Lisa & Rokko - Missed Chances (english version)

Chapter 7

The weeks that followed confirmed Lisa's worst fears. Rokko did indeed show up at Kerima every day, but he avoided her as if she were carrying the plague.
That changed one afternoon when Friedrich was away at an off-site meeting and Max had called in sick. She was in her office, on the phone with a fabric supplier, cross-referencing data on her computer. When a knock came at the door, she called out a distracted "Come in," without looking up, assuming it was just someone with papers to sign. The shock, then, was profound when she finally raised her head and found herself staring directly into Rokko's unreadable face. For a moment, she was completely thrown by the unexpectedness of it all. He had actively avoided her for weeks, and now, here he was.
"I just need the documents for Hugo's concept," he stated coolly, his voice pulling her from her stupor. The long silence on her end prompted the person on the phone to speak up.
"Yes, yes, I'm still here," she assured him, while simultaneously rummaging through the clutter on her desk for Rokko's file. When she found it, she handed it to him without a second glance at its contents.
Rokko took the file and turned to make a quick exit. Just as he reached the door, he opened the folder, presumably to check that everything was there. As he did, something slipped out and fluttered to the floor. He bent to retrieve it, and then paused. The stillness was so absolute that it drew Lisa's full attention. She watched as he stared, transfixed, at the object in his hand. Before she could ask what it was, he crossed the room in three strides and held the card out to her.

"I believe this is yours," he said. "I have no use for it." He was trying for nonchalance, but a bitter undercurrent dragged at the words, betraying him.

In the thousand scenarios she had imagined for their reunion, these were not the first words she had hoped he would say to her. As she reached out to take the card, she was unaware that his eyes had fixed on something else entirely: the simple gold wedding ring on her hand.

"Can... can I call you back?" Lisa scrambled to end the phone call, the full weight of the situation crashing down on her as she recognized what Rokko had handed back. It was the invitation to their wedding. She'd found it a few weeks ago and tucked it away between some papers. It must have gotten mixed into the folder when she'd accidentally swept a stack of documents off her desk and hastily tried to reorder them.
After she hung up, she looked up from the card. "Rokko, I..." But she was speaking to an empty room. Glancing at the door, she saw it swing gently shut, Rokko's shadow retreating down the hall.
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The following days were frantic with work, but in regards to Rokko, they were uneventful. He resumed his strict avoidance of her, just as before.
One evening, deep into another late night, Lisa's office door was flung open with such force it slammed against the wall. Yvonne stood in the doorway, hands on her hips.
"That's it! Quitting time! Let's go!" she declared, snatching the binder Lisa was absorbed in from under her nose and tossing it onto a growing pile of files with a dull thud.
Lisa blinked in surprise. "But..." she started to object.
"No buts!" Yvonne interrupted, grabbing Lisa's arm and pulling her to her feet.
"Yvonne, I still have so much to do..."

"Nonsense!" she countered. "Max is on kid duty tonight. I sentenced him to it since he's been the one pulling all the late nights recently. So he's babysitting, and I desperately need to be around other human beings. So do you. We're going out!"

Before Lisa could protest further, she was on her feet and being energetically towed from the office. A few minutes later, they were seated in the Tiki Bar, the air thick with muted music and the low hum of conversation. Lisa hadn't been here since 2006, but it seemed little had changed. Yvonne chattered away, doing everything in her power to distract Lisa from her frustration and her thoughts about Rokko.

And for a while, it worked. Until Lisa's gaze wandered across the crowded room and snagged on a familiar figure at the bar. It was Rokko. He was leaning against the polished wood, looking infuriatingly relaxed. A blonde woman was perched on the stool beside him, her hand constantly finding his arm, her laughter too loud, too bright.
He leaned in, whispering something that made her laugh again. He wasn't returning the flirtation, not exactly, but he wasn't stopping it either. He wore a smile—an easy, charming smile that felt to Lisa like a physical blow.
She couldn't look away. Part of her wanted to shield her eyes from the scene, but another, stronger part needed to know exactly what was happening, how he would react to the overt flirting. After minutes of staring, her intense gaze seemed to register with him. He slowly turned his head, and as their eyes met, his smile vanished. It didn't just fade; it crumbled, as if she had caught him in an act he hadn't even realized he was committing.

He held her gaze for a few charged seconds before turning back to the blonde. He said something to her, offering his arm. Without hesitation, she looped hers through his, and together they left the bar.
Lisa was left behind, her mind racing with a thousand scenarios of how their night would end, and what this meant for her own plan of reconciliation, which now seemed more distant than ever. She felt her heart hammer against her ribs, while Yvonne, who had noticed the entire exchange, fell silent.

"Well, great," Yvonne finally muttered, looking pitifully at her friend's stricken face. "So much for a distraction."