Making Amends (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter 11

Mai's POV:

I jumped out of the van and ran up the steps to my apartment. I unlocked the door and stepped inside. I closed the door soundly behind me remembering to lock the door.

I remembered about a week after Naru left Monk and Ayako had come over to check up on me and they found out that I never actually locked my door and I ended up being reprimanded heavily for it. Now I always lock the door no matter what.

I put the kettle on the stove to heat up as I walked over to the couch and began to fold the two blankets that Naru and Gene had used last night. A knock at my door pulled me out of my thoughts. My land lady was standing there with a sad smile on her face I looked at her confused but gestured for her to come in. I fixed the tea and we both sat at the dining room table sipping our tea.

It was minutes before Sato-san spoke, "Mai I have some bad news. I'm going to be retiring from my job and I have always made sure your rent is well within your ability to pay but I'm worried about the new owner. I don't want you to be shocked if your rent goes up. I believe it might be a good idea to look for somewhere else just in case. I wouldn't want you to over work yourself just for rent. I'll try my hardest to make sure your rent stays the same."
I nodded and sipped my tea already calculating my options. "Thank you Sato-san for telling me. I'll look into some other options as well; how will I know if my rent will go up?"

"We finished the deal today and the new owner has promised to give me a new lease for everyone in the building in about a week. If you decide to move after that then you have about 2 and half months to move out." I smiled and thanked the older woman. I knew she meant no harm in her decision and I refused to be mad at her. Sato-san excused herself to go speak with the rest of the tenants. She had taken it upon herself to personally inform every one of these changes.

I closed the door and leaned against it heavily. I pushed my bangs behind my ear and pushed off the door. I grabbed the blankets and put them in the hall closet where they were previously kept. I continued walking into my room and pulled my suitcase from the closet. I also picked out a week's worth of shirts and skirts. I also pulled out a few pairs of pants and set them in my suitcase just in case it got cold. Lin never said how long they would be gone but I assumed it was going to be a few days. A week's worth of clothes should be enough. I grabbed my under clothes and several pairs of pajamas and tossed them in my bag. I finished packing everything and zipped up the suitcase then took into the living room and set it beside the shoe rack that was kept my front door. I glanced at the clock it was only 3 in the afternoon. I sighed and sat down on the couch.

I let my mind wander to the conversation with Sato-san from earlier. Even with how well Naru pays me I wonder if it'll be enough to cover all my expenses. I usually only have a bit left over so if my rent goes up to high I won't be able to afford to live here anymore. I pushed those thoughts from my mind and tried to focus on something else. I didn't need to worry myself just yet. I was only 3:30 in the afternoon so I slipped my shoes on and grabbed my keys and phone.

Today was a perfect day for a walk and there was a park close by my apartment that housed several different kinds of flowers and trees. The park was full of life, the small stream that ran threw was rushing at a lagging pace uninterested in going anywhere quickly as the flowers and trees danced lazily in the wind. Children ran around tugging their parents to different flowers and trees animated making comments about the beauty of everything. I smile and walked deeper into the park heading toward the gazebo that sat on the edge of a small lake. Many couples milled around the gazebo lovingly speaking with each other and enjoying each other's company. I turned away from the scene; I was always happy to see others happy but my heart was clenching painfully because I knew I could never experience that with the current holder of my heart.