Ami 25
Serena 25
Lita 26
Rei 26
Mina 26
Jaden 27
Kenneth 29
Zach 25
Nevan 26
Love at Fifth Sight
Part 4-1
He had given her white roses and poetry on their first date.
She tried to remind herself of such things when she felt like doing unspeakable things to him with surgical scalpels.
Ami had graduated from Harvard in three years and received her M.D. from that top medical school Zach had said she would graduate from. She was currently in her first year of residency, training as a specialist in pediatric medicine with a subspecialty in pediatric oncology and hematology. All that, and here she was on her first day off in longer than she wanted to remember, arguing with her longtime boyfriend-turned-fiancé.
They maintained an icy silence as they sat in the breakfast nook, he with a leather-bound volume of Keats and she on her laptop, browsing the latest issue of The New England Journal of Medicine online. In truth, Ami would have preferred reading the latest novel at the top of the bestseller list or the trashy romance novel she had hidden in her nightstand drawer, but she knew that her perusal of work-related material on her day off would irritate Taiki.
It was driving her up the wall that she was being so petty and, at the same time, denying herself the pleasure of reading lighter material. She glanced surreptitiously at Taiki, who appeared calm and unruffled. One long, elegant hand held the book, and the fingers of the other hand closed lightly around the handle of his coffee cup. But she could tell that his jaw was clenched more tightly and his brow furrowed more deeply than usual, and it gave her a small sense of satisfaction that he was as irked as she was.
It was enough to put her in a more charitable mood, and she closed the article containing the latest updates on methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, better known by its acronym, MRSA. “Did you have plans for today?” she asked lightly, shutting the lid of her laptop and unplugging the power source.
His only reaction was a negligible shake of the head, and his pale lavender eyes didn’t move from the page.
“Well, I was wondering if you might be interested in accompanying me to the mall. I haven’t gotten a dress for the wedding reception yet.”
Another pause, another page turned. Finally, he closed the book and said nonchalantly, “All right,” and rose to retrieve his wallet, shoes, and jacket.
Ami rolled her eyes, deciding to forfeit the battle over the car keys. By the time she had returned with her purse and shoes, he already had the engine started. She slid into the passenger seat and folded her hands primly. It was such a nice day, she thought wistfully, just about time for spring to break the freezing grip of winter. Even Ami, who loved the snow, was ready for warmth.
The tense silence in the car alerted her that while her overture may have broken the ice between them, she still wasn’t forgiven. But once they reached the mall, he behaved with perfect aplomb, opening doors for her solicitously and complimenting her on her appearance as she selected and discarded dresses.
By the time they stopped to break for lunch, they were chatting quite amiably about politics, books, and their families. Ami was quite familiar with Taiki’s two brothers, Seiya and Yaten, and he was reasonably well-acquainted with Rei and Ami’s mother, Kira. Even as he laughed quietly as Ami told him about one of her friend Mina’s recent exploits, his wary eyes remained smooth at the corners instead of crinkled with amusement. They avoided any mention of their jobs.
________________________________________
The next day, Ami found herself grabbing a quick meal with her cousin, her roommate from college, and her cousin’s roommate from college, verbally dissecting her fiancé.
“I can’t believe he said that to you!” Mina cried, outraged.
As she gestured angrily, the lustrous canary diamond on her left ring finger sparkled. She was twenty six now, having modeled through college and earned a master of fine arts, and working her way up to editor-in-chief of one of the most highly-regarded magazines in the fashion world. A year ago, she had married Kenneth, who she had eventually managed to coax into asking her out sometime during their college years and who had his own flourishing career as an attorney at law.
Rei nodded vigorously, her violet eyes flashing dangerously as she contributed to the vilification of Taiki Kou, Ami’s fiancé. She too had a brilliant ring on her finger, minus the wedding band that was on Mina’s finger. She and Jaden had continued dating throughout college and managed to get jobs in the same area.
Her interesting choice of a Religious Studies and Political Science double-major in college had landed her a job with a marketing company, while Jaden had studied Economics and been hired for a fairly lucrative position as a consultant for nonprofit organizations. He had proposed to Rei just after Mina and Kenneth’s wedding the previous year, and their wedding was coming up in a couple of months.
