"Where am I?" Ryo asked in confusion.
He had just woken up. "You are at 'Makimura's Books'." I answered.
"Oh yeah, I remember you last night. Akira was it?" "Yeah"
Ryo's face changed to a look of embarrassment. "Shit, I'm sorry about this. I didn't burden you guys too much did I? You know what? I'll make it up to you guys." He said reaching in his pocket. "Of course they stole my wallet." He mumbled to himself. "Well I have money at home-" "No it's okay, we don't need money." I said trying to be polite.
"There has to be something I can't do to make up for this inconvenience." He said persistently. I thought for a moment.
"Well I guess we could use an extra pair of hands around the shop." "Perfect! Then I'll work it off. Again I'm really sorry." He apologized.
———————————-
And that's how Ryo started working for us.
Before it was just Miki and me and occasionally her family. But now Ryo was there. He definitely stood out from the rest of us. He made working at the bookstore more interesting. He was really something else.
"So what's your occupation Ryo?" I asked out of curiosity one day.
"I'm a scientist. I'm also a professor in the states." He said putting new books on a shelf. "That's really amazing. You must be crazy smart." "Yeah it's a big achievement for only being 21." He said smugly. "So why do you go out, and get wasted like that?" I asked.
"Akira, I'm just living my life. Why settle for something all set in stone when you can go off and explore and get many new experiences. I'm just living my life to it's fullest. You can run your little bookstore for the rest of your life and have fun with that. Everyone has their own little idea of how they want to live their lives. And I'll have fun living mine my way." Ryo said finishing up his job.
His words hit hard. I started to question myself. Was this what I really wanted. Since I was able to get everything I wanted immediately, I never really got to explore. I never really took many risks.
My life was domestic, but I liked it that way. I thought I did at least.
Ryo intrigued me. He was living a life so different than mine.
"So you go to parties?" I asked. "Parties is an understatement." He laughed. "I've been to all sorts of places. Done all sorts of things. Taken all sorts of drugs." He smirked. "You sound crazy." I said. He laughed at me before saying "Oh Akira, I'm insane." and walking away.
"How're things going?" Miki said walking over to me. "Good, just getting to know Ryo a little better." "Oh, that's good." She said happily. "Me and Miko are going out soon, so you can close up for the night." She said. "Okay, be safe." I said hugging her and giving her a goodbye kiss.
When she left Ryo spoke up.
"Lucky man. When's the wedding?" "Next fall." I said happily. "Well before then...would you want to go on an adventure?" He suggested. "No way, I don't want to get in trouble." "Come on it's not that bad." Ryo said casually holding up a bag of marijuana. "Ah!? What!? That's illegal!" I ran to the door and locked it and flipped the open sign to closed.
"Dude seriously, you can't just be whipping out a bag of cannabis in the middle of the day." I said anxiously. "Cannabis?" He laughed. "I call it weed. Want some?" "Hell no!" "Come on let me pay you back with a fun little experience." He said shaking the bag in front of my face.
"No." "You know you wanna." He said taking out a bong from his backpack. "You know it's not that dangerous. It's actually really good for you." He said putting some in the bong. "Well I mean unless it's laced with a lil something, but I left that stuff at home." he laughed continuing to get it ready. "You got any ice?" He asked. "Yeah upstairs." I said dumbfounded. "Oh thanks." He said walking upstairs.
"W-wait! No, you can't do it!" I chased him up the stairs.
Who the hell was this guy? He really was crazy.
"Wanna hit?" He said holding it towards me. "You know how to use it? You aren't supposed to blow. Only dumbasses do that. I have to say that because I know a guy who did that." He laughed.
"Here, you know you want it." He said shaking it in my face.
I though for a moment, but then curiosity got the best of me. I felt a foreign rush of excitement.
"Fuck it-" I grabbed it and inhaled hard. Nothing happened. "It's not working-" I inhaled some more.
"Woah slow down noobie, it'll hit soon." Ryo laughed inhaling some for himself.
Then it hit. Waves upon waves of relaxation slammed against me. I fell back on my couch, and Ryo sat next to me. "How you feeling Akira?" He asked.
"..."
"Pretty good."
It was like everything was lagging. He would speak to me, but I wouldn't hear his words until a few seconds later.
"This is really cool!" I said grabbing him by the shoulders. "I know." "I think I do want to go on an adventure. I don't wanna be locked down. I didn't get to live on the edge with Miki. You're pretty cool Ryo." I said happily sitting back down. "Thanks you're cool too Akira." Ryo said.
I slowly tilted my head to look at him. Ryo was a handsome man. If I wasn't with Miki, I'd have kissed him right then.
"I'm not gay." I said thinking out loud. "Cool, I am." He said in response. "You're handsome." I said. "You are too." He responded, taking another hit.
"You should come to my penthouse sometime."
"Okay"
