Wasted Nights

“I think we should break up.”

Those words hung in the air of the busy coffee house amidst the overlapping conversations, the sound of whirring machinery, and low contemporary pop music playing from the speaker system. The café was filled with people meeting with friends or study groups or working people grabbing a much-needed cup of coffee to jump start their day. While the café seemed to buzz with excitement, there was a singular table in the far-right corner of the café near the large window overlooking the equally busy streets of Los Angeles where a couple sat, both motionless and silent. This couple stood out among the friendly chatter and busy movement within the rest of the cafe because they were the only two people that were completely still, as if suspended in time.

If someone were to ask her how her day was going to be, Remi Massey wouldn’t have predicted this particular moment at all in the description of her Friday.

Today was the day that she had travelled in from San Diego to visit her boyfriend for the weekend, knowing that he was meant to take her to a concert that night before they would settle into their routine of spending what little time they could together. Since she lived in San Diego and he lived in Los Angeles, the couple usually spent their time together on the weekends, one travelling to the other’s city so they had the chance to be a regular couple. For the last year, this was their routine and they seemed content with the precious time they spent together. This is the reason why she was stunned when her boyfriend, Marcus Allen, suggested that they should end their relationship. That one singular statement was a sucker punch to her that ripped the breath from her lungs and caused her heart to sink into her stomach.

Marcus had turned his attention away from his girlfriend after his confession, his green eyes transfixed outside the coffee shop window at the hustle and bustle of the city. He hadn’t even been able to meet her gaze when he admitted that they should end their relationship, knowing she’ll want some kind of explanation as to why things were ending. Sighing deeply at the thought of explaining himself, he ran a hand through his scruffy blonde hair, trying to piece together the words needed for the next part of their conversation. When the words wouldn’t come to him, his gaze fell to the cup of black coffee on the table in front of him as he took a sip to compose himself as best as he could.

Since the utterance of his words, Remi remained slouched slightly in the chair across from him, her eyes unable to look away from the person she had committed to for the last year. She noted the expression of indifference on his boyishly handsome face as the time seemed to slow between them. His eyes shifting focus to anywhere else but her so she was not able to silently demand an explanation she so desperately craved. She was not prepared for the end of their relationship. He had blindsided her with his admission of putting an end to things so abruptly so she was trying to hold herself together as to not create a public scene. She was not a fan of making a public spectacle of herself, which is probably why he chose to end things in such a crowded place.

“You,” Remi started to say, finally pulling Marcus’s attention back to her as she spoke. She paused for a moment, unsure of what she was trying to say, especially once he shifted his focus back to her with those beautiful green eyes of his. She could feel her face scrunching in confusion as she tried to figure out the right words to say, pulling her gaze away from him and looking to the iced coffee in front of her. She would start and stop her words a bit, merely making noises with her mouth before she was able to finally find her voice, “you want to break up.”

Merely repeating the prior statement seemed like the safest course of action for Remi as she had too many thoughts clouding her mind at that particular moment. She was doing her best to keep the overwhelming emotions at bay but found that as this conversation was to continue, it would become even more difficult. She was not prepared to deal with the sudden change of her relationship. She was angry because she thought they were ok. She thought they were happy together, even though at times things between them were difficult. Remi didn’t realize that she had been so incredibly wrong about that.

Rather than elaborate on her repetition of what he had told her, Marcus merely nodded in affirmation, forcing his gaze elsewhere yet again. Remi chewed on her bottom lip tensely, realizing the severity of that subtle gesture as reality began to finally sink in. Their relationship was over, regardless of what more there was to be said. Even though she had so many things to say to him, including how much she wanted to plead with him to stay with her or how much she loved him, the logical side of her knew how feudal it was now that his wish to end things had been put out into the ether. Once Remi was made aware that things were not what she thought them to be, it would be difficult to move past that and repair them.

“What happened?” she asked, her voice wavering with emotion as she focused her attention on the white drink order label on her coffee cup. “I thought we were happy together.”

Sighing heavily once again, Marcus found himself looking to his former girlfriend with a pained expression, knowing there was nothing more to prolong the inevitable explanation he owed her, “We were happy but honestly Rem, it’s been hard trying to maintain this relationship only on the weekends.”

Looking up at that last statement, Remi felt her eyebrows furrowing in scrutiny, “I know it’s been hard but we had talked about moving in together only three months ago. We were making plans for that. When I told you my job transfer was postponed, you said that we would do the best we could until we could finally move in together. Did you mean any of it?”

“Of course, I meant it!’ Marcus replied, his tone offended at her accusation. Taking a moment, Marcus let out another in a series of deep sighs he’s had throughout this conversation before continuing, “I thought it would be enough to just continue as we had before. I didn’t think it would be as difficult as it was to only be with you on the weekends. I thought the weekends would be enough but it was hard, especially with the way things have been at work.”

“If it was so difficult, you could have called me!” she told him. “You know I would always make time to talk to you if you were having a hard time.”

“It’s just not enough to talk to you on the phone!” Marcus replied with frustration. “Sometimes I just want to be able to see you but since our schedules are so radically different, it’s hard to find the time where I knew you would be free.”

Signing deeply, Remi ran a hand through her messy waves, shaking her head at his explanation, “So you’re just done with dealing with the distance? All of a sudden?”

