Love & Chocolate Cake

“So…you’re moving out of your apartment?” Madison said, more as a statement than a question.
“With a stranger,” Cole continued.
“That’s supposedly a famous detective,” Madison, said, finishing the sentence. I hated it when they did that, finishing each other’s thoughts. It was their way of teaming up on me and I didn’t like it.
We were sitting in a small but busy coffee shop. It was one of my favorite places. Instead of chairs, there were recliners and sofas everywhere. It was kept dimly lit and it was a relaxed atmosphere. The combined coffee scents always smelled delicious, no matter which smells were combined. My two friends and I had decided to sit in a tucked away corner, where it was quieter and less people were around.
“I know it sounds crazy-” I started as my friends nodded their heads vigorously.
“Insane!”
“You’ve really lost it!”
“But,” I continued, “You guys know I struggle with my living arrangement, and if he said he’ll give me anything I want or need, I mean, doesn’t that sound like a good deal?”
“Sam, have you ever heard of the term rapist?” Cole said, rolling his eyes. “This guy is a complete bozo! Who else would let a girl he met at the airport move in with him, just because she’s broke? Unless it’s your boyfriend, I don’t want you moving in with the freak. Even if he were your boyfriend, I wouldn’t want you moving in with him.”
“He is my boyfriend.” The words tumbled out of my mouth before I could stop them. He was not! But, then again, how else could I convince them that I wasn’t as loopy as I sounded?
Madison and Cole looked at me.
“Where did this come from?” Maddy asked suspiciously.
“I was trying not to tell you guys, because you freak out whenever I start to date someone.” I said, adding more lies to the one I already started.
“Why would you be moving in with him already, still? If he asked you to move in, you should know he’s just looking to get in your pants!” Cole almost shouted.
“See what I mean?” I said. “Thank you for announcing that to the whole store.”
“Sorry,” he said quietly, looking down.
“We’re just concerned for you,” Maddy said.
I sighed. “I can take care of myself, you guys.”
“That’s what you always seem to think,” she said, getting up. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you around. Stay safe.” Well, that was an abrupt exit.
Cole stood up too. “I guess I should be going too. Bye, Sammy.” He gave me an awkward hug and left, leaving me sitting there all alone, left to my thoughts.
“You have interesting friends.”
I nearly jumped out of my seat. L had appeared, seemingly out of thin air, in front of me. He was in the same clothes that he had been in every other time I saw him. Or maybe they were different, but they looked exactly the same. I would bet he had a whole wardrobe full of the same clothes.
“L-” I started, but he jumped forward, putting his hands over my mouth.
“Don’t call me that in public!” he almost hissed, looking around to see if anyone else had heard me before taking his hands off my mouth. “Just call me Ryuzaki.”
“What are you doing here!” I said, almost angrily. My friends weren’t exactly talking nicely about him, and I was worried that he heard what I had said about him being my boyfriend. “Were you following me?”
“Um, no. I happen to like this coffee shop.”
“I’ve never seen you in here before. I would have, considering I come here almost every day.”
“Well this isn’t usually the time I come…”
“Why did you follow me?” I asked, annoyed now. He shouldn’t be snooping around in my business, detective or not.
L cleared his throat. “I was simply insuring that you were safe.”
“You were spying on me.”
There was an awkward silence. L sat down the strange way he always did in the recliner across from me.
“Well I did learn something interesting today,” he said, looking at me.
I could feel my face turning red and my heart rate picking up. So he had heard what I had said!
“I-I can explain…” I stuttered.
L looked at me curiously. “I learned that you like Pike’s Place Roast coffee, with six packets of sugar and about two teaspoons of sugar.”
I stared at him. It took a minute for what he said to sink in. He was talking about the coffee I had gotten. Not anything about how I had dubbed him my boyfriend.
Since I hadn’t said anything, L continued talking. “I also learned that you continually bob your leg up and down. Usually your left leg, and I would assume that’s because you’re left handed? But you also shake your right, and sometimes even both. And you do it without even noticing.”
I wasn’t sure what to say, so I just said, “Yeah, I’m left handed.”
“Why are you always so anxious?” he asked.
I frowned. “I don’t know, it’s just how I am.”
“Well…” he said eyeing me, “Are we done here?”
“I guess,” I said, getting up and throwing away my empty coffee cup.
“Watari finished unpacking your things.”
“Marvelous.”
After I made my way through the labyrinth to my new home, I went to my oversized room to find Watari really had unpacked everything, and put it all up too. The room was nearly sparkling clean. None of my furniture had been moved with my other things, I had been giving all new furniture. But that was okay, it looked better than mine could ever dream to. The room itself was about the size of a house. I have a pool in here if I wanted. Which reminded me, I wondered if there was a pool here? I doubted it, because I couldn’t see L or Watari swimming. But, still, it couldn’t hurt to ask, right?
I went to the kitchen to find Watari preparing afternoon tea. “Watari?” I said, being careful not to startle him. He turned to me.
“Yes, Ms. Michaelis?”
“You can just call me Samantha. Or even Sam.”
“Alright then, but I’m sure you didn’t just come to tell me that?”
“Oh, no. Um, is there a pool here?”
Watari shook his head. “But I can have one installed, if you wish?”
“No!” I said rather harshly, then lowered my voice. “I was just curious, that’s all.”
He nodded and went back to pouring the boiling water out of the kettle and into two cups.
“So, am I allowed to go anywhere I want in here?”
“Yes, on the first floor. L prefers to keep the second floor to himself. It’s mainly file rooms and such up there, but he likes to keep everything order, it’s nothing personal.”
“Well where do you live, Watari?”
“I have managed to make a comfortable living arrangement in the basement.”
I was shocked. “The basement! Why doesn’t L let you live in a regular room?” This made me upset. This place was huge, and he had his kind elder butler living in the basement.
“You must understand,” Watari said, smiling, “That I wanted to live in the basement. It’s as big as one of the floors, and warmer down there too. Being my age, I prefer to be where it’s warmer, since I am usually cold.”
“Oh,” I said, burning out my anger fuse. “Well, I’m going to go look around.”
“Tea will be ready soon,” Watari said as I walked off.
The first room I happened upon was a dining room. I hadn’t been around long enough to know if we all ate meals together, so I supposed I would find out tonight. I left and found a den, with a huge TV that took up the whole wall. I didn’t even know they made televisions that large. But it looked like it had been collecting dust. I’ll have to keep this in mind when I start cleaning tomorrow. I found the library next, which was enormous. And dusty. I had a sneeze attack when I entered. Definitely had to clean up in here. He had everything in here, it may as well be a real library. I wondered if he had read all these books…no, this was next to impossible. The only other rooms I found were spare bedrooms and the kitchen. There was also a broom closet, about the size that my bedroom in my apartment was. Well, this was boring. There were no deep dark secrets…on the first floor, anyway.
I went back to my room to find the steaming tea on my nightstand. I took a sip. It was delicious! I could get used to this lifestyle.