Today Was a Good Day

My mum called from the other side of the door.

“Yorito, are you going to shut yourself in until dinnertime?”

I inhaled and exhaled deeply. The evening had made me think about a lot of things. I think I’d probably been a bit harsh on Una. Honestly, I'd surprised myself that I was getting a little upset about the situation, because that isn’t really like me. I thought shutting the door to get lost in something for a while would clear my head.

“I’ve already eaten mum, but,” I paused, opening my bag and reaching for the book and sliding it into the shelf. “I’ll come out for tea in a bit. I just need to think.”

I knew that my dad didn’t mean any harm by not seeing me - he was just busy. It was just disappointing not going to the art exhibition with him. More importantly, having Una pick it apart was incredibly annoying.

But the worst part of the night, and the reason why I was feeling so strange, was actually not because I was angry or upset. I may have lingered on those feelings a little, but by the time I got home, I knew not to take my dad’s absence personally. The issue was actually because, in between her uncultured explanations of why all the art I like is uninspired and her careless responses during dinner, I actually enjoyed the evening. That’s the worst feeling. Enjoying the company of someone who doesn’t know what a carrack is.

I slid my door open, having changed into something more comfortable, and looked at my mum. Her eyes didn’t seem energetic at all, and she was holding back a frown. But when we made eye contact, her face contorted into a smile - her eyes still lacking in energy like before.

“Hey Yorito. So you want tea after all?”

I wrapped my arms around her, and squeezed tightly. “I love you mum.”

She seemed a little taken aback, but then she pulled me tighter. “I love you too. You’re going to sit down with me, aren’t you?”

“Yeah!”

I sat down by the table, and watched the steam flow out from the cups of tea. I looked my mum in the eye, and she forced another smile.

“It’s really bad of your dad to bail on you like that. I’m really disappointed in him.”

I made something close to a grin. “Well, I made the most of the situation, so it doesn’t really matter. And he got me a book and some trainers”

She made a relieved sigh. “I’m glad you’re able to push through on these sorts of things. You’re a lot better than me at handling it all. Did he not give you those tickets you asked for, then?”

“Oh, he did. I invited that girl from my work to come with me, not that she really cared for it much.”

“Oh no.” My mum took a sip of tea. “You mean that cruel one who won’t even look at you?”

I laughed a little. “Well, perhaps calling her cruel is a bit harsh. Perhaps, strange and abrasive is a better choice of words. But yes, that one. And she still can’t bear to look at me”

My mum couldn’t help but laugh for about three seconds. “Strange and abrasive? I don’t really think that’s much better.”

We both laughed a little bit at the absurdity of the situation, and I stretched a little. My tea was still too hot for me to sip without potentially hurting my jaw if I slipped, but I was just happy to sit down with my mum after all the chaos.

“Mum, I have a sort of weird question,” I asked, rotating the cup on the table idly as I got lost in the grooves indented on the ceramic.

“Uh,” she replied, pausing for a second. “Do you need to borrow more money for paints?”

“Shut up,” I snapped sarcastically, trying - and failing - to conceal my laughter at her response. “No, no, it’s. It’s about, well, do you ever find annoying people kind of… nice to be around sometimes?”

My mum seemed intrigued by the question. “I’m not quite sure what you mean?”

I wiped my forehead, slightly embarrassed by what I was saying. “Well, I don’t really know. Normally you like people because they’re nice and they like what you like, and they support everything you do. But is it a thing where someone seems like they don’t really care about anything you care about, and they seem like they don’t care about you at all, and yet you think it’s sort of… interesting?”

My mum raised an eyebrow. “Was your dad talking about me much?”

I cautiously reached for my cup. “No, he never talks about you, really.”

She seemed unconvinced. “You know, your dad used to say I was like that. You shouldn’t really believe everything he tells you about me, if that’s what he’s doing.”

“So, hypothetically, it’s a thing,” I confirmed, slightly relieved my mum was totally on the wrong track with her guesses. I could have stopped my dad from getting thrown under the bus here, but when it comes to the choice of either preventing mild embarrassment or defending the reputation of your literal father, you can probably blame me for not clearing up the situation.

Then again, if he wanted me to clear the air, he shouldn’t have bought me a paperback.

“Well,” she said. “I think if you genuinely like someone despite thinking they don't care about you, then I think maybe you're reading it wrong. Your subconscious is probably telling you that they do enjoy your company, even if it doesn't seem like that."

I took a sip of my now-cool tea. I savoured her words a little, and thought briefly.

"Yeah," I said. "Perhaps you're right."

We spent the rest of the evening talking about my new book, by which I mean that I spent the evening talking and my mum spent the evening listening. The next day at school was fairly typical, except for the fact somebody accidentally knocked my drink over. They apologised profusely and bought me a replacement, meaning I got 1 and a half drinks for the price of one. Today was a good day.

After work, I made my way to the cafe, where Mr. Shimizu was the first to greet me. He was busy cleaning the tables outside, which puzzled me as it wasn't normally his job.

"Hello Mr. Shimizu," I said, looking at the tables. "Would you like me to clean those for you? I thought Una would be doing that."

He smiled. "She's not in today. Don't worry, you can go bake something like usual - do you have anything interesting planned?"

I nodded. "A lemon tart for today. I think Mrs. Shimizu said we had the ingredients."

Mr. Shimizu nodded. "I'll leave it to you then. No point you serving customers when you have work to do in the kitchen!"

On a normal day, Mr. Shimizu would normally help out around the back when things got busy, so it was slightly hectic. Yet in another sense, it felt rather empty. I was used to Una occasionally floating into the kitchen with dirty plates, only to criticise me for not cleaning the cutlery fast enough. So having Mr. Shimizu trying to wash the dishes himself made me feel a pang of guilt. I even offered to do it for him, but he gestured dismissively, and said that I was far too busy with my work.

In a sense, he was right. I hadn't made one of these tarts in a while, and I was in a bit of a situation where I wasn't quite sure if I'd done everything right. After some frantic whisk action, I figured I had saved the day, and the tart came out just fine. In fact, the Shimizu couple were leaning over me as I was waiting for it to cool, and were eager to have the first slice.

To say it was a success would be an understatement: they were both blown away, and I certainly was as well. Even though it wasn't too busy today, the whole thing was gone in just about two hours. I was cleaning up for the night when Mrs. Shimizu came into the kitchen with a smile.

"It was quite busy here, but you did well! I guess you know how it's like when we only have three people working here!"

I smiled. "Yeah. I guess I never realised how much she does around here. We had a good run with the tart though!"

Mrs. Shimizu nodded warmly. "Hmm, yes! It went down a treat! I think everyone wanted a second slice. It's good to have you around."

I leaned back against the counter with a smile. Making things with my mum had always been fun, but knowing that so many more people were enjoying my creations left a warm, fuzzy feeling inside my heart.

"I've pretty much cleaned the floor now, so I'll be heading off now, I think." She gave me a brief nod and I walked up to the clipboard to sign myself out.

It's like I said earlier: Today was a good day.