Close to You || Chifuyu Matsuno

Chapter 3

You leaned your back on the door, after you closed it, and let out a deep sigh.

'Of course, a man like him is only interested in a woman like her...' you thought and sat down on the couch, and threw the screwdriver on the coffee table.

You looked at the two sketchbooks on the table. One of them had a simple black cover, and the other had a white cover and had "Tattoo Designs" written on it.

You picked the white one up, and opened it at your latest sketch. It was a cat with flowers. It was drawn realistic, that was your style. You looked at it and thought back to the memories when you were working in a tattoo shop. You had many customers, almost everybody wanted you to do their tattoos. However your ex, who owned the shop didn't like that. You frowned when you thought back to him, slapped the book shut and turned on the PS4, in hopes that Overwatch would distract you from the memories.

The next day you woke up early to go to work. You were working in a flower shop, owned by a middle aged woman called Elena. She was pretty, and kind, had a husband and two beautiful children. She was always smiling and you envied her for it. You were sure that this kind of life was unreachable for you. It was a small shop, only the two of you were working there, but you worked separately, one day you opened the shop, and the next day it was her turn. You loved this schedule, and you loved your work. It was in big contrast with the tattoo salon, but in both places you created beautiful things, so you were content. And you loved working here, the sight and the smell of the flowers always relaxed you and noticed you had fewer panic attacks since you were working here.

You opened the shop and looked at the notebook on the counter to see if there were any orders for that day. You smiled when you saw there was only one, but they only coming for it at the afternoon. You walked around in the shop, looking at the flowers and threw out the withered ones. When you were done, you sat down behind the counter and pulled out your sketchbooks and wondered if you should design another tattoo or just simply draw something, while you were waiting for the delivery guy to bring fresh flowers.

You smiled when you remembered back to the day Elena saw your drawings. She just walked in the shop one day, because she forgot her phone there, and you thought that she was going to be mad, because you were drawing in your work time, but she said that you can do that when there weren't any customers. She actually complimented you about your skills, and you remembered that you cried yourself to sleep that night because of that.

At the end of your realitonship with your ex, he always critized you, that your drawings and designs were getting weaker and weaker, and he always told you that the customers were very frugal for being satisfied with your tattoos. You frowned and opened your sketchbook with the tattoo desings in them and looked at your latest idea. You decided to add a little more detail to the flowers. You were so focused on your work that you didn't notice that someone walked into the shop.

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Chifuyu woke up in the morning alone, and he felt relieved. He got up and went to do his morning routines. He felt a little a bad for being glad that his girlfriend wasn't in the bed when he woke up. Was he an asshole because of that?

Yeah, he most definitely was. But every relationship has it's ups and downs, aren't they? He liked being with Nina, she was pretty and was good in bed, and he actually felt like a better person for not sleeping with a different woman every week. But that was it. That was the only thing he can come up with when he thought about the good side of their relationship.

And the bad side? She was rude to most of the people, and she had fake friends. She always complimented them when they were face to face, but when they weren't there, she always chided them.

He wondered if she talked about him like that to her 'friends'.

They didn't have normal conversations, she always talked about herself and when she was done and asked Chifuyu about his day, she quickly got bored and kissed him, then they end up having sex.

Not that it was bad in itself, but he wanted more from a relationship. He wanted a relationship like Takemitchi and Hina's. They had their ups and downs too, but the love and affection is radiating from both of them. He doesn't have that with Nina. He actually thought of her more like a fuck buddy than a girlfriend.

Chifuyu snorted when he thought about that, then he dressed up, and left the apartment. When he stepped in the lift he frowned, when it made groaning noises.

'Creepy.' he thought, then he walked out of the building and made his way towards to his car.

Today was Hina's birthday and he asked Amaya, Hina's daughter, if she would accompany him to a flower shop to help him pick flowers for a pretty bouquet. Amaya was more than happy to be his help, so Chifuyu got in his car with a grin and drove to his friend's house to pick her up.

Takemitchi opened the door when he heard knocking and hugged his friend as he stepped in the house.

"Hey man, moved in already?" asked Takemitchi.

"Almost." Chifuyu smiled.

He decided to take a little break from his job. He thought it would be best if he stops for a few months. In the last few years he made enough money to be able to do that.

"Chifuyu!" six year old Amaya shouted as she ran towards Chifuyu.

"Hey, princess!" Chifuyu exclaimed and leaned down to pick her up, and kissed her cheek, while she threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. "Ready to go?" he whispered, not wanting Hina to hear them.

"Ready to go where?" asked Hina as she came down from the stairs and made her way to them.

Chifuyu and Takemitchi looked at each other with big eyes, trying to come up with something to tell her.

"To my place. I can't bring the couch up to the sixth floor after all." Chifuyu answered with a wide grin.

"Oh, haha." Hina replied sarcastically as they kissed each other on the cheek.

"I'm strong, mama." said Amaya as she lifted one of her arms, like she wanted to flex her muscles.

The three adult laughed at that and Chifuyu turned to leave.

"I just take her to the playground, then we go to my place, to watch movies." he said, already walking out.

Amaya waved to her parents as Chifuyu carried her to the car. He drove to the flower shop he saw yesterday not far from his place, and parked in front of it. He helped Amaya out, and walked in the shop, carrying her.

However when he stepped through the door, his eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks. Behind the counter was his pretty neighbor, drawing in a book. Chifuyu grinned when he saw that you haven't noticed them and quietly walked to the counter.

He narrowed his eyes a little to see what you were drawing and his heart actually jumped in his chest when he saw the cat with the flowers. He was actually thinking about getting more tattoos and of course, he wanted to have at least one cat tattoo to remember Peke J, and your drawing was absolutely beautiful. Amaya saw how Chifuyu was staring at the drawing and she decided to say her thoughts on it.

"It's pretty."

The sound of a voice speaking up made you jump in your seat and you looked up, putting one of your hands on your chest. When you saw your new neighbor, you did a double take and cleared your throat.

"Hi." you said, taking a deep breath as you tried to calm down.

But the way Chifuyu smiled at you and the words he spoke didn't help to slow down your rapidly beating heart, that's for sure.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't my favourite little mechanic."