Ami sighed, wishing she had refrained from pouring out her troubles over lunch. She was starting to lose her appetite, and she had a particularly long shift to look forward to. It was just a little humiliating to be sitting here with Rei and Mina, who were extremely supportive but also extremely happy with their significant others, while she and Taiki had fought regularly for the past half year.
Watching Ami pick at her salad, Serena stopped shoveling in her sauce-drowned pasta and wiped her lips neatly with her napkin. “Come on, guys. I know it sounds awful, but he’s just… Taiki’s always been a little emotionally retarded.”
“I’ll say,” Rei muttered.
Serena continued, “He has a hard time saying what he feels. I’m sure it just came out the wrong way, and you guys will make up soon.”
She smiled encouragingly at Ami. Serena was the only one of the them who was currently single, although it didn’t seem to bother her. She continued to assure her friends of her complete faith that one day, she would meet her prince charming. In the meantime, she was working as a genetic counselor at the same hospital as Ami.
Mina shrugged noncommittally in response to Serena’s optimism. “Well, you’d know best.” Serena, along with Ami’s other close friend from college, Nevan, knew Taiki the best. Even Rei hadn’t interacted much with Taiki, but Mina had spent the least time with him.
“Guys.” Ami’s quiet but firm voice halted the debate, and the other three women looked at her questioningly. “I’m fine. I appreciate what you’re saying, and for letting me vent, but like Serena says, it’s just a little bump.”
She tried to kill two birds with one stone, changing the subject and assuaging her guilt about being absent from so many of Rei’s wedding preparations. “Rei, how are things working out with the caterer?”
As Rei readily launched into her tirade about the infuriating incompetence she had been subjected to, Serena gave Ami’s hand a light squeeze under the table.
The two of them walked back to the hospital together as Mina and Rei returned to their respective workplaces. Ami was happy to let Serena chatter about her job, her parents’ recent move to the West Coast, and all the trouble her younger brother Sammy was getting up to in college. She let herself be soothed by the words, only needing to nod, smile, or laugh at the appropriate times.
As they passed through the glass doors to the main wing of the hospital and were about to go their separate ways, Serena asked, “When are you off today?”
Ami shook her head ruefully. “I’m on call overnight. What about you?”
Serena made a face of sympathy. “Poor Ames. I’ll be out by six. Well, you call me anytime if you want to talk about anything, okay?”
She smiled back gratefully, appreciating her friend’s less intrusive show of support. “Thanks Serena, I’ll be sure to do that.”
________________________________________
A few months ago, Rei and Jaden had first sat down to flesh out the details of their wedding more thoroughly, the latter more reluctant than the former. Rei wasn’t a fan of fuss and frills anymore than Jaden was, but she was determined to have things go perfectly. After all, she was planning to get married only once in her lifetime.
“So of course Mina and Kenneth can walk together…but what about your other groomsmen? I need someone to walk with Serena.”
Jaden shrugged. For all that he got along well with just about everybody, he didn’t have many close male friends besides Kenneth, Zach, and Ami’s friend from college who had recently been introduced to him, Nevan. “Well, then, how about Nevan?”
“Okay, that’s fine.”
As Jaden fidgeted and Rei made a few notes about approximate sizes and contact information, a sudden thought struck her.
“Oh, no! I can’t believe I didn’t think about this before,” she cried in genuine distress.
“What? What’s wrong?” Jaden asked anxiously.
“Is Zach going to be your best man?”
Jaden blinked at her, running a hand through his short blond hair. “Uh, yeah. Of course. Who else? I mean, he’s my brother.”
Rei rolled her eyes. “But Ami’s going to be my maid of honor. They’ll have to walk down the aisle together, and basically spend the entire day together. How is that going to work out?”
He frowned. “I don’t think it’ll be pretty, but if we break it to them beforehand, I’m sure they’ll be able to handle it. They’re mature adults. Sort of.”
