tumble - osasuna/sunaosa

Now

"Here."

"Thanks." The man takes the glass and gulps it all down under 30 seconds.

"By the way, what's your name?" He says as he slams down the glass. The clinking noise it makes is one that I had the pleasure of not having to hear in a few hours, so I flinch slightly and roll my eyes at the action.

"Osamu. And what's yours, Mr. Glass Breaker?"

He smirked at the response. I feel my face heating up, so I quickly take the glass and turn around to the sink to wash it and put it away.

"Rintarou. Call me Rin."

Rin then gets up from the seat and walks around the small room until he stops by a door opposite the entrance of the bar. "What's this?" He points to the accompanying flower shop. The glass door is what separates the bar from the shop that's usually open during the day, and what makes this bar unique. Rintarou drags his index finger along the glass wall, tracing the petals of the blue rose pushed against it.

"Our flower shop."

Rin grins and asks, "Can I go in?"

"I don't work in there. I don't have the key." I could've worked there during the day if I wanted to, but being around the flowers all day just seemed so... stuffy.

Not the flowers themselves (well, partially) but the people. The old man who wanted to buy a bouquet for his wife of 40 years. The 30-something-year-old running in looking for roses before a confession. A 17-year-old with shaky hands looking for the prettiest pink rose to hand to their soon-to-be ex-girlfriend. The five-year-old who broke away from their parents to admire the big sunflower in the window. The soon-to-be bride who's crying fucking tears over how the hydrangeas aren't the right shade of purple.

All this stress over a symbol of love. They fret so much over finding an object to say what won't come out of their mouth. It's embarrassing to watch. It's odious. Yet I wish I was in that position, picking out a bunch of orchids instead of cleaning cups at one in the morning. I can't afford to think of anything else other than just not being kicked out of my apartment, so when the owner offered to have me work in the shop in the morning, I declined.

He walks back to the counter. I look back at the clock, reading the time as 3:30. My body is shot, but I just can't bring myself to kick out Rin. He has this aura that pulled me in and I don't think I want to let go just yet.

"What time do you close?"

"Thirty minutes ago."

"Aww, so I'm special? So sweet of you." He teases. He sits under the warm yellow light of the bar, making his face look angelic.

"Just making sure you don't get attacked by street rats. I don't want to be responsible." I let myself smile for real for the first time in a while. Bantering with Rin was easy, and we let it go on for another few hours. At some point, we switched to speaking in Japanese and I can't pin the moment we stopped bantering and started to just talk.

After some time I look outside and see an unfamiliar blue shining into the windows. The streetlights were still on but the birds were starting to wake up. Rin pulls out his phone and shows the time. 6:08 am.

He looks back at me. "You think those rats are waiting outside the door for me to come out still?"

"Maybe. Are ya willing to risk it?"

"Will you come out with me? You can save me from being pounced..."

He looks at me with a mischievous grin. I rub my face, hoping the blush goes away quickly.

"Aight, give me a minute to clean up and close."

Rin taps the counter twice with his fingers before hopping off the seat and strutting to the door. I take some time to clean off the counter and put away my apron, then I walk over to the door where Rin is waiting. I take one last glance at the clock, reading 6:15.

I'll just survive the day with an extra espresso shot.

As we emerge from the stairs that keep the bar semi-hidden from the street, Rin straightens his back from the uncomfortable arch it was in throughout the night, revealing the fact that he's just slightly taller than me. I look up to the early morning sky and take a long breath in. It was nice to feel the dewy, crisp air on my face after so long. We walk in silence down the sidewalk until we reach the train station.

"You live close?" I ask. He seems as if he lives somewhere else, or if anything, in the Upper East Side. Maybe even Long Island. He looks like the type of person to prefer a big city like New York, though.

"No. My hotel's pretty far. It's near Central Park."

"Central Park? How'd you get all the way to Brooklyn then?"

"I needed to get away from everyone I know for a bit... I just hopped on the train and let it take me wherever."

"That's kinda stupid, Rin, not gonna lie."

"Ah shush!" He giggled. I swooned on the inside. "Then someone recognized me and followed me when I got off the train, which led to me running to your bar."

He pauses for a moment and then he slightly frowns. "Shit, I don't know my way back... "

"Do you know the name of the hotel? I can probably type out directions for you." Really I wanted to take him there myself, but I don't have the money for a train ticket there and back and I didn't want to ask for money.

Rin looks at me with the sun in his eyes and the grin returns to his porcelain face. He hands me his phone and tells me the name of the hotel. I think for a bit about directions before typing it out on the notes app.

I think just a little bit more and decided to add my number at the very end. Fuck it, I'm probably not gonna see him again.

Wait. I'm not going to see him again. Is it even worth it?

My thumbs do a little dance hovering over the screen, contemplating deleting my number just to save myself the worry of being texted back.

"Are you done? Sorry for rushing you, but I have to be back by 9."

I snap out of my thoughts and look straight at the man in front of me. I quickly give the phone back to him and as he's reading the directions, it hits me that I forgot to delete it.

"Okay, well, um... I'm gonna try to get some sleep before my next job, so you're all good?" I quickly say. My heart is beating out of my chest. I don't want to see his reaction to that last line.

"What? Oh, of course! I'm so sorry for keeping you up late. Maybe I'll come by a little bit earlier next time I'm here." He chuckles.

Next time he's here. Those are the words that run through my mind as I give a lazy goodbye and run back to my apartment. I don't bother sleeping because even if I tried, those words would still keep me up. These words run through as I walk to the drug store and the sound of his giggles is on repeat as I scan items for the customer who's getting ready for a long train ride, I assume. I scan the chips, gum, and neck pillow before grabbing the magazine with the cover of a man with stunning limestone eyes and swept brown hair parted in the middle and—

It's Rin.

"Model Rintarou Suna expected at New York Fashion Week"

Rintarou is a fucking model.

The frustrated lady snaps her fingers in my face and I quickly finish the transaction. When the store is empty, I grab another copy of the magazine and look at the cover again. He's wearing a long coat with sunglasses on his head, laughing with another person next to him in a similar outfit.

I spent a night talking to a model.

I put my number in a model's phone.

I am so fucked.