Ambiguous

Chapter 3: Part 1

After washing up, Seiko was going to relax on the sofa for a bit when she saw the growing heap next to the kitchen door.

If it wasnt for me or Mikayla I'm pretty sure this house would be infested with rodents.

She picks up the black bag of rubbish, and the clear bag of bottles and paper and heads out.

The communal bin isn't far from the house. She jogs down the steps and onto the stone path.

She sees the dry, autumn leaves litter the ground and cover the grass. The entrance needs a little cleaning too. She'll deal with it in the afternoon.

As she's walking on the pavement, she feels the biting wind knaw at her legs. Even though she has on a jacket, scarf and gloves; the wind ruthlessly attacks her legs scarcely wrapped in thin leggings.

I should hurry and get out of this cold.
It's not a surprise that the weather is like this given their location, but it's the kind of cold you never get used to.

I guess it's time to take out all the blankets and winter clothes in the basement. When can all of us get time to do this?

Consumed in thought as she throws the last bag of rubbish, she doesn't notice the tall man directly behind her.

"OH SHI-" Seiko jumps.

The man let's out the biggest laugh, flashing his bright pearl teeth.

"Damien you need to stop that one day I will accidently hurt you" She says, as she regains her composure.

"I'm still waiting for the day" He teases. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

Seiko looks at the big rubbish carriers in front of her and looks back at Damien. "Growing potatoes."

He laughs again. "Okay, but I haven't seen you in a while so it's just a bit of a surprise to see you anywhere really"

Seiko knows what he means. She's been locked up in the house for months, only leaving to go classes and then coming straight home.

"Yeah...I've been a bit busy lately...But now I'm done"

"That's good" Damien lights up. "Wanna grab some coffee?"

"I didn't bring my wallet" Seiko replies. She was just planning to drop rubbish off and go home and relax.

"It's on me don't worry" He grins. Seiko hasn't seen his face in a while. It'll be nice to catch up on what she's missed while away.

"Finee~ let's go" she says in which Damien wraps a meaty arm around her shoulder as they walk down the quiet, dark pavement.

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"You broke up with your girlfriend?" Shock is plastered on Seiko's face.

"Yeahhhhhhh....It wasn't really working out, she was too demanding and controlling. Always her opinion goes and it's final. My way or the highway" he says looking out the coffee shop window.

"I'm working and trying to get bills paid and she pressured me to get a car, to buy her more clothes, to pay her bills because she saw other guys do it for their girlfriends....I was practically a walking ATM"

"We were on two different paths in life." He finishes taking a sip of his latte for the first time since we sat down.

As Seiko stirs her hot chocolate, she processes the information.

"At the end of the day, I'm proud of you. The relationship was toxic anyway. The effort ratio was off and you seemed exhausted." and he did.

They dated for a short time, but whenever Seiko saw Damien in the car with that girl it was always the same picture.

Her, facing him, manicured claws in his face screaming. Him, slumped in a chair, silent looking at his feet.

It was a picture no one wanted to see.

"Looking at you now, is the best I've seen you in a while" He had a shaved face, he was back to his toned physique and his infamous white smile was back.

He was almost shy looking away from her.

"Anyway, it's been a long time with you, what's been going?" Damien asked.

"Nothing much, same old. Same old."
She replied.

"I've just been doing mini-pupillages here and there...to gain a bit of experience."

"Thats good. I wish I had more direction in where I'm going".

Even though Damien's got the visuals to be in front of the camera, his passion and drive stems from behind it.

"You do, I saw your photos from the studio. You have real skill and I'm not just saying that because your my friend" Seiko looks at Damien with sincerity.

"You mean it?" Damien says, brushing the back of his head shyly.

"I mean it" Seiko smiles.

Damien smiles, genuinely, and drinks from his cup and so does Seiko. Brief comfortable silence passes over the two before Seiko breaks it.

"Oh, I heard from Ace that you and Marcel had a hard time at the restaurant yesterday"

"It wasn't that bad, we had plenty of customers to feed. I like a challenge" Damien said.

"That wasn't what Ace said, he said you were stressed and bothered, panicking with the lack of food there was" Seiko said with amusement.

"Ace needs to learn to shut the fuck up...as if he knows anything" Damien mumbles.

This makes Seiko laugh loudly. Seeing that puts a smile on Damien's face and he chuckles.