“It wasn’t all of a sudden Rem,” he insisted. “After your transfer was postponed, things seemed to drift apart a bit. I started to think about what would happen if you were finally able to move out here with me and I realized that neither one of us was making much of an effort to keep things together.”

“I guess I just didn’t realize that you were this unhappy about us,” Remi admitted quietly, keeping her eyes cast down to the table in front of her.

“It’s not us that I was unhappy about. I love you Remi. I need you to know that,” Marcus said.

“Just not enough to stay with me,” Remi said with a slightly bitter laugh, shaking her head. “Got it.”

“I wish my loving you was enough but it just isn’t,” he admitted truthfully.

“This was something you could have told me over the phone. Why did you wait until today to do this?”

“It’s not like I planned to do this today specifically,” Marcus replied defensively. “I thought you deserved to hear this in person rather than over the phone. I didn’t want to be that asshole that breaks up with his girlfriend over the phone.”

“Well congratulations, at least you’re not that guy,” Remi replied sarcastically.

“I’m trying to keep this civil Remi,” Marcus sighed deeply, his eyes fluttering shut in frustration.

“Oh, I’m sorry I’m making this difficult for you. I’m having a little trouble trying to wrap my head around the fact that the man I love has decided that love isn’t enough of a reason to try and work things out,” Remi snapped, feeling her anger getting the best of her. “I came all the way out here to spend the weekend with you and and now, I need to rethink my weekend plans since I no longer have a place to stay.”

“I know the timing sucks but I couldn’t help it. This is hard for me too you know. I still care about you but I just can’t keep doing this anymore. It’s too lonely.”

Remi looked away from the one that was causing her all this pain to begin with. She knew that she was making a fool of herself by letting her emotions spill out of her but she couldn’t help it. The longer the pair sat there rehashing why they didn’t seem to work as a couple anymore, the more Remi started to feel betrayed by Marcus. If Marcus had been feeling this way for the past few months, why did he wait so long to say anything about it? She didn’t understand why he decided to throw in the towel all of a sudden unless there was some other motivation behind ending things with her.

Remi sucked in a harsh breath, momentarily shutting her eyes as she spoke, “This is going to be the most cliché thing I could ask at this point but is there someone else?”

Marcus’s silent aversion of her scrutinizing gaze was enough of an answer for Remi.

“There is someone else,” Remi stated quietly, her voice devoid of emotion.

“It’s not like I went out looking for this intentionally,” Marcus said lamely.

“So, who is she?” Remi asked, chewing on her lower lip to distract herself from allowing the hurt to swell in her chest.

Marcus let out a breath, looking at the woman he was currently causing pain to before answering, “Her name is Chloe. She’s new to my office. I swear Remi, nothing’s happened with her yet. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“So, you’re breaking up with me because you’re interested in trying something new with her?” Remi asked in confusion. “You love me but not enough to continue being with me? You met a new girl and now you’re interested in trying your hand at a relationship with someone you just met even though you already have someone you supposedly care about. I’m sorry Marcus but it’s a little difficult to follow your logic here.”

“I’m interested in her as more than a friend, yes, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t mean what I said earlier. I do love you Remi. That hasn’t changed. It just feels like we’re too comfortable in maintaining our separate lives to actually be a couple. I need someone that I can see everyday, even if we don’t say anything to one another. There’s too much distance between you and I. With Chloe, it feels like there’s potential for what I really want for a relationship.”

“Are you taking her to the show tonight?” Remi asked quietly, trying her best to keep her anger from bubbling over at his lame explanation for why this Chloe would be better suited as his girlfriend. “I’m assuming that since you’re doing this to me now, I’m supposed to figure out my next move since I’m probably not going to the concert with you anymore.”

“I’m sorry Remi,” Marcus said.

Remi was upset at the fact that Marcus seemed to move on from her rather quickly, even going as far as to bring her replacement to the concert they were supposed to go to together. Though Remi wasn’t as big of a fan of the band as Marcus, she was still looking forward to listening to some good music and allowing herself to get lost in the crowd. She always enjoyed going to listen to live music. She had been looking forward to going to this concert for weeks now, especially with her insane work schedule sucking up most of her time and leaving her drained. She wanted that release of being immersed into a sea of people united by their love of music. Now, rather than going to see the concert tonight, she had to make her plans to travel back home with a broken heart since there was no longer a reason to stay in Los Angeles.

“Look, I’ve got to get back to work,” Marcus said, collecting his things and pushing himself up from the table. “I’m sorry Remi. I hope you’re able to move past this quickly.”

“Yeah, me too,” she scoffed bitterly, refusing to meet his gaze.

“I know you probably want nothing more to do with me now but can you at least text me later so I know you got home safely?” he asked.

“Yeah, sure,” she said, her voice completely hollow. “Whatever.”

With another deep sigh, Marcus grabbed his coffee cup and walked out of the shop, leaving Remi at their table by herself. Once he was out of the coffee shop, Remi allowed herself to lean forward so her arms were resting against the top of the table, her hands pressed against her forehead as she let out a shaky breath. Remi was trying her best not to lose it in the middle of the busy cafe, taking deep breaths to push through the overwhelming sadness and anger that was spreading throughout her body. The last thing she wanted was to make a spectacle of herself in front of a bunch of strangers who were far more positive and vibrant than she was at this moment.

