SUMMER ACTIVITIES

“Hey, mister Oliver! You came again today.” Reina greeted me as I walked into Cafe Million.

“Yeah. Hi, Reyna.”

“Please come this way.” She said, beckoning me to sit away from Erika’s table.

“Um, I’ll sit with Erika again today.”
“Tch.” She clicked her tongue with a very displeased look on her face. “Well then, please come this way.” She now beckons me to go towards Erika’s table, her smile back on her face.

“Uh. Right. Thank you.”

I made my way towards Erika’s table, where Hana was already seated.

“Hey, Oliver!” Hana said as soon as she noticed me coming.

“Hello, Hana, Erika.”

Erika looked up and waved at me.

“Will you be having your usual, mister Oliver?”

“Yes, please. Thank you, Reina. Also, I appreciate it, but you don’t need to greet me every time I come in. I don’t want to disturb your work.”

“Not at all! Greeting customers is my work after all. And I would really love to greet you, mister Oliver.” She leaned over close to me.

Her face was close to my face, and I reflexively jumped back until my back hit the partition between our table and the one next to us.

“Attending customers is my job, after all. And as a regular that has come in here for a long time, you are most definitely a valued customer of ours, so it wouldn’t be weird for me to attend to you as soon as you come into the cafe. Yes, not weird at all, I would say, mister Oliver!”

Just as her rant the other day went, she speaks really fast.

“Right. Uh- thank you.”

“You are very welcome! Well then, I will put your order in with the owner and be right back with you.”

“Right. Thank you.” As soon as I said that she stood back upright and immediately went towards the owner.

I wonder what’s up with her. She wasn’t acting like this before.

Once she left, I fixed my sitting position and noticed Erika averting her sight from me. I looked at Hana, and saw her chuckling, most likely at what Reina had just done. Apparently, Erika is looking away because she’s hiding her chuckle from me.

Soon after, Reina came around with my drink in hand. “Here’s your drink, mister Oliver. Please call me if you need anything else.” She said, after putting my drink on the table, and leaning over to my face again. Just like earlier, I jumped back until my back had hit the partitioning.

“Okay. I will. Thank you.”

“Right! Well then, if you’ll excuse me.” She said, as she left to get back to work. As I watched her go, I noticed Hana and Erika silently chuckling again.

“What’s gotten into her?”

“Who knows?” Hana replied, averting her look away from me.

As she saw this, Erika immediately grabbed her phone, and I fished mine out of my pocket. And while she’s typing, Hana notices her doing so, and tries to take her phone from her. But Erika kept the phone away from her and continued typing.

“Wait! Erika! Don’t tell him!”

Soon after, Erika’s message reached my phone.

“A couple days ago, Hana had told Reina about how you’re actually very rich. Reina had been waiting for you ever since.”

“Hana…”

“I’m going to help out in the cafe!” She said as she dashed away.

“OI! That girl.”

Erika silently chuckled again, this time a little more expressive than before. She definitely looks better with a smile.

A little later, my phone rang in my hand. It’s a call from Alan.

It’s rare for him to call me. It’s not like we had made any plans like last time he did.

I wasn’t expecting anything, and I don’t think this call is anything important. So, since I’m currently with someone else, it would be rude of me to take the call.

Alan won’t contact me when he’s having an emergency anyway, so I declined the call.

Then, Erika texted me. “Not going to take the call?”

“It’s fine. It’s probably nothing important anyways. I’ll just call him back later-” Before I could finish my sentence, my phone rang again. “Sorry, Erika. I think I need to take this.”

Erika gave me a nod.

I answered the call. “Alan?”

“Oliver. Why did you reject the first call?”

“I’m with someone right now.”

“Wow. A girl?”

“Not like that. Do you need anything?”

Before he answered, I saw Hana walking back to her seat and gave her a quick glare. She just grinned at me.

“Yeah. Sorry to disturb you, but I got a reservation for an island resort a month from now. Two days, one night. Today is the last day if I were to cancel it. I’m wondering if you want to go.”

“Island resort reservation? Why cancel it?”

As I said that, Reina who was walking by had overheard me, and rushed over to the table. Then she leaned into my face again, causing me to jump back to the partitioning.

“Mister Oliver! You have an island resort reservation?!”

“Whoa, Reina!” I yelped in surprise.

“Reina? That’s a cute name. Is that your girl?”

“I told you it’s not like that. And why’d you want to cancel it?”

