The visitor

Turning the page

Work was my only distraction. Besides my regular articles, I began to work on that book I'd never thought I would write. I constantly had this itching feeling of inspiration deep within. Word came after word and the pages grew until they reached the size of a hefty novel. It seemed like we'd completely skipped autumn and went straight into winter because one day, when I looked up from my laptop I realized, it was snowing outside.

'Saori, we are going out tonight. Wanna hang out?' Yuki called me.

'No. I'm good, thanks.'

'We haven't seen you in weeks. What's going on?' She sounded concerned.

'I'm fine. I just don't feel like going out tonight.'

'Okay.' She sighed and hung up.

About an hour later someone was knocking at my door.

'Coming!'

I opened the door and Mina, Yuki and Asami marched in.

'I thought you were going out.' I mumbled.

'We came to drag you out of your cave.' Mina took a good look at me from head to toe. 'Geez, you look horrible!'

'I'm fine.' I shrugged.

'What in the world happened here? This place is a mess!' Asami looked around in shock.

'I've been busy working lately. I guess I let things get out of hand a little bit.'

'And Nobu is okay with this?' Mina looked at me questioningly. She hit a sore spot.

'He...' I choked up. I can't say it out loud.

'Saori, where is Nobu?'

They were all looking at me now.

'He...' I struggled to speak.

'You didn't break up, did you?' Yuki grabbed my hand.

'He...' I hung my head. 'I-I can't...'

'What happened? And why didn't you tell us?' Mina frowned.

'Because I can handle it. I'm okay.' I was shaking.

'Yeah, sure. We can see how okay you are.'

They hugged me and I just lost it. Suddenly, I was sobbing. 'I miss him so much.'

'It's okay, Honey. Just cry. We are here for you.' Yuki patted my back soothingly.

'It hurts so fucking much.' I totally fell apart and couldn't stop crying.

'Is this why you've been cooped up in here for weeks?' Mina gave me a handkerchief.

I nodded and wiped my tears.

'Try to calm down, Sweetie.' Yuki stroked my hair.

'Thank you, guys!' I forced on a smile. 'And I'm sorry. For everything.'

'Don't even mention it. This is what friends are for.' Asami winked cheerfully. 'Now go take a shower and leave the rest to us.'

When I came out from the bathroom the girls were busy tidying up my apartment.

'Girls, look at that!' Mina found my manuscript. 'She wrote all this?'

'Hearts of stone' She read out the title.

'Wow!' They were amazed.

'Saori, when did you write this?'

'I've been working on it since Nobunaga...'

'Saori, will you tell us what happened?' Asami turned to me.

I took a deep breath and told them the story of our heartrending farewell.