Her relationship with Marcus Allen was over.

She had invested a year of her life into being with this guy only for it to start to fall apart when they decide to take the next step forward towards a real commitment. She knew that things were a little strained because her job transfer being postponed put a wrinkle in their plans but now that she was thinking about it, Marcus had always been slightly apprehensive about the thought of a serious commitment. She had been the one that suggested moving in together in the first place and he only agreed if she was willing to move to Los Angeles. He never mentioned that he was unhappy with how they seemed to be progressing or in this case, regressing so she could only think that his excuses were little more than empty words to disguise the fact that what he really wanted was the ability to date someone else entirely.

Remi suddenly found herself questioning everything about their relationship together, feeling as if she should have seen the red flags from the being to avoid her current heartache.

Gathering her things together, Remi knew that she could no longer stand to be in the place where her relationship had ended. She stood from the table, taking another deep breath, and started towards the exit so she could make her way back to the train station. Rather than going to the concert she had been looking forward to for the last few months, she was heading back to San Diego with her broken heart. Remi was doing her best to keep her emotions at bay but what she needed was to put distance between herself and the place where things ended with Marcus. She didn’t want to be reminded of what she lost only fifteen minutes ago.

Walking out of the coffee shop, Remi took a moment to breath in the much-needed city air. It wasn’t exactly a refreshing breath of air as Los Angeles was filled with smog, the stench of stale urine, and the mixture of different cultural cuisines from the restaurants on the block but it was clarifying to her senses nonetheless. Remi took a moment to collect her thoughts before deciding it was time to head back towards the Amtrak station so she could change her ticket to one that would take her back that same day. Turning to her left, she made the first step towards her destination, slowly bringing the cup of diluted coffee to her lips with little awareness of her surroundings.

Without any warning, a body had collided into her immediately upon her pivot, causing the contents of her coffee cup to erupt out of the cup like a gyster and spill between both parties at impact. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion for Remi as she was thrown off balance by the sudden force knocking into her. She would have started falling backwards if it wasn’t for a pair of hands on her upper arms, steadying her so she wouldn’t fall as the diluted coffee splashed all over their bodies. She was stunned at first, momentarily unaware of what had just occurred until she felt the cold liquid dripping down her shirt against her torso, making her aware of the coffee she was currently wearing. She looked ahead of her to see who she had run into only to be slightly shocked that the man standing before her was also drenched in what had been left of her coffee upon leaving the coffee shop.

The Asian man who had collided with her was currently examining the damage to his white t-shirt from the coffee that had spilled on them both. Remi was surprised that he was the one that had nearly knocked her over since this man was only a few inches taller than she was and quite slender. She thought if anyone between them was going to fall over from their collision, it would’ve been him due to his svelte stature. His intense brown eyes met her surprised ones, making her aware of the fact that she had just spilled coffee on the both of them because she wasn’t paying close enough attention to where she was going. She could immediately feel the heat rising into her cheeks, knowing she was probably starting to blush from the embarrassment of causing the collision in the first place.

“I’m so sorry!” Remi began to apologize profusely, quickly distancing herself from the stranger.

Remi noticed the large stain on his t-shirt, making her look down at her own clothing to see the damage done from her spill. Her dark gray camisole was completely soaked and the open black, red, and gray plaid button up shirt over the top of her tank top was also wet, dripping the excess liquid that wouldn’t soak up into the fabric down onto her red combat boots. She could also feel that the ends of her long purple streaked brown hair had soaked up some of the coffee, sticking to the skin of her neck and chest. Remi could feel eyes on her the whole time, forcing her gaze back to the stranger she had collided into. The man’s expression seemed to soften a bit once he realized that Remi was in a state of disarray. He didn’t seem as annoyed as he had been previously, offering her a small smile of reassurance.

“No, I’m sorry,” the man replied kindly, his voice tinged in the slightest accent that indicated to Remi that Enlgish wasn’t his first language. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“I should have been paying better attention,” Remi said quietly, feeling her emotions starting to bubble up to the surface, trying to choke down the tears that threatened to escape. “God, how stupid of me,” she said, chastising herself for not only drenching herself in coffee but ruining a stranger’s outfit.

“It’s ok, really,” he insisted, noticing the sudden negative shift in her reaction to what had just happened.

“It’s not ok! Nothing about this is ok!” she snapped loudly at the man, causing his eyes to widen in surprise from her sudden outburst. Remi could feel her bottom lip trembling as she was trying to keep herself together and failing miserably. Her emotions were all over the place now, making her feel lower than ever. She slunk down to the sidewalk, crouching down so that she was hovering over the sidewalk, hugging her knees to her chest. She felt a tear slip from her left eye that she quickly tried to discard with the back of her hand. “I’m sorry. I’m overreacting right now. I just-I-I don’t-,” her voice was laden with all the sadness she had been trying to choke down as she started sputtering the starts of words that she couldn’t seem to properly form in the moment.