“Well. I booked two rooms, and it was meant to be for a double date. But someone cancelled, and the plan just failed altogether.”

“Allright. Why invite me, then?”

“Well, I thought you might appreciate a nice change of pace. You haven’t been going anywhere since you moved in, right?”

“Well, I don’t have any more places I’d like to go to.”

“Mister Oliver, do you travel often?!”

“Hey, Reina. He’s on the phone!” Hana said as she pulled Reina away from me.

“Haha. Sounds lively there.”

“Sorry, did you hear that? I’ll move somewhere else.”

“Hey, no. Don’t bother. Say, Oliver. How many people are there with you?”

“Now? Three.”

“Alright, I could change the room to twins instead of cancelling it, if I do it by today. Why not tell them to come with you. I can arrange for an extra bed.”

“What? Why? Shouldn’t you ask your friends?”

“I told you I want this to be a change of pace for you. Besides, even if you don’t, I do consider you to be one of my friends. And I’d like to know your friends. I am supposed to be a chaperone of sorts for you, after all.”

“Alright. I’ll ask them and call you back.”

“Okay. Call me back soon. It’d be a hassle to change the reservation if you take too long.”

“Got it. And thanks, Alan.”

“You’re welcome.” He cut the call.

As I put my phone down, Reina quickly took a seat beside me and beamed at me. I shifted away from her a little.

“So, mister Oliver! Is there anything you’d like to ask me?” She asked, clearly expectant. I did say three people, and Alan said to invite them.

“Right. Hana, do you remember Alan?”

“The Alan? How could I not, I see him on tv every day.”

“Wait. The Alan? Mister Oliver, you’re friends with that Alan?” Reina asked, her face getting closer to mine with every second.

“Okay. First, let’s calm down and respect each other’s personal space.”

Reina blushed as she just realized how close our faces are and pulled back. “Right. Sorry, mister Oliver.”

“Thank you. So, back to Alan. He had reserved an island resort. Two rooms, but the people he meant to go with had cancelled. So, he asked me if I wanted to go, otherwise he’d just cancel the reservation. And since it’s two rooms for two people, he asked if you three wanted to come along. Said he’ll arrange for an extra bed.”

“Yes, please!” Reina immediately responded.

“Okay. What about you two?” I glanced towards Hana and Erika. In the corner of my eyes, I see Reina scowling at them.

“What do you think, Erika?”

Erika looked down for a while.

“Mister Oliver, it seems like Miss Erika isn’t very excited to go, so we should just go together.”

Hana leaned over to Erika’s ears and whispered something to her. Then Erika signed something to Hana.

“Hmm. I don’t know, other than on tv, I’ve only seen him once. Oliver, what do you think about Alan?”

“Alan? What do you mean?”

“I mean, is he.. you know?”

“I don’t know what you’re getting at. I don’t know him that well either. But as far as I can tell, he’s not a bad guy. He’s helped me a lot with moving into this country.”

“I see. How about it, Erika?”

Erika signed something back to her.

“Yeah. I’ll stay with you.”

“Whaaat? You’re coming?” Reina said in protest.

She’s the person here that I least know. To be honest, I only invited her because she happens to be here, and I thought it’d be rude not to. So, it’s kind of weird that she’s the most excited about going out with me.

“Reina, I don’t think that we’re that close, are we?”

“Well. Not yet, I’d say, mister Oliver.”

“Aren’t you afraid I’d kidnap you, or something?”

“Aren’t you rich already?”

I glared at Hana, and she looked away from me. “Nevermind. Um, Erika. If you aren’t up for it. It’s okay, there’s always the option to tell Alan to just canc-” Before I could finish, Hana had kicked my shin under the table.

“Idiot. Be quiet for a bit.”

“Ouch. Wha-?”

Erika signed something to Hana. And Hana leaped to hug her.

“Erika! I’m so proud of you!” Hana is absolutely beaming. “Oliver! We’re going with you!” She exclaimed.

“Ah. Um. Right. I’ll tell Alan.”

A month later, we agreed to meet in Cafe Million as it’s close by Erika's, Reina’s, and my place. Hana lived there, and Alan said he will come pick us up as he has a car.

I just arrived early in the morning.

From outside, I could see the girls were all already in. They sure are excited for this. We aren’t leaving for half an hour still.

“Hey, Oliver!” Hana noticed me as soon as I came through the door.

“Hello, mister Oliver!”

Erika waved at me.

