Vending Machines and Denial

Why was she so excited about buying a drink from the vending machine downstairs? Surely it had nothing to do with a certain someone sitting in an office two doors away from that same vending machine.

She almost skipped down the stairs, strangely excited, especially since she was only going to get a drink from the vending machine. Reaching the ground floor, she slowed her step, carefully peering into the corridor on her left. Empty. Of course. She sighed slightly at her own stupidity. Not two seconds later, though, her breath almost stopped at the sound of a door behind her opening and closing. She turned around, making sure not to do so too quickly, a slight smile on her face. One that faltered almost as soon as she saw who it was. Takahashi-san. After briefly exchanging some pleasantries, the older woman left.

She walked over to the vending machine, and looked at the different choices of drinks. Coffee--definitely not--coca cola--nope--Aquarius--maybe… It went on like that until she’d gone through all of the drinks. She was definitely thirsty, that’s why she’d come down here in the first place, so why couldn’t she decide on a drink?

Just then, another voice sounded behind her, calling her name. A woman’s voice. Trying to hide her, non-existant, disappointment, she looked over at Yukari-san. Why was she suddenly meeting so many people from the International Office? This morning, she’d even seen Kai-san. There was only one person she hadn’t met yet today…

She talked with Yukari-san about her classes for another minute, then she was alone again. She glanced over at the door the other woman had just entered. Shaking her head, she turned towards the machine decidedly, put in the right amount of money and almost randomly pressed a button.

Straightening after picking up her drink from the machine, she fiddled with her wallet for a second, making sure it was properly closed. Then she ran her hands lightly over her skirt, making sure it was still covering everything it should be. She headed towards the stairs, but paused at a choked sound to her right. Slightly startled, she twirled around, only to come face to face with him. It’s not like he was the reason she’d come all the way down to buy a drink, when she had a perfectly good bottle of water in the classroom upstairs. Of course not, that would be ridiculous. So why did her heart just skip a beat?

Because she was an idiot, that’s why.

She put a quick smile on her face, said hello, and made to leave, when he called out to her.

“How are your classes?”

“Oh, they’re fine, thank you.”

“I heard you have class all day, though. You must be tired.”

“Not at all, they’re really very interesting.”

He looked a tad skeptical at that, but didn’t press her any further. “Did you hear about the meeting for the alumni from your university later on?”

“Yes, Kai-san told us earlier.”

“Kai-san.”

His voice suddenly sounded different, though she could not identify the undertone hidden there. Kai-san was supposed to tell them about events like this, right? Was he upset because relations with her home university were his responsibility?

“Yes. He told me this morning before class.”

“I see.”

There didn’t seem to be anything left to say, so she politely excused herself, saying something about how she should really be getting back to class since it would start any minute now. In truth, she probably still had several minutes left.

“Suzuki-sensei is still in the international office, so you still have plenty of time.” She paused with her foot on the first stair.

“Oh, I see.” There really wasn’t much else she could say. What did he want from her? It didn’t look like he particularly wanted to say anything to her, but he didn’t look like he was going anywhere soon either. Add that to her already confused feelings, and she was developing a headache.

After about ten seconds of very awkward silence, she blurted out the first thing she could think about. “The weather is very nice today.” She wanted to smack herself in the head at the blandness of her topic.

“Yes, it has certainly cleared up nicely after yesterday’s typhoon.”

“That it has.” Another pause. “Will you be attending the alumni meeting as well?”

Why did she ask that? Now it seemed like she was actually interested in his plans, which she obviously wasn’t.

He smiled, actually smiled. “I will.”

It seemed as if he wanted to say something more, but of course, at that exact moment, the door to the international center opened and her professor came out, accompanied by Kai-san. She smiled and nodded at them in acknowledgement, then her attention was drawn by him again.

“You should go.” They made their parting bows and she hurried up the stairs. Just before she turned the corner, though, he called out to her one last time. “I’ll see you later.”