The stranger seemed to walk around her and into the coffee shop without a word, leaving Remi feeling even more embarrassed by the fact that she had slowly started falling apart in front of a stranger. Now that Remi was left alone and soaking wet from the sticky drink, she felt the dam breaking as her tears feel freely from her eyes, unable to stop the waves of sadness and anger she felt from washing over her. She rested her forehead against her forearms, hugging her knees closer to her body as the tears just poured out of her. She knew that she was humiliating herself by crying openly on the street, which just made her feel even worse about her situation. The last thing she wanted was more attention on her when she was feeling so horrible. This day was just progressively getting worse as it wore on and all Remi wanted to do was be alone in her sadness over her failed relationship.

The feeling of a hand lightly grazing her upper arm caused Remi’s head to jerk up in surprise, momentarily pausing her sobbing as she realized the man she had crashed into before was crouching down right in front of her. Remi took a moment to analyze his face, noticing that he was quite handsome with distinctive mouth and beautiful brown eyes that were solely focused on her at the moment. His hair was dyed honey blonde with quite a bit of his natural dark brown growing out underneath and pushed back from his face by sunglasses that were sitting on top of his head. She knew that she looked like a snotty mess since she had just been bawling her eyes out but Remi found herself calming down a bit the more she held his gaze.

Wordlessly, the man held out some napkins with his free hand, offering them to her. Remi accepted his offering, taking a moment to wipe the streaks of tears and running mascara from her face caused by the fallen tears. The man let his hand on her arm drop as he mirrored her stance, wrapping his tattooed arms around his knees, never breaking concentration on her even as she turned away slightly to blow her nose. Remi felt a little intimidated by his consuming gaze, especially since he was already observing her at her most vulnerable. The man was seeing her at her absolute worst and he wasn’t turning away from her. Rather, it felt as if they were the only two people on the otherwise busy Los Angeles street.

“Thank you,” she managed to squeak out, her voice breaking slightly from the overwhelming emotions stirring inside her.

Merely nodding at her, the man just asked, “are you alright?”

Remi let out a slight laugh at the question without meaning to, her eyes cast down to the pavement, “Not really but I doubt it can really get worse than this now. I’ve already made a fool of myself in front of my ex-boyfriend and complete strangers and ruined your shirt in the process. I seriously doubt there was any way to salvage this day when it’s been so shitty to begin with.”

“Well, I have other shirts so I’m not worried,” he replied with a slight smile, “and you haven’t made a fool of yourself, at least not to me.”

“I think having an emotional breakdown in front of a total stranger counts as foolish,” Remi replied with a sigh, feeling awkward that this man was being so nice to her after she caused such a commotion.

The man held out his hand to her, causing Remi to look at it suspiciously, “Well, so we’re not strangers anymore, my name is Taka.”

“I’m Remi,” she replied after a brief moment, taking his hand and gingerly shaking it.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, allowing his hand to drop back to his knees.

“Yeah, it’s nice to meet you too,” she smiled half-heartedly, still feeling embarrassed about her situation. “I don’t want to keep you anymore since I’m sure you were on your way somewhere before I ran into you.”

“I was going to get some coffee but I think bathing in it will have to be enough today,” Taka joked lightly, still wearing the infectious smile on his face to show that there was no malice for what had happened. “We should probably clean ourselves up though. It might be better than wandering around in wet, sticky clothes.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” Remi replied, pushing herself back to a standing position. Taka mirrored her actions, standing in front of her with his hands shoved into his front pockets. “I just don’t think I can go back into that coffee shop to clean up though,” Remi said as she looked through the large window where she and Marcus had been sitting previously.

“You can come with me if you want,” Taka offered, forcing Remi’s eyes back to him with even more suspicion at the suggestion of following him. “I even have a shirt for you to change into so you don’t have to walk around smelling like coffee.”

“I don’t know how comfortable I feel with following a stranger back to their place,” Remi said skeptically, unsure of his motives.

“We wouldn’t be going back to my place though,” Taka smiled gently, not taking offense to her cautious tone. “My band is playing a show tonight at the Hollywood Palladium. I could take you to the venue to get you cleaned up.”

“I was supposed to go to a show tonight at the Hollywood Palladium,” Remi said quietly with a perplexed expression on her face as she mentally started making connections with the information the man had just relayed to her. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock as she brought her hands up to her mouth which let out an audible gasp of surprise, “Oh my God, please tell me I didn’t just spill my drink all over someone in One OK Rock! The last thing I need today is to find out I just ruined a rock star’s shirt.”

Taka laughed at her reaction, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck, “I’m surprised you didn’t make the connection to my band when I told you my name.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Remi said, feeling the flush of her embarrassment burning her skin as it slowly spread through her body. “I listen to your music a lot but I don’t really follow you guys the same way my boyfr-,”she paused for a moment, catching herself before the word completely left her mouth. Pausing for a moment, she took a deep breath before continuing with the rest of her explanation, “I mean, ex-boyfriend did. Tonight was supposed to be my first time seeing you guys.”

“Supposed to be?” he questioned, his face suddenly scrunched in confusion.

Remi let out a heavy sigh and nodded, “My boyfriend and I just broke up about twenty minutes ago in this coffee shop here. I came in from San Diego for the weekend because we were supposed to go to the concert together. We had this planned for weeks so I was really looking forward to it but since we just ended things, I was planning to go back to the Amtrak station to take the train back home. He has the tickets for tonight’s show and since he just broke up with me, I’m guessing my ticket is going to someone else now.”