“Hi. all packed up?” I saw the bags they are all carrying. We’re only staying for one night, so everyone had packed rather lightly.

“Mister Oliver, when will mister Alan arrive?”

“We had agreed to leave at 9, so he’ll probably be here around that time. More importantly, I hadn’t thought of this, but will the cafe be okay without you two?”

“Yeah. We got others to cover for my shift. Reina had actually stopped working here a few days ago.”

“She did? Why?”

“I actually only worked for about halfway through summertime because my family will only be staying in this town for that time before going back to where I live.”

“Shouldn’t you be with them, then?”

“I asked them if I could go on this trip, and they told me to go. I could go home using the train. I could also go home easier if a man were to take me back.” She said, leaning over closer to me.

“Haha. Please don’t worry about the cafe, young man. I will handle things here, so you all can go and have fun.” The owner said as he came out the back door. “Hana, make sure you don’t cause too much of a problem for Oliver.”

“Dad! I’m not a kid.”

The owner only laughed in response.

As we were chatting, a luxury SUV pulled up in front of the cafe. It’s got flashy colors, and a loud engine just like in a sports car.

It’s so over the top, I could tell who’s in it with just a glance. You don’t see expensive cars like this so often, after all.

Sure enough, I saw Alan walking around the car after he had come out of the driver seat.

“There’s Alan.”

“Whoooooooaaaa. It’s Alan, in the flesh.” Reina exclaimed, seemingly starstruck. “OH NO! Hana, what should I do? I’ve forgotten my line.”
“What? You’ve been chanting them all morning, and you forget them now?”

Before Reina could get the chance to remember, Alan had already walked into the cafe.

“Morning, Oliver.”

“Morning. Sorry for making you drive here just to pick us up.”

“Don’t worry about it, I wouldn’t make the ladies walk all the way to my place when I can drive to them. Speaking of, could you introduce us?”

“Right, Alan, this is Reina, Hana, Erika, and the owner of Cafe Million. I guess I don’t need to introduce you to them.”

“Hello, mister! I’m Reina! Can I shake your hand?” Reina quickly introduced herself, approaching and extending her hand towards Alan.

“Wow. you talk fast, girl. Hello, Reina. It’s nice to make your acquaintance.” Alan grabbed her hand and gave it a light shake.

This seems to have put Reina in a very starry mood.

“Hello, mister! I’m Hana. thankyou for inviting me this time” Hana introduced herself. Bowing lightly when thanking him.

“Oh, right! Thank you, mister Alan.” Reina followed suit, bowing her head.

“Hello. It’s nice to make your acquaintance. And you are welcome, Hana, Reina.”

Erika gave Alan a slight bow to greet him. I had already briefed Alan on her condition, so he wouldn’t find it rude for her to only do so.

“Erika, was it? It’s nice to make your acquaintance.”

Last to introduce themself, the owner approached Alan and extended his hands.

“Mister Alan. I thank you for inviting my daughter and her friends for this trip. I understand that it had been your original intention to invite only Oliver. But you had taken the trouble to set up an extra spot for an additional person.”

Alan grabbed his extended hand firmly. “Please, owner. I should thank them for helping with filling the spots that had been left abruptly empty. My reservation would have gone to waste if not for them. Just one more spot is no trouble at all.”

“Mister Alan, Oliver. Have you two had breakfast yet?” The owner asked after letting go of Alan’s hand.

“I’m afraid not, I had planned to get an early lunch at the ferry.”

We meant to ride a ferry to the island resort and eat lunch on it.

“That simply cannot do!” The owner took a quick look towards the clock.

There’s still a little time before our planned time to depart.

“Please take a seat, I will cook you a quick breakfast. It’s the least I could do.”

“Well then, I will gladly take you up on that offer, owner.

“Thank you.”

Although I feel undeserving of this meal since I hadn’t contributed anything to the trip, unlike Alan, the owner had insisted for me to eat with Alan, and I couldn’t refuse him.

“Right this way.” Hana said, beckoning us to Erika’s usual table.

Once at the table, I took my seat, across from Erika's usual seat, and Alan made way to sit across from me, but I held him back and beckoned him to sit beside me. Thankfully, he caught on quickly and took the seat next to mine.

Erika then took her usual seat, Hana beside her. And Reina had taken a seat from another table to sit on the end of the table.

We talked for a while, mostly the girls asking Alan about his work. Reina was especially vigorous with her question because she was starstruck.

After a few minutes had passed, the owner came from the back and placed a simple scrambled egg on toast on the table for me and Alan.

