A Single Footprint in the Snow (06)
FIVE
SIX: FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
He spends his morning staring into space and shredding tissues with his hands until his deskmate and friend Sakurai Sho snaps a finger in his face to bring him back to the present. His colleague gives him a doubtful look before returning to his seat. Nino’s eyes follow Sho and he sighs as Sho situates himself across the desk. He wonders if his coworker knows. How open had he been about himself? Nino feels apprehensive and funny about people knowing things about himself that he doesn't actually remember.
“Nino, it’s weird to see you so out of sorts,” Sho breaks the silence.
Nino sighs again and throws his head and arms down on his desk. “I’m getting married,” he declares.
Sho isn’t even fazed. “Are you? That’s great news.”
“You didn’t know about it?” he asks, actually surprised. Sho is the colleague he is most open with at the company and if Sho doesn’t even know then he must have told no one.
Sho also expresses surprise and looks back at Nino, startled. “You’re not joking? With who?”
Why Sho thinks he would be joking about marriage exasperates Nino. He decides to tell the truth, or the truth as he knew it. “I don’t know. A stranger.”
“An arranged marriage!?” Sho’s voice rises and he doesn’t notice the annoyed glances of their coworkers. He presses on. “What about your dog?”
“Dog?” Nino repeats uncertainly.
“Yes, your precious dog that you’ve been running home to for the last few years,” Sho affirms. “I seriously thought you had no interest in women and marriage. You said you only needed your dog in your life and, honest to god, you were always so serious about it that I wondered why you'd bother to flirt with the girls. You never took anyone home.”
"Did I talk about my dog with you?" Nino asks, curious about this entity he'd conjured. He never had a pet.
Sho sighs. "Yes. All the time. You called him Puppy or Ma-chan. Honestly, it started to get annoying."
* *
SEVEN
SIX: FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES
He spends his morning staring into space and shredding tissues with his hands until his deskmate and friend Sakurai Sho snaps a finger in his face to bring him back to the present. His colleague gives him a doubtful look before returning to his seat. Nino’s eyes follow Sho and he sighs as Sho situates himself across the desk. He wonders if his coworker knows. How open had he been about himself? Nino feels apprehensive and funny about people knowing things about himself that he doesn't actually remember.
“Nino, it’s weird to see you so out of sorts,” Sho breaks the silence.
Nino sighs again and throws his head and arms down on his desk. “I’m getting married,” he declares.
Sho isn’t even fazed. “Are you? That’s great news.”
“You didn’t know about it?” he asks, actually surprised. Sho is the colleague he is most open with at the company and if Sho doesn’t even know then he must have told no one.
Sho also expresses surprise and looks back at Nino, startled. “You’re not joking? With who?”
Why Sho thinks he would be joking about marriage exasperates Nino. He decides to tell the truth, or the truth as he knew it. “I don’t know. A stranger.”
“An arranged marriage!?” Sho’s voice rises and he doesn’t notice the annoyed glances of their coworkers. He presses on. “What about your dog?”
“Dog?” Nino repeats uncertainly.
“Yes, your precious dog that you’ve been running home to for the last few years,” Sho affirms. “I seriously thought you had no interest in women and marriage. You said you only needed your dog in your life and, honest to god, you were always so serious about it that I wondered why you'd bother to flirt with the girls. You never took anyone home.”
"Did I talk about my dog with you?" Nino asks, curious about this entity he'd conjured. He never had a pet.
Sho sighs. "Yes. All the time. You called him Puppy or Ma-chan. Honestly, it started to get annoying."
* *
SEVEN