Chapter 10

Let’s Get Friendly

I took what I needed from my locker and locked it up.  I realized that he was still standing there waiting for me.  And he was standing really close.  My heart began to pound and I stepped back, finding his close proximity suffocating.  Was he still offering me a ride?

As if reading my mind, he grabbed my schoolbag and slung it over his shoulder.  “Come on, it’s raining again.  You don’t want to take the bus in the rain, do you?”

His grin made me sweat.  Although I was used to the rain, having grown up in one of the rainiest places in the world, I shook my head no.  A free ride was always better than standing around in the rain, waiting for a bus.  His grin widened and he turned and led the way to the parking lot.  I followed behind him, chewing nervously on my bottom lip.

I noticed how he drew attention from those we passed.  A few raised eyebrows at me made me fall a few more steps behind him.  I kept my gaze lowered so that I could draw up my invisibility cloak and walk forward without feeling the penetration of their stares.

He really did warrant admiration by his looks.  I could see that guys wanted to be like him and girls wanted to be close to him.

And yet he was offering me a ride.

How come I never noticed him before in the past?  How have I been so blind to what was going on around me?  He was like a god to these people.

That was a frightening thought.  Erase.  Erase.

He pushed the heavy school door open and let it slam in my face.

Wow, what a gentleman.  Awesome.

I clutched my umbrella in one hand as I pushed the door open with the other.  It wasn’t pouring by any means, but it certainly wasn’t a gentle sprinkle. 

I saw Dash hurry to his car in the middle of the lot.  There were about a dozen or so spaces already empty, and more students were getting ready to leave as well. 

I pushed my umbrella open and hurried after him.  Luckily there wasn’t a strong wind blowing, but I had to be careful where I stepped because the lot was full of gravel puddles from all the rain we had gotten over the course of the day.  I glanced up just in time to see him disappear into his car a dozen metres ahead.  He started it as I reached him and pulled the passenger door open and quickly closed my pink umbrella before I climbed into the car.

It was a nice car.  It looked brand new with a pale grey leather interior.  The dashboard looked very modern and sporty.  I wondered how many girls had been in here and offered rides home from school.  Not that it mattered.

 “You could’ve waited by the doors,” he told me as I buckled my seatbelt.  “I would have pulled up so you didn’t have to run across the lot.”

Now he tells me.  “You didn’t say anything,” I murmured, trying to shake the chill of the rain off my arms.

“Oh.”  He shrugged.  “I just assumed you’d wait for me to come get you.”

Really?  I tried not to sigh in exasperation.  “Thank you, but I’m here now,” I told him, urging him to just go ahead. 

What if someone saw me in his car?  Would they get the wrong idea?  I didn’t want to even think about that.

He pulled out of the lot, which took a few minutes since several other students were trying to leave at the same time.  I tried to sink low in my seat in hopes of no one spotting me.  He didn’t notice at first until he looked over his shoulder at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying not to ruin your reputation.”

He chuckled.  “I’ve given lots of rides, why should you be any different?”

“Okay, then I’m trying not to ruin my reputation?”

He laughed again.  “How can I ruin your reputation?  Do you even have one?  If anything, I’m boosting your reputation.”

I hesitated and kept my eyes lowered.  “Japanese people talk.”  I left it at that.

“Okay,” he replied slowly, chewing on this thought in his mind.

I waited until we were a few metres away from the school before I pulled myself up into a normal sitting position. 

He wouldn’t understand.  I couldn’t let my parents find out about him giving me a ride to work.  I especially couldn’t let them find out that I was working in a cosplay maid café.  I had to keep a low profile.  My dad did have a pretty big position at his company and I couldn’t bring him any shame that would dampen him there.

“So then you’re not worried about your job generating talk?” he asked after a moment of silence.

I looked at my hands in my lap.  “Of course I am.  But who would talk?  Anyone who talks about what happens in a maid café also exposes the fact that they went in one—and that is also embarrassing to most Japanese people.”

