57 – Joey
For the last two weeks, I had been Yasu’s willing student. Aoto would pick me up at eight every morning, and take me to the clinic, where the doctor would have me working. I thought I might be treating knife wounds, gunshots and the like from territory disputes more often than I was. But in reality, I treated mostly the women and kids of the clan soldiers.
I didn’t care either way, because I didn’t have to answer to a corporation, or to someone above me. Yasu was the sweetest, kindest man I had ever met in the medical industry. He was patient and funny and I started to look at him as a surrogate father figure.
Speaking of my papa. He kept sending me packages, but now to the house Alex and I shared, and most of them wedding undertone, including the one Alex was holding in his hands right now, while I ate breakfast.
“What the hell is this?”
1 swallowed the mouthful of scrambled egg and looked at the little box in his hands. “It’s a miniature cuckoo clock, Alex. Papa is in Germany at the moment.
Alex put the clock down gently on the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, staring at it. “I don’t know whether I want it popping open and scaring the shit out of me, while I get up during the night to piss.”
I bit my lips between my teeth to stop the peel of laughter I could feel bubbling up.
His gaze slipped to me. “What?”
“Alex, once you are asleep, you don’t get up for anything.” He rolled his eyes. “Tell me I’m wrong. You have to be shaken. awake to answer your phone.”
“Yeah, yeah. “He replied, coming over to me and wrapping his arms around me, as I tried to finish my breakfast. “I’ve been sleeping better, because of who I am sharing my bed with.”
Alex peppered kisses along my cheek, to my mouth.
“Ooh, coffee breath.” I pushed at him, and he chuckled, kissing me again. “Has Yasu told you about the trip next week?” Iblinked. “Trip?”
“No, of course he hasn’t. For fuck’s sake.” Alex let go of me and stepped away, going to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “We’ve got a trip to Nevada coming up.”
*Nevada?”
Alex nodded, opening the bottle and drinking from it, before replying, “Yuka has a meeting with one of the Clan leaders in Henderson and because you are Yasu’s student, you’re coming with us; because Yasu goes everywhere with Yuka when he travels out of New York.”
Holy shit. I’d never been to Nevada. “How close is Vegas to Henderson?”
“About fifteen–sixteen miles. Why?”
Why indeed. I had never been one to think of going to Vegas, but now I was going to be so close, why not go and have a look? “I was thinking we could go and look.”
Alex put the bottle of water down and looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “Do you not remember the rules?”
My brain kicked me.
How could I forget? I wouldn’t be able to just ‘pop‘ over to Las Vegas. I was part of the Takada clan now. I even had the tattoo to prove it, and as I thought about it, the tattoo, sitting in the same spot as Alex’s itch. My hand reached up and I rubbed the dark ink on my skin.
“Joey don’t scratch it. You’ll pull the ink out.” Alex came over to me and gently pulled back the collar of my blouse and ran his thumb over the scabbing tattoo. It’d only been a week since I had gotten it, and it was past the painful stage. “You need to put some cream on it, or it’ll dry out and look like shit. Hang on a second.”
He
stepped away from me and left the room, while my mind ran in a million different directions and none of them had
anything to do with the tattoo
They all seemed to come back to Vegas, and I suddenly remembered why I wanted to go.
57–Jory
“What?” Alex asked, coming back into the room, with a tube of lotion. He put some on his hand and rubbed just under my collarbone, moisturizing the tattoo,
“I remember why I wanted to go to Vegas.”
“Hmm?”
“Jake.”
Alex’s hand stopped and he looked at me. “What?”
Heat raced across my face, and I lowered my gaze. “Jake and I always said that one day, we would go to Vegas and look. But..”
The embarrassment turned to anger, then to sadness and my bottom lip quivered as I fought back tears. I hadn’t cried over Jake since the wedding. He didn’t deserve my tears… I needed to stop…
“Oh doll..” Alex wrapped his arms around me, holding me to his chest. “Things have happened so fast, since the wedding, have you stopped and given yourself a chance to grieve your friendship breakdown?”
I shook my head, as I clung to him and Alex smoothed his hand over the back of my head. “no, I was so angry, then numb… I think it’s finally hit.”
“Right.” Alex stepped back from me, cupping my chin with his hand. “You know what’s going to happen today?”
1 blinked and looked at him. “No…?”
“You and I are calling in sick. You’ve been are going to work. We are going to sit here and talk and eat and you’re going to cry Jake out of your system, and I am going to be the big soft boyfriend and make it all better by giving you all the love, however you want it.”
worked off your feet, and frankly, so have I.” He grinned at me. “So, neither of us
“Really? What about Yasu? Aoto? Sota?”
“You leave them up to me.” He grinned again. “Finish your breakfast, while I go and call them, and then I’m going to go and run you a bubble bath and you’re going to soak in it until you’re all pruney and then we’re going to sit and talk.”
squinted at Alex as he stared back at me.
“What?”
“Ok, where is Alexander Kazumi and what have you done with him?”
Alex chuckled. “Don’t like the soft side?”
“Uh. No. I’d rather the other guy.”
Allex smirked and leaned in closer, his mouth nipping at the edge of my ear. “Fine, I’ll tell everyone we’re not coming in. then I’m going to spend the day fucking you and pleasing you until you forget about Jake. How about that?”
I smirked at Alex as he stepped back and raised an eyebrow. “That’s better. Now, don’t you have a phone call to make?”
