Chemistry

Chapter 4

I open the door, and there stands Tadashi. We greet each other, mostly awkwardly.

I grab my purse and we walk down the many flights of stairs and out the door through the lobby.

He hands me the helmet, and I put it on. He tests it, then outs his own on.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"Just around the city," he replies, climbing on.

I sit behind him and wrap my arms around him. He puts his hat in my hand again.

"Ready?"

"Let's go!"

We take off, heading for San Fransokyo Bay.

It sparkles in front of us.

The wind picks up, frigidly blowing in our faces. I am suddenly very glad that I put my hair up, or else it would be tangled.

Tadashi pulls up to the tolls at the bridge.

The tall red bridge stretches off towards the other side.

The bike speeds down the road and the bridge zips by on either side. I almost want to let go, run my hands through the liquid air, but I can't.

We stop on the other side, at the top of a hill.

There's a small dirt path that we follow on the bike until we reach the end.

The view is spectacular.

I just stand there, taking in the views.

There is a circle of benches cut out of raw logs, surrounding a fire pit. On one if the benches, Tadashi is spreading a cloth.

I go to help, but he stops me.

"Just sit down right there." He motions at a part uncovered by the cloth.

I sit down.

He lays out sandwiches and iced tea, then sits across from me.

I can't believe he did this for me!

All I can say is, "Wow. Thank you, Tadashi."

His smile says it is sufficient.

We start to eat.

The sandwiches, ham and cheese, are on homemade San Fransokyo Sour Dough.

"My Aunt Cass has a cafe, and I grabbed a few from there. I'll put some money in the register when I get back." Tadashi explains with a shrug.

I take a sip of the iced tea. It's coconut cherry blossom. "And the tea?" I inquire.

"Also from the cafe."

"It's very good," I comment.

Tadashi rubs the back of his neck, "thank you."

I remember one of the steps from the "How to Have a Good First Date." Keep up a conversation.

So I try.

"Your brother is Hiro?" I ask.

"Yeah. He's kind of what they call a child prodigy. He graduated from highschool last year. He's fourteen now."

"Wow, that is really smart!" It sounds cheesy to me even. Internally, I smack myself. "What does he do now?"

"Mostly, he sits around his room or works with Aunt Cass." Tadashi replies after swallowing a bite of samdwich. "He's hoping to start bot fighting soon. I don't think that he should, but that never stopped him."