As I was preparing to go to work that morning, I received a text message from Akiko that says she couldn't go to work because something came up. At first, I got worried. I thought about her sickly father. Was it about him? But when I looked at the message, there was a wink emoji (emoticon) at the end. For sure, if it was something bad then Akiko wouldn't place it there. I shrugged it off and ran to the train station. If I didn't catch up the 6:30 AM train, I would be late for sure. Tardiness is a mortal sin at work.
I barely made it. The train's doors were about to close when I came in. It was a good thing I managed to stretch my arms and pushed the door to open. I got in, all right. But I nearly lost my balance and I felt like I got thrown inside. Some old people stared at me. And there was this foreign-looking guy who looked at me with amusement in his eyes before he returned his gaze on the newspaper he was reading. I bowed my head. A little embarassed. I jsut kept on telling myself that what mattered most was I made it.
Work was uneventful that morning. Except for an old lady who complained about her back pains, nothing happened. All of us first aide staff just huddled together and talked about strange guests we encountered that week. I learned from them that Liam Hemsworth and his comrades were still in the hotel. It gave me some sort of excitement. I thought about him a lot in the last few days. I wondered if he remembered me. I felt my cheeks burning when I recalled how I interrupted their shooting the other day. My gosh! I was sure now that he thought I was kinda crazy. Or weird.
"Yeah. I really loved him in Hunger Games. He was so kakkoi (handsome)! Daisuki! (I love him!) I hope he notices me when he comes back," Maria, a Russian co-worker, said in her mixed Japanese and English.
I stared at her. Shit! She also has a thing for him. For a brief moment, I compared myself with her. She was a tall, blonde girl with blue eyes. Very beautiful. All the guys at work were so into her. They thought she looked like a fairy or a princess. If she made a move towards Liam, I was pretty sure he wouldn't waste a single second with me. I sighed. Frustrated.
"Hey! Where are you going, Yuki-chan?" Maria asked when I quietly left our work station. I pointed at the bathroom nearby. "Oh," she said and smiled. "I thought you were mad at me. I heard from Akiko that you liked him, too."
I was shocked. Akiko said that? I couldn't believe it! Plus, I didn't tell her that I liked him. Where the hell did she get that idea? Wait. Was I that obvious? Shit! Liam might have noticed that, too. Now, I know why he did that elevator thing. He wanted to tease me.
"Akiko's crazy. I didn't say anything like that," I denied.
"So you were not interested in him?"
I shook my head and smiled. "Nah." As if it mattered. For sure, he had a lot of girls throwing themselves at him. If I remember correctly, he was involved with that famous American singer. What was her name again? Miley Cyrus? Yeah. Miley.
Immediately, her image came dancing in my head. She looked kind of wild. If that was how he liked his girls, then I surely didn't stand a chance. Maria might be able to compete, but me? No way! The thought made me more frustrated.
A look of a pale-looking Amerasian girl came staring back at me. Though I'm half Japanese and half-American, I took my looks more from my Japanese mom than my white American dad. Too bad. My hair was light brown, all right, but so were millions of Japanese girls since they dyed their hair of that color. My light, brown eyes were small like my mom's. And I only stand five feet four! How I wish I was as tall as Maria. Perhaps, I would stand a chance...
When I realized that I was fantasizing about him, I chided myself. I shouldn't entertain such thoughts. I knew that it would only bring me disappointment and pain. I might end up like my mom.
