= Chris POV =

  When I arrived home, I hesitated a bit. I had picked up some sushi from a sushi restaurant down the street from Jun’s Café, and I had the pastries from Hana, plus the roses…was this enough to make things up with Sarah? I had been neglecting her for so long. Even as roommates, this was a little much. I should have checked in after demanding her to adhere to my requests and even sleep in my bed.

  I sighed and unlocked the door and pushed it open. The house was awash in the te afternoon sun, and I walked in to see if Sarah had left a bag of pastries on the table. I heard the shower running and realized Sarah must have been in the bathroom.

  I put my stuff on the table beside hers and went to the room to change. I didn’t like lounging around in my office wear, so I changed into a pair of shorts and a loose T-shirt. I sat down on the couch and waited for Sarah, and Doom scrolled on my phone in the meantime.

  Sarah returned to the bathroom soon after, drying her hair with a towel. She too had chosen shorts and a T-shirt, and although it wasn’t the most stylish, I had seen her, she looked really cute.

  “Hi umm, thanks for earlier. Ruby tends to get a bit too zealous when trying to get us to taste her experimental recipes,” Sarah said with a sheepish smile.

  “Oh yeah, right. We were in the same year at culinary school, so I’m familiar with her zealousness. Thankfully, we are of simir build, so it’s a lot harder for her to get me to eat her stuff,” I replied. “Also, I didn’t realize that you worked there; I bought you these flowers to celebrate; congratutions on getting a job!” I smiled, holding out the bouquet to her.

  A slow smile spread across Sarah’s face as she walked over and accepted my flowers.

  “Wow, thank you. It’s been a long time since I received flowers from someone,” she said and took a deep whiff of them. She looked so lovely standing there in the dying sunlight, her face framed by the bouquet. I wanted so badly to grab her just as Ruby did but for very different reasons.

  I coughed and decided to change the subject.

  “I guess this means you will be paying rent soon?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Of course, I didn’t expect her to pay rent right away; I was just hoping to think of anything other than how great she looked in that t-shirt.

  Sarah sighed and turned sharply, going into the kitchen and grabbing a vase off the shelf. She untied the soft paper wrapping that kept the bouquet together, and after filling the vase with water, she pced the flowers inside and brought the vase to the window/isnd, where she put it in the center, making it a lovely table piece.

  She then marched to her room, where, after a while, she returned with a notepad and pen.

  “So, I’ve done the math, and I still can’t afford the room. My pay is only ￥210,000, and after taxes and bills, it amounts to this month” she said and showed me the numbers she had scribbled down on the page.

  I nodded in agreement, secretly pleased that she couldn’t afford her room yet. Then I furrowed my brow…why was I pleased…shouldn’t I want her to pay for the room? I had been stressing about it all week…

  “I know I know, I’m such a useless person. Even with a job I still can’t make rent. I can cover the storage unit though, so I guess I’ll move back to my room. After I get my first pay, I’ll transfer you the money, and every month after that,” Sarah said, flopping down next to me on the couch. “ I really am trying hard, I hope you see that. You didn’t even reply to me once when I sent you all those messages”

  I bit my lip. “I’m sorry; I guess I’ve just been so out of it,” I said as I came over and sat next to her on the couch.

  “ I got promoted, by the way, so I guess my absence paid off slightly. Because now I can umm…take care of more of your expenses easily” I said, trying to expin my absence in a positive way

  Sarah said and smiled, taking my hand in hers and squeezing it, “Really? Did you make assistant chef? You have been dreaming of that position for ages! Congratutions!” Sarah beamed, grabbing my hand and squeezing it “I’m so proud of you”

  Feeling Sarah’s small hand in mine made my heart skip a beat. I wanted to hold her, so badly. I just want –

  “Can I make a request?” I asked.

  “Anything,” Sarah smiled, but her smile faulted as she realized she had offered a bit too open-ended a response.

  “I just want to hug you,” I said.

  “Awe, of course,” Sarah said and began to open her arms, then stopped, and her hand went to her throat. “Except, are you going to be redeeming another strike? I must go to work; it wouldn’t be a good look…” she said, worried.

  “No, no strikes today. We both have done so good for ourselves, I just want one hug, and that’s it, I promise” I reassured her, blushing a little as I remembered how I got a little carried away the st time.

  “Then come here” Sarah smiled and opened her arms up again.

  I folded into that embrace immediately. Snuggling up against her chest like a cat. She hugged me tight, and I rested my head against her shoulder. Sarah smelt so good, like peaches and cream.

  “ I’m so proud of you, Sarah. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you much st week. With the new job position, I will be able to see you more, and hopefully, we can hang out more as well,” I said into her shoulder.

  “And I’m proud of you too! Look at you, rising the culinary dder as always, keep going and you might be running your own café like Ms. Jun” Sarah said proudly, patting me on the head.

  “Urrghh…Ruby” I groaned and pushed myself out of Sarah’s embrace.

  “You really don’t like her, do you?” Sarah said, sitting cross-legged on the couch and reaching for a bun from her little bag of baked goods.

  “It’s not that I don’t like her. It’s just that while I had to work hard for everything I achieved, that trust fund bunny had everything handed to her. She is only the CEO of the café because I didn’t have time after college to py café owner. Heather and Ruby both had the capital while I had my savings. I own 20% of the shares of that café so I could open up my own pce anytime I wanted; I just don’t have the time or the financial prowess that Ruby or Heather have, respectively,” I said, grumbling a bit.

  Sarah reached out and rubbed my arm “There, you don’t have to be so sour about it. Both Heather and Ruby are working their hardest; I can see them trying every day, and so are you! All three of you are giving it your all. You should come down and maybe be more involved if you feel left out”

  “I don’t feel left out!” I excimed, then I sat back “Do I?”. It had never really crossed my mind, but yeah, after all these years, while Heather and Ruby were literally living the dream, I was still slogging away for someone else’s, as usual.

  I shook my head “Anyway, today was supposed to be your day, so today, you get to request me. What would you like me to do, for you?” I asked, turning to Sarah.

  Sarah smiled a little, thinking, “A request? Can I request anything?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Anything within my power”

  Sarah then csped her hands together and smiled. “I request to have my best friend back, just until the end of the day”.