Once we were done eating, Alan stood up to pay, but the owner declined it. Saying that the breakfast was nothing as he had taken his daughter and her friends on a vacation.

Well, that was all Alan, so I had to pay.

But just as I was about to pay, the owner just said this to me. “Young man, connection can hold more power than money ever can.”

Guess I’m not meant to pay either. I do feel bad though.

It’s then about time the cafe opens for the day.

With the owner sending us off from outside the cafe, we hit the road.

The car ride was very comfortable. As expected of a luxury SUV. Though I guess it wasn’t very comfortable for Alan, the driver. Mostly because a starstruck fan is interrogating him with a barrage of questions.

He did his best to explain to them what he does without revealing any confidential information about his work. Which means he can’t say too much about his current and upcoming projects. So, they asked about his past. Or more precisely, ours.

“So how did you and mister Oliver get to know each other?”

“We met at a hotel bar.”

“By coincidence? Do you usually make friends at bars?”

“Well, a bar is a social place, so it’s not unusual for people to make friends at a bar. But I would say it’s a little different.”

“How so?”

“He’s drunk.” I interjected.

“Haha. That’s a blunt way to say it. But yes, I tend to get very talkative when I’m drunk, and at that time, Oliver was there to..”

“To be your victim.”

“Haha. Yeah, well, and things just snowballed from there, I guess.”

“Hmm. So, you only got to know each other recently?”

“No, that was a few years back.”

“But you only moved here this spring, mister Oliver.”

“I came here a few times as a tourist, that’s when we met.”

“So, you do travel often, mister Oliver!”

“From time to time.”

Eventually, we made it to the docks and found the ferry we would be taking to the island.

The ferry itself is not very large, but it looks quite grand. Alan must have gone for a pricier one.

After parking Alan’s car, we made our way towards the ferry, just in time to board it.

Because we’re with Alan, we’re able to skip the line and immediately board the ferry. It’s the VIP treatment.

“Whooaaa! This is so cool! I’ve never been on a ferry before.” Reina exclaimed, leaning onto the railing, looking out towards the sea.

“I’ve rode a few boats before, but not a ferry like this.” Hana followed.

Erika leaned unto the railing with the other two, while Alan and I stood a little further back from them.

“Hey, I don’t think I’ve properly thanked you yet. You even got us a pricey ride.”

“Don’t worry about it. I practically forced you into this anyway. And this wasn’t that expensive.”

“You say that, but I don’t think people usually reserve rooms on a ferry for a three-hour ride.”

“Maybe. Well, you’re welcome. But I have been wanting to spend some time with you. I’d like you to think of me more as a friend.”

“Why? If it’s because of me helping you, I already told you that I didn’t even mean to do that.”

“Maybe that’s what you make of it. But you were at the right place at the right time for me. Besides, I do like you as a person. The higher you go, the harder it gets to find people like you.”

“Well. thank you, I guess.”

Alan gave me a light jab on the side.

“They have a pool here!” Reina exclaimed, noticing the jumping board on the upper deck. “Let’s check it out!”

We didn’t go for a swim, as we had to first change into our swimsuit, and the girls felt like it was a waste of time that could instead be spent looking around the rest of the boat.

Also, they could go swimming on the beach once we had arrived anyway.

We finished exploring most of the boat before lunch. Reina and Hana had seemed very interested in some stores, but the price tag turned them away.

At lunchtime, we all went to the ferry’s restaurant and had a meal.

They served extravagant full course meals, and the girls were all very happy about the food.

They also ate very excitedly. So much that it would have been quite embarrassing, if not for the fact that Alan had gotten us a private room.

We actually meant to have lunch at a regular table, but Alan had caused a little commotion just by walking into the restaurant, so we were escorted to a private room instead.

I’m starting to think that Alan had actually meant it when he said that this trip wasn’t actually that expensive.

Once we had finished eating, we went to our rooms.

Alan had reserved two rooms, each with two beds, but we won’t be using the beds as we’ll only be riding for three hours. We didn’t even use one of the rooms.

We talked and chatted for the last hour of the ride, and the hour quickly passed while we listened to Reina and Hana mostly talking to each other.

Hana would sometimes bring the conversation to the rest of us, especially Erika. But Erika seems to be avoiding quite some conversation as she sits, looking a little tense.

Just then, a staff member knocked on our door to inform us that we would be arriving at the resort shortly.

