The Swirl

Ep. 19

It had been three weeks since she discovered the pendant and the ring and it had been three weeks since she last talked to Hiroto and left him in Japan. He hadn't called her and she hadn't called him or texted. When she was in the taxi earlier today however, she accidentally sent him a shot of the ring and she had tried to delete the message but he had already seen it. He had not replied.

The day was going by very slowly and Mabea sat at her desk, checking her phone every few seconds. He should have called her by now but nothing. Maybe it was this international call network?

Her phone pinged and she jumped at it, checking the message only to see that it was from her network provider, advertising some mobile insurance. She wanted to scream in frustration. Maybe she should just let it go but she needed to talk to him urgently.

The door opened and she looked up, shocked.

"Okasan!" MK screamed with excitement as he kicked in Hiroto's sister's arms. She was smiling as well.

"Hey girl!" she said as she let MK into Mabea's arms. "When were you gonna tell us the news?"

Mabea let MK snuggle, laying his head in the crook of her neck and his hand playing in her hair. She looked at Hiroto's sister. "What news?"

"About the proposal."

Mabea stared at her. "What proposal?"

"Grandma and grandpa came home fuming and they called a family meeting and I mean the whole family, aunts and uncles included! Then they announced that Hiroto was getting married to a black girl. I figured it was you. I'm so happy but Hiroto just cut all of us out."

Mabea almost dropped MK. What the heck! So when Hiroto  was arguing with his grandparents, he got slapped because he told them that he had proposed to her! That's why they were so shocked! Everything just made sense right now and Mabea grabbed her phone and called Hiroto but he wasn't answering!

"Is he still in Japan?" she asked.

His sister shook her head. "He's actually handling a few things with the consulate for now but he'll be at his house end of business day today."

As soon as work was over, she got a cab and went straight to Hiroto's house. She didn't even knock but opened the door and found him lying on the floor of his lounge.

"Hiroto?!" she yelled, making him jerk into a sitting position, startled. "Who do you think you are?!"

Hiroto brushed his hair back and stood up. "Hello to you too."

"Don't test me!" she hissed venomously.

"What do you want?" he asked with disinterest.

"Why would you lie to your family like that?! I'm not-what did you think you'd gain from that?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Your poor sister is excited and your grandparents...obviously they hate me but what is gonna happen when they find out that you weren't telling the truth?! What is wrong with you?"

Hiroto went to his bedroom and Mabea followed him thinking that he was walking away from him only to stop in his tracks when she saw the pregnancy test in his hand. It was open.

"Do you mind explaining this to me?" he said quietly. "I found it in your bag when we were taking the bag to the hotel in Ashiya?"

"Why were you going through my things?" she squeaked.

Hiroto stared at her. "Are you gonna tell me what's going on?"

"Nothing!" she said defensively.

"It's positive, Mabea! Last time I checked we were using protection so I'm gonna ask you this once and once only. Did you cheat on me?"

Mabea's jaw dropped, disbelief on her face.  She didn't know what to say so she turned to walk out but he quickly blocked her way.