“Hows your day?”
“Not so good … and not that bad either. I left my bicycle at the campus because the chain is broken. Like … it was so sudden. But I have another story to tell you later.”
“Hahaha okay. So you’re back with your old habit?”
“You got me. But walking isn’t that bad. I love it”
“You do love it. Kitasenri alr?”
“Almost there. Might stop to buy takoyaki first.”
“Alright. Lets meet in Umeda at 8. Will go there now.”
“Meet you in an hour.”
“I’ll wait at the Gong Cha. The bottom one, near the florist. Not the other one near the ABC Mart. Okay?”
“Don’t worry. I won’t get lost”
“I trust you. Your usual? Anything else for you?”
“I got the takoyaki alr. Its okay. Meet you in an hour.”
“Alright”
Friday night means we will have dinner together, stroll around Umeda to see the city lights, and sit near the Hankyu station while telling each other stories. Our majors are so different, but sometimes, when I told him about my lab’s problem, he solved it with his brilliant mind. A genius indeed.
Oh, we both live in Osaka for college. But our district is different. Mine is Tsukumodai, and he lives in Ibaraki.
Osaka is not too cold today. But still, he won’t let me catch a cold, so he always brings a hand warmer wherever we go. I can see him holding one from afar.
“See? We go to this place almost every week. I won’t get lost.”
“I know. Let me see your hand.”
“You and your habit. May I get this treat every week? It will be hard for me to move on if we don’t end up together.”
“You don’t need to ask … and you don’t need to move on. I won’t go anywhere.”
We laughed. He brought me the Gong Cha and suddenly walked away to take something from the florist.
That’s so him. He gave me a tulip.
“Are we celebrating anything important? Are you going to present your dissertation next week? Did i miss something?”
“The tulip looks pretty. It suits you.”
“Is that all?”
“It suits you. Lets go. Your favorite ramen might close soon.”
Some days are worse than others. But this routine, our date in Umeda after all of the college activities from the weekdays, always bring me comfort. The word worse suddenly doesn’t appear in my dictionary — at least for a few hours.
Friday night always and will always be my favorite night. No matter how bad the day I had, the night will give me the happiness and comfort I need. We always have spicy shoyu ramen for dinner and walk around Umeda, from Yodobashi to Midosuji, to see the trees full of lights. Then, we will return from Midosuji to Yodobashi with another story to tell.
Yes. Another story to tell, another memory to create, and another day to cherish.
Well, I hope this routine will last forever.
I really hope it will.
