Let Me Comfort You

Today I was meeting Ichigo in the coffee shop, I already know what she was going to say to me but I want to hear her side of the story as well. I wore a black T-shirt, grey sweatpants, and white trainers I honestly didn’t care about my appearance all too much.

We were supposed to meet up at 1 pm and I got here 5 minutes early, so I went ahead and ordered the ice creams for the both of us, but I wanted to be a little different so I got us two scoops of Strawberry and Cherry ice cream each. Ichigo arrived a few minutes later.

“Sorry, sorry, sorry, I’m sorry,” she sputtered as she sat down.

She was wearing a grey t-shirt and black leggings, her hair was up in a ponytail, and as usual, mascara was on her lashes and gloss on her lips.

“It’s okay, Ichigo. Relax,” I chuckle.

I slide the small cup with the ice creams in across the table towards her.

“Oh My God, you ordered them,” she sighed with a slight pout.

“Yeah,” I shrugged.

“I thought I was gonna pay this time,” she huffed.

“Ahh you can treat me to something else,” I winked.

“Like what?” she asked before digging into her ice cream.

I subtly made a gesture towards my lips and watched as her eyes widened and cheeks reddened. I laughed as she looked around and sent me a glare.

“What’s the matter, Ichigo?” I asked, innocently.

She proceeded to glare at me while I gave her a toothy grin.

“What?” she asked.

“What, what?” I asked.

“Why are you making that face?” she leaned back slightly.

“Oh nothing, you just look cute when you’re mad,” I winked.

“Oh really?” she scoffed.

I nod and eat my ice cream.

“Well maybe I should annoy you more often,” she shrugged.

“Why?” I ask.

“Oh no reason, you just look cute when you’re annoyed,” she winks.

I smirk and look at the girl across from me, looking all innocent. Innocent my ass!

“Strawberries and Cherries work well together,” I say.

Ichigo stops to look at me mid-bite. She looks down at the ice cream in the small cup in front of her, both scoops of ice cream were slightly blending the two flavours in a puddle of deliciousness.

“Yeah, the flavours work well,” she smiles.

“Hmm, if only our Dads could work just as well,” I commented making her look up at me abruptly.

“W-what?” she choked.

I gave her a half smile, “I knew exactly what you wanted to talk to me about.”

“Oh,” she looked surprised

I stayed quiet as I knew she wanted to say something, she kept opening her mouth and closing it before she sighed and looked up at me, hesitantly.

“Do you know the whole story? I only know some,” she asked.

“Tell me what you know and I’ll tell you what I know,” I told her.

“Well, I know that they used to be best friends, and due to the different ideas, they came up with for their Winery they had a falling out,” she shrugged.

“Ha! Well, that’s the truth but partially,” I told her. “The real reason they had a falling out was because of MY Dad, he told your Dad that he would agree to the Strawberry flavour but went behind your Dad’s back and started selling cherry flavoured Wine on the side. When your Dad found out he broke away from the Partnership they formed.”

Ichigo was quiet for a few seconds, “Wow. And here I thought that it was MY Dad’s fault.”

“Why would you think that?” I asked.

“I don't know, I guess because my Dad's the type to think his way is the right way,” she shrugs.

“Ah, I see,” I nod, understanding truth be told my Dad's the same.

Ichigo nods, “Yeah, sometimes I think that he thinks we're against him too, which is why he's created this distance, in front of the world we're this big happy family but in reality, we're pretty broken. So broken that I don't even think my Dad cares about us anymore!”

“Oh, I don’t think that’s true. Every Dad cares about his kids,” I reassure her.

She lets out a laugh which sounds almost… painful.

“Yeah right! He doesn’t know jack-shit about me. He doesn’t know how old I am, he doesn’t know when my birthday is, but you bet your bottom dollar he knows how to sell those damn Wines to even the toughest clients!” she says, annoyed.

I wait for her to carry on, by the sounds of it she has a lot on her chest and I want her to vent, I don’t know how long she’s been keeping this in, but I’m determined to get her to release the pain.

“You know for a girl her Dad’s her hero, the one who she can always rely on. My Dad’s not like that, I can never rely on him for anything sometimes I feel like he doesn’t care about me. I used to think all Dads were like that until I saw how they were around their daughters, how they would protect them and threaten any boy that came near them,” she chuckled through the tears.

