Coming Over

We made our way toward the station, and I took out my phone as we walked, briefly checking it. There was a mild argument in one of my group chats which amused me greatly - mostly because both sides had no idea what the hell they were on about.

“Hey, Yorito,” Una said, leaning over to view my phone again. I slid the phone into my pocket before she could. “I heard you baked something really good the day I was away. Why didn’t you wait until I was in?!”

I scratched my head. “Well, to be honest… I didn’t know if it’d be good or popular. I just make stuff and hope people like it. As long as it’s passable, then anything better is a bonus.”

“You have such an extremely low bar,” Una replied in a mocking tone.

“Why else do you think I’m walking to the station with you?”

She punched me lightly on the arm, and I decided not to say anything after that, slightly worrying that I’d upset her. But before I had time to stew in the awkwardness, she continued the conversation.

“Why don’t you make another lemon tart at the cafe tomorrow? That way I can try some. As a sort of apology for saying something so rude.”

I raised an eyebrow. “We aren’t working tomorrow, remember? The Shimizus said they were going to take Hideki on a trip.”

“Huh, I don’t think I got the memo. I suppose they told you before I got in… Hm, do you bake at home?”

I blushed a little from embarrassment. “Uh, yeah. With my mum.” I looked at her face, which seemed to find some sort of amusement in the idea that I was baking cakes with my mum.

“Look, it’s just like a family bonding activity. It’s not cringy to do baking with your mum. Everyone did that stuff during lockdown.”

“Right. Well, uh,” she said, trying to keep a straight face. “Why don’t I come over and help you make one of those lemon tarts so I can try it?”

I scratched my head. “Uuh, I’d need to ask my mum. Without even a day’s notice.”

Her eyes squinted. “How early do you ask your mum for permission to bring someone over? Do you get a form stamped a month in advance? Do you have an in-depth review process based on-”

“Fine, fine,” I grumbled, waving my hand dismissively with one hand and taking my phone out with the other. “I’ll send her a text now, and I can message you tomorrow. Should we exchange contacts?”

Una took out her phone. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

The next morning I was able to sleep in a bit, freed from any school or work obligations. It was nice to open my eyes lazily as the sun peeked through the window, and the warm covers wrapped around me. Still half-asleep, my eyes scanned around the room. The bookshelf was beautifully ordered: Sorted by author, book type, and arranged into neat and beautiful rows. The only eyesore was the paperback in the sea of hardbacks, which made my eyebrow twitch slightly. Mustering up some strength, I clumsily pulled myself out of bed, and grabbed the book off the shelf, before slinking back under my covers and opening it.

Much to my interest - and soon disappointment - I read a section of the book which outlined the actual cannons used on Portuguese ships of the era. After looking at the diagram, I stretched myself out of bed, and approached my ship model. Upon closer inspection, the cannons I made were definitely from a later era, and not appropriate for this ship. I’d need to adjust them at some point so they looked right. Eugh. At least I hadn’t painted them yet.

My phone roared with the absolutely cacophonous default ringtone, and I tiredly smashed my hands around until I finally caught hold of it, and answered the call.

“Euuuugh,” I grumbled.

“Who is this?” the voice on the other end called.

“You’re the one who called me, I should be asking you the same thing.”

The voice on the phone started to sound annoyed. “No, it’s etiquette to say your name first when someone calls you so they know they have the right number.”

I rolled my eyes. I was starting to wake up, and I quickly realised only one person would hit me with such needless snark in the morning. “Good morning, Una. Yamasaki Yorito calling.”

“You didn’t respond to my texts. Did you even ask your mum last night?”

I felt my heart rate increase. “Uhm.” I’d totally forgotten to ask her about my text, and she didn’t bring it up yesterday evening! I felt like a bit of an idiot, but I didn’t want her to know.

“Did you forget?”

“No,” I lied.

“Then what did she say?”

“Er,” I replied. “She went to sleep early and she didn’t check her messages. But I’ll ask her now and see if she’s okay with you visiting. Byebye.”

Without waiting for a response, I clicked the End Call button, and decided to get changed. I realised I didn’t really have many nice outfits, seeing as I basically never hang out with people in my spare time. That, and the fact that most people who look at me are usually put off long before they see what I’m wearing. After freshening up, I slid my door open. My mum was sitting in the kitchen.

“Good morning, Yorito,” she said with a smile. “Were you calling someone?”

I raised an eyebrow. “You heard the conversation?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “These walls are really thin, remember?”

“Oh yeah. My brain is still half asleep.” I yawned and stretched, and sat down. “By the way mum, the girl from the cafe wants to come over and have us make the lemon tart. She got a bit curious because it went down really well, but she wasn’t there to taste it.”

My mum’s expression turned more mournful. “Oh, the girl who doesn’t like you? You know, it sounds a bit like she’s using you. Besides, when you mean “us” making the tart, do you mean-”

“I mean you and me,” I interrupted. “I’ve kept putting it off and I’m sorry, okay? I don’t really spend time with you anyway, so I’m not going to keep delaying us spending some time together. She really wanted to come and try it, so…”

My mum smiled when I said those words, and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Well, I’m happy you’re trying to do stuff with me. But really, you shouldn’t invite her unless you really want her to. You know how some people are. They make fun of you and just act nice enough so they can get what they want. I don’t want people hurting you like that, okay?”

I grumbled. “Mum, I can take care of myself. But, I get it. It’s fine, though. Una is pretty reasonable. I think she’s joking most of the time.”

My mum didn’t sound convinced. “Well, okay. She can come over. But seriously, if she tries anything, she has to leave. You just let me know right away”

I nodded lazily, and reached into my pocket for my phone. I wrote a text message with my thumb under the table, pretending to listen to my mum’s worried lecture.

“She says yes. Come over whenever.”