Making up for the story in Lover's Rectangle
Chapter 1Rika loved the sun. She loved it so much that she took a part of her inheritance and moved to the father’s summer home in Honolulu after his death. It was hidden in the valley of Nu’uanu, where the winds always blew through creating a natural air conditioner for her home. However, her first love was the beach and she loved to ride her bike or her fifteen year old Honda that was handed down from her father. She usually took the freeway to let her brown hair flow through the car and usually parked near the beach for her daily swim before lunch.
Ala Moana was her choice destination because of the proximity near the home and the lack of winter swells made it perfect for her to swim. She took off her shirt and shorts to reveal the sky blue swimsuit underneath. The top was a perfect for her chest and the bottom made her hips curvier than any other material. Rika threw the discarded clothing into the car and locked it before heading into the ocean. She swam out fifty feet before taking a sharp right to start her journey.
She enjoyed her swims during the mid-morning since not too many people would take over the beach like Waikiki. She swam toward the rocks and turned back to go back to where the car was parked. Rika usually took her time that she would develop her hunger for lunch and she would swim back usually seeing men around her age admire her. Her English was rusty but her understanding was never a problem.
She smiled at them and gave them a wink that one would freeze leaving the rest to run into him and making a pile on the sidewalk. Rika let out a laugh and turned on the public shower to rinse her off. She pretended to pose in front of an imaginary camera to get other people to notice her but not too many would catch the performance. She stopped the shower and walked back to her car to fetch a towel to dry her off.
Rika wrapped the towel around her body and stepped into her car to drive to a nearby lunch wagon for her usual lunch plate of teriyaki meat, tossed salad with Italian dress, and rice. The owner knew she would come every day as long as they were open and she arrived at the same time as always and used her driver seat to munch down on her food to the delight of the many onlookers who were gazing at her. She even caught a juvenile staring at her and it seemed to amuse her that her attractiveness got many looks but no catch.
That was her lone disappointment and she couldn’t seem to attach onto people after she had met them. Her first man felt that her clothing were of rich taste and never called her again. The second one liked her but her shyness drew them apart. The last one wanted a one-night stand but it was lost in translation as Rika decided to wait at the hotel rather than follow him to his suite. She had grown frustrated over her lack of a steady partner that she headed to a bar near her home to drink.
She was a regular at the bar after cruising through Waikiki one evening and she returned back home to a flyer of a new bar opening and she walked into fanfare. The bartender was giving out shots and managed to get one by accident and down it quickly to join the celebration. Rika felt dazed after the first shot that she took another one that would finish her off in the bar. She couldn’t remember what had happen but she ended up at home on the couch with a hangover. Rika decided to make it her special bar for the time being to drown her sorrows away.
After her lunch, she slipped on her shirt and shorts and decided to drive west into downtown where the people were dragging themselves back to work after their break. She decided to pick up some produce in Chinatown a few blocks from the business area. It was less crowded in the afternoon so it was her usual time to get fresh produce for her. It usually is an adventure to find great produce at cheap prices but she got lucky to find Chinese cabbage was on sale. She bought two heads and headed back to her car. She looked up at the mirror to fix her view behind her and reversed to go back home.
Rika returned home an hour before happy hour to shower off the salt. She tried to not let the situation to bring her down but once in a while she had to let out a yell to rid of the frustration within her. After wiping her body up, she slipped on a clean shirt and shorts to visit the bar. Since that night, many avoided the bar because of the frequent fighting between the locals and the tourists and she was left alone with the bartender from California.
“Ah, Rika-chan, welcome to Paradise.” She joked as Rika took her seat second from the left of the bartender.
“Emily~ how’s everything?” Rika’s accent didn’t bother her as she slid a glass filled with ice.
“Slow as always but nice to have a regular customer.” She replied as she slowly poured whiskey into her cup.
Emily Richardson was a year younger than Rika and a master’s student in East Asian culture at the University of Hawaii; her specialty was Japanese modern times, which Rika was a resource that she could use for her thesis about the expanding family or lack thereof in the country recently. Emily was friendly to everyone but the slow business caused a lot of friction between her and the Chinese boss. She usually catered Rika because of her concentration but the other few that do come in were more attracted to Emily than Rika which made the elder one unhappy.
“You seem down again today, still no boyfriendo?” Rika smiled as she took a sip of the spicy liquid.
“Of course, I guess it is because I am too beautiful.” Emily smacked the bar laughing at Rika.
“I can’t blame you for saying that and to be honest, I am jealous.” She winked as Rika began moving the ice in her cup to make it more watery for her next sip.
Emily knew how to make food for her customers and managed to sneak out a few pieces of hot gyoza for the patron to cheer her up. Rika was always reminded about gyoza by her family in Japan. It was her father’s favorite beer snack to watch the game with. Rika was always close to her father and ever since she turned legal to drink she followed her father’s ways down to the grunt after a sip of beer. She did it by impulse which made it even more entertaining to her friends.
“You are beautiful too, you know.” Rika yelled out before taking another sip of her drink.
“Aww, you making me blush. Maybe you should find someone attractive soon before everything falls apart.” Emily joked as Rika was not smiling anymore.
“I guess so, but as for now, I am single ready to drink my life away.” Rika lifted her cup up and Emily poured another drink.
After her fourth cup, she felt lightheaded and started to wobble over to the bathroom. Rika felt her way across the bar to the bathroom near the television that had lost its lease weeks ago. Rika stumbled into the stall to do her business and then she heard sounds of another voice which first startled her and then she shrugged it off as she done her business and washed her hand before walking out to a person sitting next to her seat.
The person had short blonde wavy hair and was wearing unisex dress shirt with light red stripes running vertical. Rika slowly approached the bar and looked over to see it was woman who had limited English. Rika began asking about her name and it was Yoshizawa Hitomi. Then, she asked about her impression of Hawaii, which seemed borderline unimpressive but Rika was there to cheer up the women from her bad experiences. Rika took one step forward and fell forward as the other woman raced to catch her.
“Ma’am are you okay?” She asked in Japanese.
“Dai.. jou…bu.” Rika replied as she saw something in her eyes that made her melt and a fantasy came into her mind as her arms were masculine compared to other women. She had milky white skin which was normal for Tokyoites within the city limits and her smile was attractive that Rika pursed them together without realizing the situation.
“Rika, wake up!” Emily snapped her out of her dream as she was now looking up at the ceiling to the two women.
Rika spun onto her feet and ran out in embarrassment. Hitomi thought it was cute of Rika to purse her lips but something else was on her mind and she asked the bartender for her number, for which Emily handed it over no questions asked, and she went on her way back into the city .