Bibi (part 1)

"Coming!"

Said Rebecca hearing the doorbell, as she walked quickly to the door to open it. It's Ken, slightly early for their date. He has an envelope in his hand but she doesn't seem to notice.

"Have a seat." She makes room for him to enter. "Take off your shoes." He does as he’s told.

"I know I've been here before but I haven't told you how really nice your apartment is."

"Thank you." She heads for the kitchen and he follows her, looking around.

"Do you want something to drink? I have orange juice. If you prefer something simpler, I have...water."

"Water will do." She nods and hands him a glass of water. "Mom made these. It's cold pasta, meatballs, and some peas." He places the envelope on the table. "Heat them up and eat them tonight."

"She shouldn't have bothered to do this..." She takes the containers out of the bag and looks at them before placing them on the table.

"Don't worry, she accidentally cooked extra for tonight and told me I could give you some. Let's begin now." She sighs.

"This way." She leads him to her bedroom. It’s quite a spacious room with a queen size bed near the left wall, a desk next to a balcony and a large wardrobe on the right.

"Nice room. The bed in particular is my favourite."

"You can sit on it." He was just waiting for her permission, and he throw himself on it.

"Give me your jacket." She says. He hands it to her and, after placing it on the chair, she too sits down on the bed next to him.

"Let's start with breathing." He says. She immediately sets her back straight and relaxes her shoulders. With closed eyes, she brings her attention to her breath, tuning in to its natural rhythm. She exhales through slightly parted lips, releasing the breath in a steady manner. She stays like this for at least five minutes.

"Good. I remind you that I'm not on our teacher level so I could do something wrong and I'll do this my way anyway. Start showing me how you express happiness and sadness. Improvise! Just go when you're ready."

She closes her eyes again and takes two long breaths before starting to act. A few tears begin to fall from her eyes.

"A-aunt! You can't leave me, please! I'd do anything! Stay with me, please, please! God, don't take her away from me too!" Tears now flow profusely as she looks at Ken with red eyes and trembling voice.

"Wow... I assume you're playing a niece at her aunt's bedside in an hospital?" She nods and then gets up and takes some tissues from one of the desk drawers.

"Impressive. But just to be on the safe side, now play a daughter visiting her recently deceased parents’ graves." She returns to where she was sitting before after wiping away her tears.

"Huh... give me a break with the sad scenarios."

"Just another one, I swear." He puts a hand over his heart jokingly.

She clears her throat before lowering her head. Ken can't see her eyes due to the bangs covering them. He has the silly thought that she might have fallen asleep standing up until he hears dull, trembling sounds coming from her mouth. She lifts her head slightly, just enough for Ken to see her watery eyes a second time.

“M-Mom… Dad… I miss you… so much…” She continues to sob.

"I-I don't know what to do without you... please... come back to me..."

A few seconds go by in which she continues to whimper and when Ken’s finally about to utter a word, she blows her nose, interrupting him. She wipes away her tears too.

"How was it?" She asks with red eyes from tears that stand out against her paleness.

"Truly phenomenal. You left me speechless."

"Thanks."

"By the way, when are your parents coming back? I don't want to be a burden or a problem for them."

"They’re at work, they usually come back late at night. So no problem, you won't even meet them."

"What are their jobs?"

"Dad owns a clothing company."

"Oh, cool. Sorry, I know nothing about clothing and stuff."

"Don't worry, me too. What job does your mom do?"

"The office clerk. She says it's very boring and she finds almost more fun to be a housewife. She can say weird things sometimes.” He pauses a bit before asking Rebecca a question “Is there a particular reason why you were called that?"

She looks at him curiously "Do you want to know the meaning of my name...?"

"If your parents thought about its meaning by choosing it."

"They...did. They chose a nice name to disguise the meaning..." She swallows.

"What do you mean?"

"...Nothing. Don't you like your full name? Since you call yourself 'Ken' and not 'Dicken'."

"I hate it. I hate it so much that once I'm old enough, I'll go change it right away."

"Really?" She chuckles.

"Of course. But back to your name. Rebecca is too long, can I call you by a nickname?"

"Do you really want to call me by a nickname? What do you have in mind?"

"How about… 'Bibi'? It's cute."

"It's really cute..." She smiles at him.

"Oh, back to us now."

"Yes."