Chapter 8: Conflicted

Raimundo found himself staring at the ceiling, counting the dots that were splayed across the tile above him. Ever since his encounter with Keiko, he couldn't help but feel guilty. Angry was a better term for it. For most of his life, he had been strung along by her, and now that he has finally moved on, she found her way to weasel her way into his life once again.

Truth was, he shouldn't be bothered by this at all. He was happy with Kimiko. And he didn't really want to lose her; especially after how many constant reminders from Jermaine and his sister, Zoe, over the fact that Kimiko was such a great girl.

But despite how much he has moved on, there was still a part of him, the younger, stupider teenage part of him that he had grown out of, which is still hung around Keiko. Feeling even more conflicted and confused, he let out an anguished scream before muffling his face with the other pillow that was lying by his head.

-x-

"I hate my boss," Kimiko hissed, as she pulled her coat over her arm as she quickly ran out of the elevator the second the door opened. "Honestly, who calls their employees at five in the morning over a 'fashion crisis?'" she muttered to herself in honest disbelief, before clashing into an innocent bystander, causing papers to fly everywhere.

"Oh my gosh—I'm so sorry!" she immediately blabbered, reaching around to grab papers that were circling around her.

"It was my fault, honestly," the blonde replies. She had a grin on her face as she said, "I should have realized from the way that you were marching that you were obviously one of Dominique's." The girl then added, "She's the worst, isn't she?"

Kimiko couldn't help but laugh. "Yes."

"I'm Ashley," the girl said, as she gathered the rest of the papers from Kimiko's hand. "Former employee for Dominique until she realized who my boyfriend was and shifted me into a better department." Looking at how dishevel Kimiko's clothing were, she quickly asked, "Let me guess. Fashion crisis?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"She pulls that bullshit whenever she wants coffee, but she's too lazy to go and get it herself."

Kimiko's left eye twitched. "She just wanted coffee?"

"If I were you, honey, I'd quit this job—"

"I can't," Kimiko instantly cut her off. "I have to prove a point to my dad."

"Ah," Ashley laughed. "At least you have one ally here, if you ever decide to have a mutiny against her."

Kimiko laughed. "Where were you when I first started working here?"

-x-

"Wow, you look terrible," Jermaine commented, watching as the lead singer of his band slumped into the seat beside him.

"Thanks," Raimundo replied sarcastically. He yawned, before resting his chin on the palm of his hand.

"Is this about Keiko?" Jermaine finally asked, after a few seconds of silence had passed between the both of them. Seeing the look of protest in Raimundo's eyes, he continued on. "Well, look man. I'm your best friend. And I've been your best friend since we both learned to walk as babies. That's how long we've been best of amigos, buddy." He took a deep breath, before continuing on. "I knew how long you've liked Keiko; and that was since junior high. And I remember how hung up you were after she dumped you and went for Clay."

"But you have to remember," he pressed on, "while she was with Clay, she kept on stringing you along with hope that if she was ever to break up with Clay, which she did a lot, she would get back with you, which she never did."

Raimundo stared at his friend in stunned silence. "Wow, you, um… you sure do know a lot about my relationship with Keiko. I don't know how I should feel about that."

"Feel glad that somebody's looking out for you," Jermaine whispered, patting his friend on the back.

"I—thanks?"

"You're welcome, buddy," Jermaine whispered, still patting his back.

"Jermaine?"

"Hmm?"

"Stop that."

Jermaine immediately pulled his hand away from Raimundo's back. "Sorry!"

Raimundo let out a sigh. "Jermaine, I'm glad to know that you're there for me. Really, I truly am. But you honestly have no idea what went down—"

"And that's why you should tell me—"

"But whatever went down that day… that's between me and Keiko."

"And Clay," Jermaine pointed out.

"And Clay," Raimundo repeated, staring at his friend in slight confusion.

-x-

Keiko Ishida was fuming as she paced back and forth in her apartment. She had taken a sick day, in order to go over last minute preparations for her wedding. While she should have been in pure bliss as her wedding was around the corner, she couldn't help but be angry about everything. She was hurt.

Raimundo Pedrosa was the boy that she loved and lost. It shouldn't even be bothering her that he's moved on, but it did. She knew she was being petty and childish, but she couldn't help it. Raimundo was always there for her; he was her safety net; he was the one that she could always count on. And to see him move on with her best friend, it dawns on her that he's not always going to be there for her.

She took a deep breath, before sitting down on the couch behind her. She was conflicted between feeling upset or happy for Raimundo.

And then she couldn't help but think about Clay, and then she felt guilt consume her.

-x-

"The only way to keep anything from falling apart is to understand what the hell happened in the first place," Jessie muttered, staring at the ground between her and Zoe.

Zoe nodded. "The problem is that we were both eight when all of this happened. I can't even remember what I did this morning, so how can I remember something that happened seven, eight years ago?"

"You make a good point," Jessie murmured in replied. Her face was blank for a second, before it became animated as she nearly shouted, "Why don't we ask our brothers?"

"No offence, but that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," Zoe replied. She folded her arm against her chest. "Rai tells me everything… but when it comes to Keiko, he gets so quiet and spaces out."

"Is it unrequited love?" Jessie asked.

"Hmm? Oh, hells no. He does not have unrequited feelings for Keiko. The second he realizes this is the second he can truly move on. I think it's more of the fact that he was so crazy about her for so long that he can't quickly move on."

"But then he met Kimiko," Jessie pointed out. "I'm going to be awfully sorry the second he breaks her heart."

"If."

"You sure have a lot of faith in your brother that he's not going to mess things up."

"Of course he's not going to mess things up," Zoe said, sounding slightly offended that Jessie didn't have the same amount of faith that she does in her brother. She let out a sigh of annoyance. "Ugh, I'm just scared of what could happen."

"Aren't we all?"

-x-

"Were you waiting for me to get home from work?" Kimiko asked, finding herself surprised to see Raimundo sitting at her doorstep. The smug look that was on her face had vanished the second she saw the troubled look on his face. "Is everything alright?"

Before she could even ask anything else, she was quickly embraced with the biggest bear hug she has ever received. "Rai?" she asked.

"Please don't leave me," he finally said, after a moment of silence had past between the two of them.

She was surprised to hear the rawness of his voice in his soft, quiet plea. "I—I won't. Of-of course not. Is everything okay?"

"Everything is now," he quietly replied, resting his chin on her forehead.

A/N. Wow. It has been over a year since this has been updated. Wow. I can't believe it. Thank you to the people who have private messaged me and reminded me to update this story, because wowie, it's been a year and I can't believe my laziness got to me.

Hmm. Well, thank you to all of those who keep on reminding me to update this story. Because wow, I finally did. Now I have to reread and update my other XS story! (This one gets to be updated first because this story isn't fully developed and fleshed out like the other one!)

Ashley is Katnappe, btw. (Jack Spicer has yet to appear in this story!) You'll get to see her more when this story starts to explore Kimiko's job/workplace a lot more.

Comment/review? It'll be very much appreciated!