We immediately grabbed all our luggage, and Reina excitedly dragged us to the deck so we could see the island.

Leaning on the side railing, we could see the entirety of the island resort. Reina wanted to get a better look, and tried to move further in front, but a crowd had already gathered on the frontmost part of the deck. It was a small island with only one large building in the centre, most likely the hotel we’ll be staying at, along with a dozen small houses by the beach.

Soon after, we safely docked, and after a short preparation, we were allowed to get off the boat.

Just as it had been when we boarded, we were given priority to get off the boat.

Once off, we were immediately escorted by the hotel staff that had been awaiting our arrival.

Contrary to my expectation, we were not escorted to the hotel. It appears that Alan had in fact not booked two rooms for us, but he had instead gotten a villa with two rooms.

Maybe because they shared my expectations, Reina and Hana’s mouth dropped to the ground, as their luggage literally did.

“You can’t say this isn’t expensive, Alan.”

He nudged my arm slightly. “Well, let's go inside, shall we?”

“Yes, sir!” Reina excitedly ran to the villa, leaving her luggage behind.

“Wh- Reina! Your bag!” Hana called out to her.

I noticed Erika beside Hana, not looking very excited, unlike the other two girls who are absolutely beaming.

Come to think of it, she seems even more quiet than usual. She’s always been quiet, but she’d never been this quiet before, almost like she’s making herself as unnoticeable as possible.

“Erika, what’s wrong?” I called out to her. “You don’t like this kind of place?”

Erika looked at me and shook her head lightly. She then put her bag down, and reached for her phone, but Hana came over and offered to translate for her instead. Erika then signed something to Hana.

“No. I really like it. It has been so fun.”

I can tell that she’s not lying. I did see that she was pretty excited when we had just boarded the ferry, and I noticed her relishing lunch, albeit not as excitedly as Hana and Reina had.

Come to think of it, Erika has been pretty quiet ever since we left the cafe. She even seems a little tense, and it kind of reminds me of how she was acting when we just met each other.

I tried to recall what happened today that could have troubled her since leaving Cafe Million, but nothing came to mind about what could possibly have caused her any discomfort.

Something else did come to mind, though. She has been distancing herself from Alan and me for almost this entire trip. Just as she was always on guard around me the first few times we met.

At the time, I thought that she might be scared of me because it seemed like I was stalking her, but maybe not?

“Sorry if I’m being too blunt. But are you scared of men?”

Erika froze.

“Hey, Oliver!”

“Sorry! Sorry.. Um, Erika, I’m really sorry. I hadn’t noticed until now. I apologize if I have made you uncomfortable.” Erika seems surprised at this. “You don’t have to force yourself if you’re not comfortable with me and Alan. I’ll try to keep it in mind too. I’m sure Alan wouldn’t mind either. I’ll tell him later, so you can enjoy yourself with Hana and Reina.”

After I had finished saying what I needed to say, I promptly made my way inside the villa, so as to not cause any more discomfort to Erika.

I’m not that close to her, so I don’t know what her situation is.

She might have some sort of trauma that’s troubling her. In which case, it’s best to just stay out of it.

I don’t have the qualification to help her and might just cause more harm by trying to help.

As I thought that, Erika suddenly grabbed my hand to stop me in my tracks.

I looked back at her and found her staring at our hands with bated breath, trembling all the while.

“Erika?” Hana rushed to her side, holding her by her shoulders.

Erika looked down on our hand for a little more time, before eventually easing her grip, and letting go of my hand.

She then took her bag off her shoulders and took her phone from inside the bag. Still trembling a little, and breathing haphazardly, she typed something on her phone.

Then, my phone rang with a new notification in my pocket. I fished my phone out and opened Erika’s chat.

“I don’t mind if it’s you.”

I turned to face her.

For some time, I just looked at her while she stared at her phone. “Um, sorry. I don’t quite know what I should say at a time like this.” After I said that, Erika finally averted her sight from the ground to look up to me. “Thank you. I’ll try my best to not bother you.”

I think that everyone has a trauma of some sorts. Some are less troubling than others, but nonetheless, there is something that people don't usually open up about to others. They are scared to get hurt even more by opening up to others. The few people that they can open up to without worry are people they can call a ‘friend’.

As Erika had just indirectly confirmed her trauma to me, I consider her to have accepted me as her friend. For her that had accepted me as a friend, I’d like to try my best to be a good friend. One who helps her to overcome or at least lessen the pain from her trauma.