Taka frowned at this new information, his eyebrows knit together in what Remi seemed to think was irritation, “I’m sorry about your boyfriend. It really sucks when relationships end out of the blue.” Remi thought she saw a tinge of sadness in his eyes at the mention of failed relationships but he quickly recovered and offered her a friendly smile, “Since you no longer have a ticket to the show tonight and since it’s sold out, I’m putting you on the list so you can go, if you want.”

“I can’t accept that,” Remi said, vigorously shaking her head at the generous offer.

“Of course you can!” Taka laughed. “Besides, I need to make it up to you since I’m partly responsible for running into you and spilling coffee all over you. At least come back to the venue with me so you can clean yourself up,” he offered. “You can decide from there whether you want to stay for the show or leave.”

Remi took a moment to consider Taka’s offer, nervously chewing on her lower lip. Despite the overwhelming embarrassment she felt about the last thirty minutes of her day thus far, Remi couldn’t help but feel intrigued. Despite making a complete fool of herself from the clumsiness to her emotional breakdown, Remi was desperately in need of something to go well for her today. She had not only lost out on the opportunity to go to the show tonight but she had also lost out on her relationship. Remi was in need of the kind of distraction that would sweep away all the horribleness of her day and allow her to escape. She remained unsure about Taka’s offer though, feeling as if she was somehow imposing on the musician who just happened to be the one cursed with dealing with her due to the circumstances of their meeting. She didn’t want to take advantage of his obvious kindness.

However, she thought there was no harm in at least following him to the venue to clean herself up since she knew she looked pretty messy.

“Ok,” Remi said after some time, turning her attention back to the attractive Asian man before her. “Lead the way.”

Taka smiled widely, his whole face lighting up at Remi’s agreement to go back to the venue with him.

Wordlessly, the both of them started walking in the direction Taka had previously come from, Remi falling into step with his long strides. Remi felt slightly uncomfortable as they walked, knowing that people were looking at them curiously, since their clothes were stained and damp and her makeup was a mess but she tried to push past that feeling. She knew that in the scheme of what had happened today, random passerby were the least of her problems. Remi glanced at the man beside her, finding the silence between them slightly awkward. She needed to start some kind of conversation with him, even if it was just polite. After all, she knew nothing about him other than what band he was in.

“So,” she began slowly, feeling slightly flustered under his curious gaze once again, “you’re in the band you said. Which one are you?” she asked unsurely, feeling slightly mortified by the fact that she was having to ask him who he was since she was unfamiliar with the actual band members.

“Lead singer,” he smiled, pointing to himself. “I scream sometimes but mainly these days, I sing.”

“You guys are from Japan, right?” Remi asked, noticing him nod in response. “Your English is really good.”

“Thanks,” he laughed, shoving his hands back into his front pockets. “I’m not exactly fluent and I make mistakes a lot but I try hard.”

“Well, it’s impressive. I tried learning Japanese in high school but nothing really stuck for me,” Remi said, tucking some of her damp hair behind her ear.

“Our languages are pretty different,” Taka said. “English speakers use same words for different things, which confuses me.”

“Trust me, it confuses the English speakers as well,” Remi smiled.

Remi felt herself relax a bit more as the pair continued on their way to the venue. Luckily for them, the venue was only a few blocks away from the cafe so they reached their destination in no time. Remi recognized the building from the old school marquee out front, this one reading today’s date and “One OK Rock” in black capital letters. The street surrounding the venue was pretty quiet with only the regular foot traffic on the street but since it was only 11:30 in the morning, it made sense why things were so quiet outside of the venue. Taka led them around the back of the venue to where the buses were parked, flashing his laminated pass to the guards as they passed.

“I’ll take you to my bus,” Taka said, pointing to the bus that was parked closest to the building. “Just as warning though, we weren’t expecting to have guests so it’s a little messy.”

Remi shrugged with a smile, “That’s alright. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think.”

“Well, it’s also a mess because it’s the last day of tour so we’re packing to return to Japan,” Taka said, pausing outside the door to his band’s bus.

“It’s fine. Since you’re doing me a favor, I won’t hold anything I see on the bus against you,” Remi said with a weak smile.

Nodding, Taka opened the door to his bus and gestured for her to go in first. Apprehensively, Remi stepped into the bus with Taka close behind her. She noticed the bus was in the process of people moving their things out with the half-empty cabinets in the kitchen area and bags filled with items to remove from the bus. She could tell that they were in the process of leaving since things were sprinkled everywhere but it didn’t look as bad as Remi had initially thought it would look based on Taka’s disclaimer. She could at least still see the floor of the bus. Things were disorganized but it wasn’t complete chaos.

Taka walked past Remi and headed towards the area where the bunks were, digging around in one of the lower bunks for something. Remi just stood in the middle of the kitchen area, unsure of what to do next since she was in an unfamiliar place. She was starting to second guess her decision to follow him back to his bus, wondering if she would be able to catch the train home in time to get her back in San Diego before six. The sooner she was able to get out of Los Angeles, the better it would be, she thought.

She was snapped out of her musings about going back to San Diego by Taka’s reappearance in front of her. He held out a white, sleeveless t-shirt with colorful abstract wording that read “Ambitions” which Remi recognized as the title of their previous album. Taking the garment from his reach, Remi held the shirt out in front of her, inspecting the sizing. She thought it would be a little baggy on her but she didn’t mind because at least it didn’t smell like coffee.

