Always Put A Smiley Face At The End Of The Message

It was midnight. Outside of Japan's parliament offices, there was peace and quiet. Inside the office, Akari was still doing work with Sachiko and preparing with him for different types of scenarios and for many tasks that Sachiko needed to do. Even though she finished the financial side of her job, she was now also Deputy to the Prime Minister. She was now stuck in the office with Sachiko, with him just keeping her there and working her hard.

"What if this happens?" he would ask slowly. For Akari, he was now like a sloth.

Akari would then give him solutions calmly.

Sachiko would listen carefully and would interrupt often, asking, "What if then this happened?" or "What could be done better? How could I look better, stronger in this situation? Or how can we mitigate consequences even better for these issues?"

Akari was finding solutions and proving her worth.

It was 4 after midnight, and Sachiko decided that they had done enough and that Akari was free to go now. He decided that he would work more and sleep in the office tonight.

Akari felt obligated to stay in the office as well, so she went to her new office near Sachiko's one, kept working, and sent him solutions to his questions, sending him mails and paperwork.

It was now 10 in the morning, and she looked at one notification on her phone from Toma that said, "You could have let me know that you won't come."

Akari sighed, head in her palms. Started writing: "Sorry, I was busy. I can come today if you want." She was thinking if she should send it.

Then a new message notification. Toma again.

"I hope you are okay?"

This message resonated with Akari. It was genuine worry, and now she felt bad about not letting him know and breaking her promise.

Toma messaged again.

"I am not mad about you not coming. Just let me know you are okay. You can come whenever you want."

Akari picked up her phone and rang up Toma right away.

"Hello, Shirakawa. I, I am... I mean, everything with me is fine. Don't worry. Sorry for not letting you know sooner. I had much work."

I picked up the call from Akari. I was really happy that she called. I was making fried eggs and put her on speaker so that I could season eggs and cut bacon.

Akari heard some weird noises in the background and continued, "I am really sorry once again. We can see each other today or any day you want."

I was even more happy now. "Yes, today works fine with me. I will be home. I can make something for dinner. Just let me know a little bit earlier before you arrive."

"Okay, I will be there today at 10."

"Nice."

"Toma, are you okay? I know we didn't really talk about..."

"I am well. I even think I will return to work soon. I got an offer for some mystery show. I had almost zero offers for romantic series and movies now that our relationship is out in public. But that is great because now I can focus on some cooler and more interesting stuff. I didn't want to be stuck in the romance genre acting forever, you know."

"Yes, that is great then. I am sorry if our fake relationship has caused issues for your work," Akari said, trying to be considerate.

I was sad about how she saw this relationship as fake, so I did the best thing in that situation possible. I said it.

"Ms. Akari, it makes me a little sad that you see this as a fake relationship. I really think that it could be more than that, but I understand if you want me to just act."

Akari was a little bit uncomfortable by this and started to speak a little unsure, struggling to find the right words, or so it seemed to me.

"You know, Toma, I am bad with emotions and things. I am not good at being close with someone. I need to think about my work and career."

"I accepted this fake marriage and everything. If you want for it to be fake, it can, but it also can be more. I am just here to try and offer you something more than this fakeness, than this fake world offers on every corner. With me, you will get real. I will not fake anything. I was hurt by my dad's death, and it was hard. I cried, even though I never cry. I was missing you, but I needed to deal with this passing and cry a little bit alone. Now I want to see you."

"Okay, I will be there tonight at 10."

"Okay, bye. Can't wait to see you, Ms. Asahina. Hehe."

"Bye, Mr. Shirakawa."

Whole day passed. 10 p.m. arrived.

Akari was with Sachiko working.

She went to the bathroom and sent Toma a message: "I will be late. I have much work, but I will be there."

Finally, she finished everything. It was 3 a.m. Exhausted, somewhat sweaty, and her body feeling heavy. Suddenly she remembered, Damn, I promised Toma to come.

She checked her phone, and there was a message:

"Even if it is middle of the night, don't worry. You can come if you want."

She wrote a message: "Can I come now?" Nervously, she pressed the send button.

The reply was almost instant: "Yes, and here is my address again if you need it, smiley face emoji."

Akari felt some relief with this. She didn't break her promise this time, and even if she did, she thought Toma would not be mad because she notified him on time.

She arrived at the address from the text with some taxi in which the driver was overly talkative and trying to race every car that would stand beside him.

Even when some old Japanese lady around 70 was in some old car, he would just hit the pedal to the metal, and looking at Akari in the mirror, he would say, "HA HA, that car didn't stand a chance."

Looking at the building that Toma's apartment was in, Asahina wondered what it would be on the inside. How does his apartment look like? Is it nice and clean?

Someone rang at my door. It was middle of the night. I knew it must be Ms. Akari. I opened the door, and I was not wrong... The prettiest sight that I have ever seen. Even dressed in a suit that looked just like a regular man's suit, Ms. Akari looked so feminine and gorgeous.

"Are you going to let me in or just stare at me?" Akari tried to make a joke.

"Ah, yes, of course. Please come in. I was not expecting you. Ha ha, I am joking."

"That is rude. You knew I would come. I don't fail twice, never." Akari said while admiring Toma's apartment cleanliness and also the sheer number of collectible items he had on the walls, neatly stored. Manga collection, figurines, some knives and stuff. There were so many interesting things, but they were not just thrown on the wall. They were all neatly organized.

"I said I was joking. I am over it, and my lasagna is over it as well. Ha ha. I made spaghetti now." With a big smile, I was trying to catch her eyes.

Akari looked at Toma and said, "Spaghetti sounds great."

"Great, let's eat then. Everything is ready."

They sat at the table, talked, ate, drank some orange juice. They talked about emotions, about their relationship. They were also listening to each other.

Akari, in the back of her head, thought, This is fun.

I lost track of time, but I had fun, and then I asked Akari about marriage, the wedding, when we would hold it, and so on.

She proposed a wedding planner with some dates.

"I agree. It is best for us to let a wedding organizer handle it."

I was thinking that it was getting kind of late, even more late than it already was. I didn't feel sleepy at all, but I just knew the whole night passed by the look through the window.

Then Ms. Akari asked something that I didn't really expect in a million years from her. I wasn't even sleepy, and this woke me up like I just put some coffee straight into my veins.

"Shirakawa, would you mind if I sleep here tonight?"