Let There Be Peace

Chapter 4

            "Paz called me last night and said she wants to meet up this morning," Keeho told Soul. "I'm not sure what this is about. I was going to see her on Friday. I'm not sure what the rush is," he wondered aloud.

"Mm," Soul grunted noncommittally.

"Dude, are you even listening to me?" Keeho asked, waving his hand in front of Soul's face.

"Yeah, I'm listening. You're meeting up with Paz. I heard that," he answered.

"I'll see you later, then," Keeho said as he slipped on his shoes and grabbed his keys.

When he arrived at the café where Paz was waiting for him, he saw that she had already ordered a vanilla latte for him. She stood and gave him a side-hug.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Keeho asked her as he sat down. He noticed that Paz tucked her auburn hair behind her ear. It was something she did when she was nervous. He wondered what she had to be nervous about.

"Um, I'm okay, I guess," she said. "There's a whole shit show going on with Mishin ever since she vandalized my studio," Paz added. "But, you know, you'll have this," she said in her cute colloquial English.

"Yes, I suppose," Keeho replied. "So, is that why you called me here?" he asked. "To talk about the Mishin shit show?"

For reasons Keeho could not imagine, Paz was not looking him in the eye like she usually did. It made him feel on edge.

"No, I just wanted to inform you about something," she finally replied.

"Okaaay," Keeho said . "You're freaking me out. Just get to it already," he encouraged.

"Well, it turns out that Soul and I have feelings for each other. He wanted me to tell you so there wouldn't be any trouble between you two, but I told him that you definitely don't like me in that way," she rambled.

"Oh," Keeho let out just one syllable as if he had been punched in the gut. He knew that Paz had always characterized their relationship as a friendship. She had been very clear on that. So clear, in fact, that Keeho had gotten good at pushing his feelings down. But the feelings were there. They were definitely there. And now, after all these months of silently attempting to shift their relationship, he finds out that she likes his bandmate. Paz had continued talking the entire time, but Keeho hadn't heard any of it.

"--- like when people say that men and women can't be friends, I'm just like, 'Of course, they can. Just look at Keeho and me,'" she continued. "And it's so machista to think that every female friend you have is a possible sex partner, right? I mean, people are so crazy about this stuff." Words were coming from her mocha lips but none of them made any sense to him. Still, he was glad she was talking. It saved him from having to coordinate a reply.

"Hello?" Paz said, trying to catch Keeho's gaze. "Are you tracking with me at all?" she finally asked.

"Um, yeah, men and women can be friends. And we're just friends because you have no feelings for me as a man. Yeah, I heard all that," he faked.

"Right, so, I'm glad you understand," Paz said brightly. "I knew you would. I told Soul he shouldn't worry about you. You'd be cool," she added.

"Cool, yeah. Cool," he answered absent-mindedly.

Paz looked at her watch. "Oh, my gosh! I have to go," she said, standing up. Keeho didn't stand. He didn't trust his legs to hold him up. But Paz didn't seem to notice. She kissed his cheek and patted him on the head before running off blissfully unaware of the destruction she left behind.

When Paz left the café, she rushed to her studio and found Soul sitting outside. "I should get you a key," she commented as she opened the door and they walked into her office. "Speaking of which, I need to get my key back from Jeong," she added. "I can't imagine he would have let Mishin in with his key, but I guess I can't rule anything out," she said.

The mention of her old partner made Soul's stomach turn a bit, but he didn't say anything. There was no point in rehashing former relationships. What was in the past was in the past.

"So, how did the conversation go with Keeho?" Soul asked.

"Great!" Paz replied. "Yeah, he was cool. I knew he would be," she added.

"Oh, good," Soul said with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad he doesn't have any romantic feelings for you."

"Yep, all good there. Now, we'll just have see what that bitch Mishin does when you talk to her," Paz pondered aloud. "Are you sure you're up for this?" she asked. "I mean, you're not the most assertive person in the world," Paz said delicately. "And Mishin is really a force to be reckoned with."

"I'll be fine," Soul replied. "Somehow it seems easier to talk to her than to talk to someone I care about like Keeho," he explained.

Paz nodded. "You know, now that the Keeho thing has been put to rest, how about we pick up where we left off," she said in a sultry voice.

Soul grinned and pulled her to him. He could feel his heartrate increasing at just the thought of kissing her again. As they stood in her office, Soul put one hand behind her neck and pulled her lips to his. He walked her backward to the desk and lifted her onto it. She pulled away from the kiss and started to unbutton her blouse. Soul pulled of his T-shirt as well. Paz traced her finger along the lines of his six-pack. He kissed down her tan neck and into the hollow between her breasts. He reached behind her to unclasp her bra, when suddenly, Paz screamed at the top of her lungs. Soul stepped back quickly, raising his hands above his head. He assumed that she might be screaming because he had gone further than she wanted to go. Soon, however, he discovered the cause of her sudden outburst. A pair of mice ran under the desk. By this point, Paz was standing on the desk, half-clothed and shrieking.

"Kill them!" she yelled as she covered her eyes with her hand. She peeked out from behind her fingers just like she did with the blinds in the practice room. "Oh, my god! Kill them, please!" she begged.

"There's no need for rodenticide," Soul laughed. "Let's honor the life of all creatures," he encouraged.

"Well, I could honor their lives if they weren't in my office. But if they are in my space, they've got to die!" she decreed.

"They're more scared of you than you are of them," Soul tried to soothe her.

"I highly doubt that," Paz assured him. "I'm so scared, I think I peed a little," she admitted.

Soul grabbed the garbage bin from the floor and a magazine from the bookshelf and attempted to corral the mice into the red plastic bin. "Come on, little mice. Be good for daddy," he coaxed.

"Ahhh!" Paz wailed from atop the desk. "Why can't we call an exterminator?" she asked frantically.

"I've got this," Soul assured her. "No need for caustic chemicals. I will have this problem solved in a couple of minutes. No exterminator needed," he claimed. Just then, the pair of field mice darted past Soul. He put the bin on the floor and pushed them in with the magazine. Once they were in the bin, he covered the top with the magazine.

"See? Easy peasy," he said. "I'll release them outside and we can all leave here today with a clean conscience by not adding murder to our day's activities." He took the bin outside and walked to a grassy spot between the studio and a hair salon beside it. When he set the bin on the ground and lifted the magazine from the top, the two mice ran away. "Be careful out there, guys!" Soul called after them.