first american title | tenya iida

one

~*~

I moved the tie between my fingers, methodically setting it in place. Another glance in the mirror told me that I set it straight on my neck and smiled at my appearance. Sharp as always. Glancing down at the time on my wrist watch, I realized it was time for me to get going. I picked up my book bag on my way out the door, locked the apartment up tight, and left. 

The sun was shinning outside, which seemed a rare occasion in San Fransisco. It was usually cold here, which I had grown accustomed to over the ten years I had lived here. While the city was gorgeous, I didn't spend a lot of time focusing on that. Work consumed my mind, which didn't wholly bother me. After all, I did move here for work. I never regretted that decision. 

My bus stop was a short walk from my home. On a typical day no one else ever stood there, just me. Sometime a homeless man would take shelter there, and I would never bother to be rude to them. There would be no point in that. Not to mention how inhumane it would be to kick a humble homeless person out when they aren't bothering anyone. 

As I approached the stop though, I saw a young woman sitting down with her knees pulled to her chest. She had earbuds in and she was humming along to a song that I didn't recognize. I ignored her at leaned against the side of the overhead. The woman then suddenly got up and hoisted her bag over her shoulder. She paced around underneath the overhead, looking all around herself. Her arms stretched out and she danced around to her music. Must be a tourist. I thought. Although, she was dressed a little too formally to be a tourist. Her dress was pretty. The garment was a creamsicle orange that fell right above her knees and cut off at her shoulders. At the top, it was trimmed with white and had a thin, sloppy bow tied at the center. She had on a simply silver chain necklace with a pair of small hoop earrings. Her black hair was styled into soft waves, and a silky brown piece of cloth kept a majority of it out of her eyes. She wore nude, chunky heels. She was well put together. 

I soon realized that I was staring for too long but before I could draw my eyes away from her she noticed me. She stopped dancing and pulled a single headphone from her ear. "You need something?" She asked. 

Flustered, I shook my head. "I- um- no, I don't. Sorry, it's just that it's rare to see someone at this bus stop." 

She nodded. "Oh." 

The silence was so painfully awkward. Where's the bus? I wondered. 

"Well I just moved here, so. I'm Lydia. Lydia Merrick. You?" 

I gulped. "Tenya Iida. I go by Iida." 

She nods and offers a big smile. "Well it's nice to meet you Iida." 

"You too."

We sit in silence for a few more minutes before the bus arrives. When it does, I let her board first before sitting in the front. 

I mostly ignore everything around me until I arrive at my work. The bus stops, I get off, and rush inside. 

I send a small wave to the secretary who immediately turns to me. "Ah! Mr. Iida you're here, early as always. I saw that you had an opening at six pm and we had a client who needs an evaluation. Is that okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah that's fine."

I was quick to get to my office and set me bag down. Immediately I got to work checking emails, checking papers, filling out spread sheets of prices and people and anything and everything that needed to be evaluated. I worked as an insurance company financial advisers. People would come to my office, explain their situation and what they needed in order to pay for the kind of plan they needed. It was a high paying job that left little room for anything else.