“Ichigo,” I whispered.

She sniffed and laughed wiping her tears, “I’m sorry, this is so stupid! I should be used to it by now but I see the way he treats Sara and the way he treats me like I get it she’s young but please stop coddling her! And God forbid I call her a brat or spoilt, my Mother’s on my case then, giving me a lecture on how I’m putting her down and causing her to be depressed! I’m sorry but that girl doesn’t know anything about depression at least she’s not crying herself to sleep every fucking night!”

I’ve grabbed a bottle of water by the time she’s completed her rant, I pass her a tissue so she can wipe her tears and slightly smudged mascara.

“I-I didn’t realise how bad you’ve got it,” I told her, softly.

“I didn’t even tell you about Sara yet, but don’t worry I think I’ve bugged you enough with my issues,” she laughed.

“Tell me,” I urge her.

“What?” she asks.

“Tell me, I want to hear everything. I want to be here for it all; the good, the bad, and the ugly, I want to be the one to dry your tears and then make you laugh until you forget your pain,” I’m being serious.

Ichigo looks at me surprised, “Why?”

“Because I want you to vent all your anger, frustration, and sadness to feel better and finally genuinely be happy,” I tell her, sincerely. “So now tell me what your sister does.”

Ichigo looks taken aback before she starts, “She just… she’s just really annoying and is always making me feel bad about the things that I like and embarrasses me more than anything and whenever I tell her to leave me alone, or if I ever tell her to ‘Shut up’ or call her a ‘Brat’ she goes running to our Mum who then proceeds to yell at me.”

I’m holding her hand in mine and gently squeezing it, hoping it gives her a little bit of comfort.

“It’s not fair, you know. I’m always trying to be the best for them, I try never to let them down. Sometimes I hate being the eldest I feel this unbelievable pressure that if I’m not perfect then I’m a disappointment,” she says, sadly.

Once I know she’s finished I take her chin between my forefinger and thumb and gently tilt her head up to make her look at me.

“You have no idea how badly I want to whisk you away from here and take you somewhere you won’t have to see them again. That’s not how family are supposed to treat you! I’m not close with my Dad either but I know that I have my brother and Mum, I used to think that I have it bad you have it way worse… no offence” I quickly add.

She shakes her head with a laugh, “None taken, what’s the situation between you and your Dad?”

I sigh, “My Dad wants my brother and I to join the Winery. My brother already has but not by consent, he wanted to be a Musician, you know write songs, perform them, go on tours all that good stuff.”

“So, he gave up on his dream?” Ichigo asked.

“Nope, instead he practices with his band in the garage which we’ve soundproofed! Dad never goes in the garage because we have our drivers so we thought that was the safest option,” I laughed.

“Okay good. I would’ve been so disappointed if he gave up on his dream. But what about you? What’s your dream?” she asks.

I think hard, “Truth is I don’t know what I want to do.”

“I have a feeling what you might be,” Ichigo says, looking at me with a smile.

“Oh yeah? Pray tell,” I look at her.

She shakes her head, “If I tell you then I will be depriving you of the satisfaction of figuring it out on your own.”

“Why are you talking in riddles now?” I sigh.

She doesn’t say anything and just smiles, it’s not a fake smile but a truly genuine smile, and looking at her like that makes my heart skip a beat. Ichigo waves her hand in front of my face breaking my trance.

“Hey, Romeo,” she chuckles.

“Yes, Juliet?” I ask, grinning.

“Juliet? Why Juliet?” she asks.

“Well, you just called me Romeo, and Romeo was with Juliet, so if I’m Romeo then you’re my Juliet, right?” I say.

She blinks and looks at me.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone say Romeo and Juliet so many times in the same sentence,” she giggles.

“Yeah, that was a bit much,” I chuckle.

“Hey, if you think about it our story is a bit like Romeo and Juliet with the whole our family rival thing,” I point out.

“Oh yeah,” Ichigo laughs.

“But do you think it might end that way?” she then asks.

“No, it won’t because at the end of the day, we’re not stupid and we’re not going to kill ourselves just because our families don’t approve!” I assure her.