Necklace In The Path

Chapter 4: A Night in Tokyo

Following up with being introduced to Hinata from 3 weeks ago, I now see him every weekend. He usually comes in an hour after opening and talks to Todoroki for about 30 minutes, then later on comes to the dressing room and starts chatting with me. I wasn't really sure what I thought of Hinata, I mean he was very good looking and held his confidence well, but why did he insist on speaking with me every chance he got?

Most of our talks just consisted of him asking questions about me and my backstory, and why I was in Japan. I usually gave him very few worded answers because I wasn't sure what his deal was and why he needed to know so much. He did not seem to notice my awkwardness, or he just didn't care. During one of these encounters, he pointed to my neckline, "I notice you wear that every time I see you. Can I ask the significance of it?". I gently grabbed the necklace that had the ring attached to it. I started to feel my heart pounding.

"If it's too uncomfortable to talk about, you don't have to share." Hinata said this with such a calming and caring tone, that I almost felt guilty for not saying anything.

"I'm sorry... I just haven't spoken about this to anyone while living in Japan." I could feel my mouth drying up.

"Was this from a lover?"

"Umm, yes it was."

"Where are they now?" He had asked this while I looked away, but I could feel his eyes peering into my heart.

"He's gone." I haven't talked about him in so long, that it had almost felt wrong.

I wanted to run away and cry. I did not want to talk about this, but I knew it was something that needed to be said. I felt as though the next words that would come out would lead into me sobbing. However, Hinata cut off my thoughts.

"What are you doing next Thursday?"

"Oh, I'm working."

"What time are you off work? And do you have any plans after work?" What the hell! Is he about to ask me on a date?

"I'm off at 5, and no, I don't have any plans." What are you doing Tabitha!

"Great! Let me take you out then! Can you put your contact info in?" He hands me his phone with such ease. My shaky hands take the phone from him, and slowly, I start to add in my name and phone number.

"Well Tabitha, I'll pick you up on Thursday then around 6:00. I'll call you later this week so I can get your address." There he goes with his cute eye smile again. Fuck, what have I done now?

• • •

Now normally I like the week to go by as quickly as possible, but not for this week. It seemed like Thursday had all of a sudden snuck up on me. As I was on the train heading home, I got a call from Hinata, "Hey Tabitha! Could you let me know your address? I'll still come and pick you up at 6:00."

"Oh, uh, Hi Hinata! Would it be easier for me to just text you the address?"

"No, that's okay. I have a surprisingly good memory." Hinata chuckled on the other end. And so I gave him my address, and parted ways by saying, we'll see each other soon.

After I got off the train, I walked at a very fast pace realizing I had only 30 minutes to get ready. Earlier in the day, I scrolled through Pinterest trying to find some cute outfit ideas, and of course all the outfits they showed me - I knew I had none of that available at home. Okay, calm down Tabitha! Let's fix your hair first and apply some makeup. We'll figure out the outfit afterwards.

10 minutes left and I still don't know what I'm wearing. Okay, breathe! I'll just go for a casual black T-shirt dress with some red flats, and a denim jean jacket. I don't think I should worry about the weather too much, in September it still gets pretty warm in Tokyo.

As I was just finishing up a few things, I heard my phone going off. I hesitantly picked up the phone, "Hello?". Hinata's voice was on the other end, not sure who else I would've been expecting, "Hey! I think I'm at the right place." I told him I would be down in just a minute and quickly hung up. Could I be any more rude?

I swiftly ran out of my apartment so I wouldn't have to keep him waiting any longer. I walked outside and could see a car with its hazard lights on. The vehicle was just as I expected it to be, something you would probably see from a Fast and Furious movie. The windows were so tinted that I wasn't even sure if this was Hinata's car, but there were no other cars around so I had to assume it was his. Suddenly the passenger side window rolled down, and a voice called out, "Tabitha!". Yep, this was Hinata's car.

I opened up the passenger side door and slid myself in. Quickly fastening my seatbelt I then faced towards Hinata.

"I'm glad you were able to find the place okay. Hopefully it wasn't too difficult for you."

"No, not at all. I kind of recognized the area so it wasn't too bad."

I nodded my head stiffly.

"Is there any place you want to go?" Hinata asked me this question as he started to put the car into drive.

"Ummm, I'm okay with whatever you want. I don't really go out that much, so I'm not really sure what's around here." I tried saying this as light-heartedly as I could, but I think the annoyance showed just a little bit.

"I'm sorry Tabitha, I know I'm the one that asked you out on a date, but here I am asking you where you want to go." Hinata quietly laughed at what he had said. Then without missing a beat, Hinata called out, "I have a place!"

So just like that, away we went, driving into the city lights of Tokyo.