“You’re making that place sound more scandalous now, you know,” he remarked, a playful glint flashed in his eyes when he glanced at me.

I fiddled with my umbrella between my calves, opting to watch it twirl between my knees than to look at him. 

“It’s still a little taboo, but there’s a market for it.  People like cafes and they like being able to talk to pretty young girls who flatter them and listen to whatever they have to say,” I replied.

I turned my gaze out the window then.  I watched the rain gently splatter against the glass and travel down as we stopped at a stop sign. 

“It’s an ego boost,” I continued, trying to choose my words carefully, “Especially to boys who are shy and want to practice talking to girls.”

“Uh huh,” he said with a nod, his eyes on the road ahead as he pulled forward.  “And why do you work there?  You don’t seem to be the type of girl who would want to flaunt what she’s got, but I’ve seen you—you’re different in there.”

I pulled my gaze away from the window and stared at him.  My face felt hot.  I quickly looked down again, trying to determine his agenda.  Why would he want to know my reason for working there?  It was none of his business!

His gaze was on the road ahead until we stopped at a set of red lights and he turned to me, expecting an answer.  An answer I didn’t want to give.

I looked up into his blue eyes, trying to send a nonverbal plea not to pursue this matter further.  I had a right to my privacy.  I hardly knew him as it was.  Plus he had been such an ass before! 

Don’t forget that, Yuriko!  He’s the devil in disguise!  Look shy, and maybe he’ll drop it.

I looked away again and, thankfully, he backed off.  The question was left hanging when he returned his gaze to the road as the light turned green.

An uncomfortable silence filled the car.  He turned the radio on, but all the local stations had commercials.  He turned it back off.

I cleared my throat and asked him a question that had been hanging in my mind for a little while now. 

His eyes flickered at me for a split second, but he kept his attention on the road as we got closer to the downtown core and traffic got heavier. 

“My guess is that you like to go to the café to see Elizabeth,” I said, “but what made you go that first day?”

I tried to remember seeing him at the grand opening, but there was so much going on at the time that I could barely remember it.  He was with someone, wasn’t he?  A Japanese guy our age?

His eyes crinkled as he smiled, glancing in his rear-view mirror.  “My neighbour is a bit of a geek, er, otaku I think you called it?  Anyway, he begged me to take him when he heard about the place a month before it even opened.  If we hadn’t been friends since way back, I don’t think I would have taken him,” he replied with a light chuckle.

“Oh.”  So this friend was the reason for going.  That made sense.  It also hinted that he could be a nice guy.  Could be, being the key words.  Actions speak louder than words, and he had been anything but nice to me.

Well, except for giving me this ride…

“To be honest,” he continued, “I thought the place would be really lame, but I was actually surprised.”

Wow, we had honesty now.  Okay, we were heading into friendly territory now.  Did I want to enter into a friendship with this guy?

No, I had to remind myself that a friendship with him would be weird and awkward—especially when Elizabeth turns him down.

And he was a jerk!  Don’t forget he was a jerk!

I straightened up in my seat.  Yes, let’s not get wrapped up in this sudden “nice guy” attitude.  Keep it professional.  Stop asking personal questions.

It would seem that he had more to say, and I listened carefully.

“I certainly didn’t expect to see so many girls dancing about in skimpy little outfits, flashing their cleavage—”

I felt my face flush.  “Okay, okay, I get the picture—just stop!” I interrupted, burying my face in my hands in embarrassment.

Way to kill the mood.

His laughter filled the car, a sound that resonated from his belly and made him throw his head back.  His teeth were perfect.  His hair was perfect.  Even his wholehearted guffaws were perfect.

Ack!

My stomach clenched and I looked back down at my hands, wringing them in my lap before I looked back out the window.

I didn’t know I was capable of making someone laugh like that.  It made me feel good, but at the same time, scared.

What was I getting myself into?

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:  Three month anniversary of "I Am Not Your Maid!" Thanks for reading. If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to comment and vote. :)