"Are you sure about this?" I asked Geoff for the fourth time.
He sighed while shaking his head – a bit disappointed with my question.
"How many times do I need to answer this crap? Just do it. It won't take that long!" Geoff started to sound annoyed.
We had been standing near the bus stop for almost 20 minutes. I was looking at this one takeaway lined up among the shops on Bird Avenue. I had never been this nervous. I could feel my sweat running down my spine. To sweat when it was early January would be really weird here in Dublin. I must have had hyperthyroidism or something to be sweating in this extremely windy and wet weather.
"What if I got the wrong person? What would the others in the shop think about me? How should I react if things go wrong?" I could list out all the questions in my mind but I tried to keep myself calm – which is where I failed, obviously.
"You're thinking way too much, mate. For God's sake, you've been looking at the same person every single day except Friday and Monday night. See, even I can remember her working hours now. I've been coming with you every single night to this place and now you're telling me that you're not sure which one the girl is?" Geoff replied with his arms crossed.
My eyes were attached to this one specific takeaway – Yumi. People said that it had been operating for seven years, and was owned by this old Japanese couple. Recently, they hired a Japanese girl who got my attention.
Her name was Mizuki. She had long hair brushed to the left while the right was shaved neatly. Her hair had an intense burgundy color, matching her complexion very well. She was not sophisticated in her style; oversized T-shirts, skinny jeans and a pair of Vans were the only things she needed to impress me – she was just like most hipsters. But this girl was a bit special, she had this aura. Although I hated the food in Yumi, I did not mind spending money just to see her, just to talk to her. I don't know, maybe it was the eyes, the smile, the scent or maybe it was just me. I thought I was in love.
And that was exactly why I was there that night. I was told that it would be her last shift. She would stop working in Yumi and start somewhere else. I thought I needed to ask her out. Or at least get her number. A cup of coffee would be nice. More, even better.
"Alright, I'm not gonna hang about here anymore. I gotta go. You're taking way too long, mate. What's your worry? Just go! See you at home," Geoff took his bike and cycled towards Dundrum.
***
The shop was closing and I could see Mizuki coming out from the entrance. She started walking towards Belfield, exactly in the opposite direction from where I lived. I quickly strode towards Mizuki till I was right beside her, shoulder to shoulder. She gazed at me with her round eyes – perplexed, "Yes?"
My jaw dropped. Suddenly I lost all my vocabulary. My heart was throbbing, my pulse got quicker, my breath got shorter and my sweat gland was triggered all over again.
"Yes?" Mizuki repeated her question.
"Er..hey..err..hm..can I have your number?"
"I don't know. Can you?"
"Er..oh..sorry..may I have your number?"
"Sure."
She took out a pen from her black classic Eastpak and wrote the number on my hand. My hand had never felt that good. I could see the ink smearing a bit on my skin but I did not mind. She left me later with a smile that I would remember the whole night.
***
I took out my phone and started to dial the number left by Mizuki. I had not bathed since I got her number two nights ago. One, the weather was too cold to shower and two, I wanted the ink to be tattooed to my skin.
The other end started to ring.
The call was answered with, "Hello, Yumi Takeaway, may I help you?"
I threw my phone to the floor and then kicked an invisible ball mid-air. WTF!
I quickly ran to Geoff's room. I needed to tell him how stupid and terrible I was when asking for the girl's number. I should have asked specifically instead. The plan did not work!
Without knocking, I barged into his room. Just in time to see Geoff, standing, starting to take off his briefs while Mizuki was already in bed, waiting for him.
