Ride on Time

Chapter 64

It was a very hot day and Mitsuo decided to cancel his lunch plans. So he ended up wandering around Old Town in the evening instead of the afternoon like he had earlier intended.
And now it was a hot night.
Mitsuo was beginning to regret having Bak Kut Teh for dinner. Then again, this was the best and oldest Bak Kut Teh shop in all of Petaling Jaya.
For some reason, Mitsuo felt greatly honoured to eat there.
But then he started sweating even more because of the hot meal. Mitsuo suddenly craved for a cold drink, though the January weather was still unstable with rain now and then and sun shining above all.
He finished his meal and took his phone out to look for the nearest drink stall and found that there was a place selling bubble tea not far off, within walking distance too. Mitsuo turned on the directions on his phone and started walking.
The GPS soon guided him to a shop called Secret Ingredient, which had a drinks bar that sold bubble tea and Tokyo Cheese Tarts. Mitsuo was excited to see a reference to his homeland.
This was the first time he was going to try Malaysian Bubble Tea!
But the names didn't sound all that Malaysian, except for Kopi Tarik Boba. He knew that kopi meant coffee and he didn't want to end up with insomnia that night.
So he decided to go for a drink called Dewey Blue Boba.
The bubble tea was blue at the top and yellow at the bottom. Mitsuo also decided to get himself a few apple cheese tarts before deciding to go back to the hotel.
Mitsuo poked a thick straw through the cup's seal and started sipping the bluish drink. It tasted really good, like a mixture of berries and tea. He unzipped his crossbody bag and pulled out his phone, checking for nearby Grape drivers that could give him a ride back to Sheralbon.
A cup in one hand and a phone in the other, Mitsuo didn't see where he was going. He just walked, finally booking a car that would take him back to the hotel. 
Mitsuo suddenly felt something clash into his shoulder, making his grip around the cup tighten. A thud was sounded when something fell onto the ground.
"Ah!" Mitsuo uttered in shock.
"Eh, sorry, sorry," Mitsuo heard the stranger mutter.
It was a middle-aged Malay man with greying locks that fell onto his forehead and a moustache above his lips. A pair of glasses was added onto his wrinkled face.
"I'm sorry, it was my fault," Mitsuo bowed. "I didn't see where I was going."
The older man shook his head, waving a hand as if signalling it was fine. He noticed something on the ground and bent down to pick it up.
"Darn, must've fallen out of my bag," Mitsuo groaned, recognising the object to be his book. "Forgot to zip it."
"Mystical Mist..." the Malay man let out a sigh. "Shri..." He looked up at Mitsuo and said something in Malay.
"Sorry, I don't speak Malay..." Mitsuo regretfully stated.
The older man gave him a funny look.
"Sir, I'm not Malaysian..." Mitsuo explained. "Japanese."
The man relaxed and spoke in English instead. "Your book?"
"Yes," Mitsuo nodded and retrieved the book. "You know this book?"
The older man chuckled. "Shri was my friend. Knew him since secondary school, that feller. I still remember how he excitedly told me about a new book he released, even following me to the shop to buy." He nodded towards the book in Mitsuo's hand. "This book also I bought the same day only."
"Shri Mohan was your friend?" Mitsuo asked in surprise. "I heard what happened to him, I'm sorry you lost such a close person."
"Many years already lah," the man sighed. "Never get married also that time."
"You're married now?" Mitsuo asked for some reason.
The older man nodded. "Now, yeah lah. Where you get this book ah? Quite hard to get nowadays."
"Japan," Mitsuo shrugged. "Pre-loved."
The older man slowly nodded. "Pity him... if he know Japanese people also reading his book, right..." he sighed, shaking his head. "Never mind lah. I need to go buy something." With that, he left.
Mitsuo bade farewell to the stranger and walked past a few pawn shops before arriving at a Pizza House outlet. The Grape car was waiting for him right in front of that shop so he got into the car and went straight back to Sheralbon.

Saturday night and Mitsuo decided to sleep earlier than usual since Shree said she would pick him up at six-fifteen. He wasn't even sure if it was a good idea now.
In the end, Mitsuo just set his alarm to wake up at six in the morning and went to bed. That would give him just enough time to shower and get dressed, and maybe squeeze in a few pages of Mystical Mist since he only had twenty pages left to the end and really wanted to finish it.
So he went to bed and woke up right before the alarm rang. Mitsuo smirked to himself and quickly got ready.
By six-ten, Mitsuo was down at the lobby, resuming his book, with a plastic bag of snack and soda which he got from the petrol station. After all, it wouldn't be very nice of him to visit someone's home empty-handed, right? Especially since it was a custom... for both cultures involved.
Page after page passed and Mitsuo was starting to wonder when six-fifteen would come. He placed his bookmark between the pages he was reading and looked at his watch.
It was nearly six-twenty-five.
Mitsuo almost dropped his book when he realised how ten minutes had passed since the appointed time. He quickly got up and made his way to the pickup/drop-off point and tried to search for the red minivan that he saw a few days ago. He saw none so he pulled his phone out and started calling Shree through Instagram.
"Hello?" Shree said as soon as she answered.
"Are you here yet?" Mitsuo asked. "I'm outside and I don't see any sign of you! Where are you?"
"On the way!" Shree quickly said. "Almost there. Almost there..."
Mitsuo heaved a sigh of relief. "For a second, I thought you completely forgot about me."
"What? Nah! I was just... obstacles, you know?" Mitsuo could hear someone coaxing her in a low voice. "Yeah, I'll be there in a jiffy. I'll be there."
Mitsuo sighed and hung up. He stuffed his book into his bag and ended up waiting there, at the pick-up/drop-off point. It was mostly still dark, with faint wisps sunlight adorning the sky.
Another ten minutes passes.
Mitsuo still saw no signs of the red Viva. He was beginning to wonder if she was even going to come for him.
What if they expected him to come by himself?
Then again, he didn't have her address.
What if it was all a SCAM?!
Mitsuo groaned and turned to reenter the lobby, losing all hope that she would pick him up.
But just then, he heard a honk behind him.