She threw up her hands and began pacing around the room, her raven black hair swirling around her in a way Jaden found infinitely fascinating. “No, no! You don’t get it. Ami still hasn’t gotten over it.”
“What? Are you kidding? It’s been eight years!” Despite his incredulous tone, Jaden realized that Zach never mentioned Ami, either.
His fiancée glared at him. “Don’t be so oblivious. Haven’t you noticed that whenever there’s something at your house and Zach makes it home, Ami makes it a point to not to go? Or that Zach only comes to visit us when it’s just the two of us, or even the two of us and Aunt Kira, but never when Ami’s here?”
He groaned. “Why do they have to be so complicated? And immature? Come on, Rei, it’s been eight years!”
“You’re one to talk about being immature. Besides, I don’t think they actively hate each other… They just have this unfortunate and truly inconvenient desire to stay out of each other’s paths.”
Jaden sighed, wondering how much more he could complain without provoking Rei’s wrath. In the immediate aftermath of Ami and Zach’s broken friendship and following many unsuccessful efforts to reconcile them, Rei and Jaden had needed to come to some kind of truce and rarely talked about the fight and whose side they were on.
Jaden had a bit of trouble figuring that out himself. He had come to love – and tease – Ami as if she were his younger sister, and he had to admit that he could see where Zach had made a couple of mistakes. But Jaden, who was engaged to what had to be one of the most stubborn women in the universe, had a harder time appreciating that trait in others.
“Well, they’ll have to deal with it. I’ll talk to Zach about it; you talk to Ami. If either of them feels like they’re not up to it, then we switch it up a little. I’m sure if one of them feels that strongly about it, they won’t mind giving up best man or maid of honor. If worst comes to worst, Zach can escort Serena, and Ami can walk with Nevan.”
Rei worried her lip. “I guess so. Well, there’s nothing else we can do about it now. So about the photography… I was thinking we could ask Yaten – you know, Taiki’s younger brother – to handle it. He runs his own studio now, and it’s very classy. Ami showed me some really stunning pictures he took of her and Taiki at a family event.”
At this point, Jaden subsided and made agreeable noises, letting his mind wander and content to let Rei handle the thornier details.
________________________________________
It was late at night when he let himself into his apartment, not quite drooping with exhaustion. In fact, he was brimming with fervor as he tossed his leather jacket carelessly onto a chair and dumped the rest of his belongings on his bed. He immediately headed for his desk, stopping only to check his cell phone. Two voicemails. He decided they could wait, and opened his books and laptop.
Within minutes, he was lost in his research, a mug of tea cooling at his elbow. When the phone rang shrilly, he ignored it, wishing he could unplug the nuisance. The last time Rei had been in his apartment, an experience he was sure neither of them wanted to repeat anytime soon, she had deplored the mess and the fact that his phone was unplugged.
“What will you do if there’s an emergency?” she had asked him. “You never answer your cell phone, and you barely remember to check your voicemail. At least this way we’ll have another way to reach you, although who knows if you’ll bother to check that.”
Zach spared a moment to smile at the memory. It was interesting having a surrogate older sister. She nagged more than Jaden did, but he didn’t mind the occasional fussing, provided that it was indeed occasional.
He returned to his work as the machine clicked on. “Hey, this is Zach. I’m not in, so leave me a message and I’ll get back to you. Eventually. It’ll help if you leave your name and phone number too because I’m not so great with those.”
To his surprise, his brother’s voice came out of the machine following the beep. “Hey, pipsqueak. It’s me, so answer the phone. Rei and I were talking, and–”
Zach froze, his hand hovering over the receiver. Was it safe to answer, or should he put it off until another day? “Rei and I were talking” was never a good way to start off a conversation with his brother.
“–she’s fussing over this wedding stuff all the time; it’s driving me nuts. So are you going to be my best man or what?”
Deciding he was safe, Zach picked up the phone. “Hey.”
Jaden grumbled at him, “Where were you, in the john or something? What took you so long?”
“I just got through the door. Besides, Rei is scary. Any mention of her makes me and my apartment cringe. It hasn’t recovered from the last time she cleaned it.”
