for the foreseeable future as she transitions to running her business online only. Towards the bottom she put any rumors to rest: "My boyfriend and I will miss Chiyo's lemonade stand! Until next time, Emiko out."