“I think that’ll fit you ok. That’s a shirt we had from our last tour in the States,” Taka explained. “The bathroom is right past the bunks if you want to go change and clean up a bit.”

“Thank you,” Remi nodded politely.

She made her way through the bus, getting a glimpse of the band’s bus with curiosity. The bunks had some luggage on the mattresses, with some clothing piles next to bags on the bed. Remi thought that for being in the middle of packing things up, theses guys were pretty clean. Remi made her way to the small bathroom, shutting the door behind her and taking a deep breath to calm herself down a bit. She was feeling a little overwhelmed with her situation.

Her whole day didn’t seem real. The fact that she was on the bus of a rock star due to the fact that she ran into him during her emotional fallout over an ended relationship was a little much for her to handle. Taking a moment to look at herself in the mirror, Remi realized just how badly she needed to clean herself up with her streaky makeup and her damp, crunchy hair. Turning on the faucet to the sink, Remi began cleaning herself up as best as she could so she didn’t look as much like the train wreck she felt she was.

Takahiro Moriuchi didn’t know what possessed him to invite a stranger from the street onto his bus other than the fact that he had crashed right into her, making the both of them messy from the spilled beverage. He had decided to take a break from packing up his things and grab some coffee since today was shaping into a long day with a show and trying to get his things organized for his return to Japan the following afternoon. Taka hadn’t really been paying attention to where he was going, his thoughts preoccupied with the list of things he needed to finish, when he walked right into Remi on the street. At first, he was annoyed that he ran into anyone at all but especially more so when he realized that he was drenched in the diluted coffee from the cup she had been holding. When Taka took a moment to look over the other injured party with the intention of lashing out his frustration at the situation, he felt his annoyance quickly melt away.

The first thing Taka noticed about Remi was how beautiful she looked even if she was completely soaked from her beverage. She was a little shorter than him with long, wavy dark brown hair with purple streaks he only seemed to notice since they were outside in the California sunshine. Her dark eyes were clouded with a mixture of emotions ranging from bewilderment to utter sadness, which intrigued him all the more. He grew concerned when she started to blame herself too harshly for their little accident, looking as if she were on the verge of tears. When she finally broke down in sobs right in front of him on the sidewalk, Taka was surprised at the sudden outburst. After he took a moment to recover, he knew that he had to do something to make up for the fact that he had been the catalyst to her outpouring of emotions.

When she mentioned that she was supposed to see his band that night, he was surprised that she didn’t recognize him straight away. Usually, he introduced himself and fans were able to identify him and recognize him right away but he was grateful that he hadn’t run into an overzealous fan. When Remi started explaining her very recent break up to him, Taka suddenly understood why she was so flustered to begin with. Before their American leg of the tour started, Taka’s long-term girlfriend, Yukari, had decided to end their relationship since the band’s touring schedule made things difficult between the couple. Taka had taken it extremely hard, especially during the first few weeks of touring. He knew exactly what Remi was going through and, in that moment, all he wanted to do was reassure her that she didn’t need to be alone in her pain.

Taka decided to strip his damp shirt off and walked over to the sink. Using the dry parts of the ruined shirt, Taka wet a small section of the shirt to wipe away any sticky moisture on his exposed torso before exchanging the dirty garment for a large white sleeveless shirt that showed off more of his tattoos on his upper arms. Looking over the shirt, Taka decided to pitch it into the garbage rather than hang onto it, content with the loss of an oversized white t-shirt that couldn't really be salvaged. He glanced to the closed bathroom door once again, wondering if she was doing ok in there. Now that she was on the bus with him, he was at a slight loss for what to do next. He knew it was hasty of him to just invite her to the show tonight, let alone back to his bus, but he was trying to lift her spirits a bit. He couldn’t explain why he was so drawn to a complete stranger but there was something about Remi’s fragility that seemed to encourage him to make her smile. He couldn’t just leave her on the street as she was.

Taka wanted to do something kind for this stranger who inadvertently bared a piece of her soul to him.

Voices could be heard towards the front of the bus, forcing Taka’s attention away from the girl currently locked in the bathroom and towards the source of interruption of his thoughts. His band mates were all walking onto the bus in the middle of an argument about where to get lunch for the day when they noticed Taka casually leaning against the kitchen counter, looking slightly surprised to see them. The three men walked further into the bus, each making themselves comfortable as they continued their spirited argument in their native language. Toru was the first to pick up on Taka’s weird expression, causing the blonde guitarist’s eyebrows to furrow in confusion.

“Mori-kun, are you ok?” Toru asked, taking a seat across from him on the lounge.
Taka shifted his focus briefly from Toru to the closed bathroom door before meeting his eyes again to answer, “Yeah, I’m ok.”

“What do you want for lunch? I was saying ramen but Ryota wants hamburger,” Tomoya said as he rummaged through the fridge for a bottle of water.

Taka shrugged, “Whatever you guys decide is fine.”