Jaden grinned at that, his amusement coming through the line easily. “Yeah, well, I don’t think she has, either. I can’t believe you’re even more of a slob than I am.”
“Whatever,” Zach shot back, “I’m not the one who’s whipped.”
“Yeah.” Sparing a moment for extremely short-lived regret, Jaden transitioned smoothly, “Well, speaking of being whipped, are you going to be my best man or not?”
“Of course. I’m hurt you even had to ask,” Zach retorted, putting on an aggrieved tone. “I’m going to throw you the raunchiest bachelor party ever, too.”
His brother laughed somewhat nervously. “Great. Just make sure Rei doesn’t kill me before we exchange our vows. But, uh, you see…there’s something I should talk to you about first before we embark on those grand and glorious times.”
Zach propped his feet up on his desk. “Yeah? I’m not sure I like the sound of that, Jaden. Spit it out.”
“Okay. So you’re my best man, right? Mina and Keth are going to be one of the couples, and Serena and Nevan are going to be the other. I’m kind of grateful Rei only wants two bridesmaids.”
“Uh huh. While this may be enthralling to you, it isn’t to me.”
Jaden continued, “You’re my brother, so I want you to be there with me as my best man. This is going to be a really important day for me.”
He replied, “I get that. So what’s going to stop me from being there?”
“Well, Rei doesn’t have a sister.”
“Uh huh.” Zach had a sinking feeling he knew where this was going.
“She does have a cousin, though.”
Lightly, he responded, “I thought Rei had several cousins. All black-haired and almost as attractive as she is.”
Jaden glared at the opposite wall. “Yeah, well, she’s really close to this one cousin. Ami. Sound familiar? She wants Ami to be her maid of honor.”
Zach groaned loudly, trying to ignore the way his body tensed at the sound of her name. “Aw, Jaden.”
“I can’t do anything about it. What do you want me to do about it? It’s her wedding, too, and she’s as close to Ami as we are to each other.” Jaden spoke quickly, trying to convince his brother not to back out. “You don’t even really need to talk to her. Just walk her down the aisle for the ceremony, and then you’re done.”
“I seem to recall things like the rehearsal dinner and the reception requiring some minimal contact between the maid of honor and the best man.”
Jaden sighed, trying his last card. “Come on, Zach, I need you there.”
Silence. Then Zach capitulated. “All right. One best man with all the works, right here.”
“Thanks. I knew I could count on you.”
The relief and renewed happiness in his brother’s voice made Zach feel slightly guilty that he had been on the verge of considering backing out. But only considering. He focused suddenly on Jaden’s words again when he caught Ami’s name.
“…and really, you won’t be talking that much to Ami. We’ll seat her with her fiancé–”
“Wait,” Zach cut in, “she’s got a fiancé now?”
“Oh, yeah. Guy named Taiki Kou, he’s a columnist for the New York Times. Maybe you’ve read his work if you ever crawl out of that hole you call your office to read the news?”
Zach made a face. He knew Taiki…or had read his work. He had considered it fairly objective reporting, if very detached on the emotional front, and solid and well-written. But he was now having the funny urge to condemn it as trash.
Instead, he drawled, “That hole you refer to holds great sentimental value to me, Jaden. But if all goes well, I’ll be giving it up in another two years for a bigger office.”
Jaden laughed. “Cocky, aren’t you? Getting that Ph D is going to make you insufferable.”
“Count on it,” Zach replied smoothly. “But before I get there, and to that bigger office, I have to finish my dissertation. So let me get to that, and you go back to planning out the wedding of your dreams with Rei. Night.” He hung up on Jaden even as he felt his brother wincing on the other end.
Although he returned to his desk, he found himself jittery and unable to work after his phone conversation with Jaden. As he threw down his pen and got up to pace the room, he blamed it on the unbelievable amount of coffee he had consumed earlier in the day, but he knew it wasn’t really the coffee that was to blame for his unsettled mood.
When he finally fell asleep after tossing and turning for hours under rumpled sheets, Zach dreamed of ocean-hued eyes and a sad, wistful smile.
Love at Fifth Sight
Infinite Ice