The three men paused in their actions to study their front man, wondering why he wasn’t being as responsive to their favorite topic of conversation: what the meal should be. Of the group, Toru was the one that focused most on Taka’s weird behavior, hoping that he wasn’t worrying about their return to Japan. Toru had watched how Taka struggled in the beginning of the tour because of his sudden break up with Yukari. He was worried that Taka was stressing about having to go back to Japan and potentially face his ex-girlfriend, knowing that Taka hadn’t fully recovered from their break up even after the last four months on the road for their American tour.

“You seem distracted,” Toru said, focusing on the lead singer with scrutiny. “What’s going on?”

“I brought someone back to the bus,” Taka admitted quietly.

“Eh?” Ryota and Tomoya asked in unison, both of them glancing at one another with confusion before turning their attention back to Taka.

“Who did you bring back? That’s not really your style,” Toru said with confusion.

“When I went out to get coffee, I ran into someone and spilled her coffee all over us. I brought her back to let her clean herself up. She’s in the bathroom right now,” Taka explained, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

“Ooohh, Taka brought back a girl?” Tomoya teased with a smile. “Is she pretty?”

“What kind of question is that?” Ryota laughed, shaking his head at the drummer. “I don’t think her looks are all that important, unless you’re interested in her?”

“Wait, is she American?” Tomoya asked suddenly with panic in his eyes. “My English isn’t too great! I won’t be able to talk to her! What if she starts asking me questions I don’t understand?”

“Your English has improved a lot. You’ll be fine,” Ryota said with reassurance.

“You say that and then you tease me when I get the words wrong!” Tomoya pouted.

“So you brought a girl back to the bus. Is that all that has you distracted?” Toru pressed, leaning forward a bit.

Taka sighed heavily, allowing his arm to drop back down to his side, “Look, I know I’m not the kind of person that brings random people back to the bus, especially since tour is so close to ending and we have to get our things together, but there was something about her that I can’t explain. I didn’t want to just leave her after I had ruined her morning.”

“Well, she’s not a psycho fan, right? She’s not going to steal my underwear and try to auction it off to the highest bidder, is she?” Ryota asked seriously, causing everyone to look at him with questioning gazes. “What?! It could happen! We have some fans that are downright scary sometimes.”

The other men seemed to shake their head in disbelief at their imaginative bassist, wondering why his first concern was that someone would steal their underwear of all things. Taka found himself feeling slightly nervous for Remi’s reemergence from the restroom since he didn’t really have an explanation for why he brought her back. He knew that on the surface, he genuinely wanted to let her clean herself up since they had both been soaked in coffee but when he thought about the next step after that was complete, the usually confident front man struggled with the fact that he just didn’t want her to disappear on him so quickly. Taka wanted Remi to stick around because he wanted to get to know her better and he wasn’t sure he would be able to spend more time with her since her plans involved returning to the train station to head home.

Remi had quietly emerged from the restroom, dressed in the shirt that Taka had given her and with her dampened camisole and flannel shirt in hand. Of course the shirt that Taka had handed her was a little bigger than she needed so tied a knot into the bottom of the sleeveless white top so that it wasn’t so long and baggy on her body. She felt slightly self-conscious since part of the band of her lacy, black bra was visible but she knew there was nothing she could do about that. She was just grateful that she was wearing one of her prettier bras instead of the ratty ones. She had pulled her hair up into a high ponytail as the ends of her thick brown hair were dampened from her trying to get some of the coffee out of it. Remi also managed to fix her makeup so her mascara was no longer running from the tears she shed earlier in the day. She actually looked presentable compared to when she first stepped onto the bus.

Remi had heard the muffled voices in the bathroom as she was finishing up, realizing that the rest of the band must have come back to the bus. Once she stepped quietly out of the bathroom, she could hear the men speaking quietly to one another in Japanese, meaning she had no idea what they were actually saying aside from the occasional word here and there that she recognized. The idea of meeting more people when she wasn’t exactly herself was a little nerve wracking for Remi. She knew the whole situation was strange, especially since she was invading their refuge space so she was hoping to make a quick get away so she wouldn’t disturb them too much. The last thing she wanted was to be more of a nuisance than she thought she was.

Taka glanced towards the bathroom door once again, a bright smile breaking out on his face at the sight of his guest’s appearance. The other men realized they were no longer alone, their eyes following Taka’s gaze to the hallway where an attractive girl stood in their band t-shirt, looking slightly nervous as she inched her way out of the hallway and towards the rest of the group. Ryota was a little wary of her since she was wearing their band t-shirt, wondering if his theory of her being a psycho fan was true while Tomoya just offered a friendly smile, unbothered by her sudden appearance though he wasn’t sure about actually speaking to her with his limited English. Toru was the only one that was looking back and forth between her and Taka, noticing the way Taka’s attention was solely on her as she stepped out. Toru had a feeling that Taka was attracted to the American girl, making him all the more curious since she wasn’t his usual type. Toru was all the more intrigued by this mysterious girl that has seemed to capture Taka’s complete attention.

“Looks like you made the shirt fit,” Taka said as he noticed the way the sleeveless shirt was tied at the bottom right side, allowing for the material to cling to her slender frame.

“Yeah, thanks for this by the way,” she smiled shyly.

“So, let me introduce you to the rest of the band,” Taka said as he started gesturing to the other members on the bus. “This is Toru. He plays guitar,” Taka said pointing towards the blonde man on the couch.

“Nice to meet you,” Toru said without any trace of an accent, nodding to her slightly.

Remi offered him an awkward smile in return, “You too.”

“This is Tomoya, our drummer,” Taka said, moving on to the man standing near the fridge with a bottle of water in his hands. Both silently nodded at one another, as Taka turned to the last man on the couch, “and this is Ryota. He plays bass.”

“Nice to meet you guys. My name’s Remi,” she said with a slight wave of her free hand.

“Re-mi?” Ryota asked, sounding her name out phonetically.

“Yeah, that’s right. Remi,” she shrugged.

“Let me find a hanger for your shirt so it will dry,” Taka said, noticing the wet garments in her hand.

“Oh no, that’s ok. I don’t want to cause any more trouble,” Remi said as he walked right past her towards the back of the bus, completely ignoring her refusals.

“Taka won’t take no for an answer,” Toru said, causing Remi to sigh deeply. “So, what happened that caused you to change your shirt anyway?”

“Oh, well, I accidentally ran into Taka outside of a coffee shop and spilled my drink all over the both of us,” she explained, nervously picking as the leather jacket that was draped over her bag.

“Luckily neither of you were hurt,” he said.

“Yeah, though I should have been paying more attention to where I was going,” Remi said with a slight frown as she recalled the reason why she was so distracted in the first place.

Taka re-emerged from the back with a hanger, holding it in front of Remi, who snapped herself out of her negative thoughts. With a shy smile, Remi took the hanger and carefully placed the camisole on it before she put her flannel shirt over the top. Once the garments were on the hanger and smoothed out so they wouldn’t wrinkle, Taka took the hanger from Remi and placed her items on a hook near the bunks. He returned to his spot beside her, leaning against the kitchen counter with a friendly smile on his face.

“They should dry better this way,” Taka said.

“Thanks,” she smiled shyly. “I promise I won’t take up much of your time. I just need to figure out my next move now.”

“Next move?” Tomoya asked, his accent thicker than Taka and Toru’s but adorable nonetheless.

“Um, well, I need to find out when the next train for San Diego is leaving,” she replied, pushing her leather jacket out of the way so she could retrieve her cell phone from her purse.

Taka’s smile fell a bit at Remi’s mentioning of leaving. He watched quietly as she started typing away on her cell phone, presumably looking up the schedule for the trains that would take her back home and felt a little disappointed that she wanted to leave so quickly. He knew she had just been through a break up so the last thing she wanted to do was spend her time processing her feelings with complete strangers but Taka was reluctant for her to go. From the moment she allowed herself to be completely vulnerable in front of him, Taka felt a spark of something within him that he hadn’t felt since before the start of this tour. He didn’t want her to leave before he could figure out what exactly it was about this beautiful American girl that drew him in.

“San Diego?” Tomoya questioned, his head cocked to the side as he watched the American girl on her phone.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, pausing briefly to meet his eyes before looking over the Amtrak schedule on her screen, “I live there so I need to figure out the next available train that will take me home.”

“My offer still stands, you know,” Taka said quietly, forcing her dark eyes from the screen of her phone to his warm ones. “You could hang around for the show tonight.”

“I couldn’t,” she said, shaking her head fervently. “It’s your last day of tour and the last thing you need is to entertain some strange person when you have so much to get through. I don’t want to be in the way.”

“You wouldn’t be in the way,” Ryota chimed in, taking a sip of water from the half empty bottle in his hand.

“Yeah! Besides, you should see the show tonight. It’s the last one so it’s going to be good,” Tomoya smiled.

“I don’t know,” Remi sighed, feeling her shoulders sag a bit as she wavered in her refusal. “It just feels like it’s too generous an offer, especially since I’m the one ruined your shirt this morning. I caused too much chaos this morning to be rewarded for it.”

Taka laughed, “Look, I want you to stay and see the show tonight. No one should pass up the opportunity to see a free show.”

Remi chewed on the inside of her lip slightly as she weighed the pros and cons of accepting the offer. If she accepted the offer, she was seemingly taking advantage of a nice man’s offer but if she didn’t take the offer, she would have to make her way to the train station where she would wallow in her devastation over her break up with Marcus. Going to the show that she had been looking forward to for weeks was tempting, especially since she desperately needed the escape the music would allow her. She also couldn’t explain it but the idea of spending more time together with Taka was also intriguing. Even though he has seen her at her worst point today, he was acting like it never happened. There was something about him that was very comforting, as if they’ve known each other for a long time.

After a moment of considering her options, Remi offered a small smile, “Alright. I’ll stick around but only under the condition that I make myself useful to you. I know you don’t have time to entertain me and I don’t want to be a distraction so put me to work and let me help you pack up the last of your things or whatever else you need.”

“Yosh! She can tackle the kitchen then since I don’t want to do it!” Ryota cheered in Japanese, throwing his hands in the air.

Laughing at the reaction, though she was unsure of what he said exactly, Remi let her gaze move back to Taka, who was standing near her with a wide smile on his face. His smile seemed rather infectious as she was unable to stop herself from returning the smile. There was something very comforting about Taka’s presence, despite only knowing him for the past twenty minutes or so. Even though their initial meeting had been less than ideal, Remi felt that her day was suddenly beginning to pick up. Though her heart was still aching over the end of her relationship, she was feeling the aching slowly fade away on this bus full of rock stars.