Luka
As soon as James disappeared, the confusion on Kazuo's face twisted into anger.
"How the hell does he even dare?" he snapped. "Help us reopen the bar? He wants a meeting? That fucking bastard," he said, clenching and unclenching his fists.
His voice no longer sounded uncertain.
"Hey, Luka." He sharply turned toward me. "Don't worry about this, alright? I'm not agreeing to this shit. We definitely don't need his help. We'll handle everything ourselves."
I stayed silent.
My eyes were unfocused, fixed somewhere ahead without really seeing anything.
Just a few minutes ago, I had finally decided to move on. To close that chapter and never return to it again.
And before I could even do a single thing about it, Edward Monclair's name appeared in my life again.
What kind of sick joke was that?
*** *** *** ***
A week had passed since then, but the shock I felt that day still hadn't gone away.
I was stuck in this strange state where I genuinely had no idea what the hell was happening or what I was supposed to do.
Obviously, Kazuo was in a pretty similar state too, because despite all his loud speeches about how we didn't need their help, how we would manage on our own, he hadn't given James an answer yet.
James wasn't pushing us.
Just like he said, he barely showed up at the construction site anymore.
Of course.
He was Edward Monclair's secretary now.
Edward chose him himself.
At the thought of it, that same hot, unpleasant feeling started spreading through my chest again.
I took a slow, deep breath, forcing myself to breathe as evenly as possible, trying to shove the feeling somewhere deep inside.
To distract myself, I glanced toward Kazuo.
He was talking to one of the volunteers nearby, explaining that there was no reason to come help for now. Most of the work we could safely finish before dealing with the permit situation was already done anyway.
Everything else depended on whatever inspection they decided to throw at us next.
Since we had absolutely no idea who would inspect the place, what they would inspect, or how they would do it, there was barely anything we could work on right now.
We had reduced the number of volunteers coming in. Today there were only a few of us left here. And the farther this dragged on, the fewer people we actually needed around.
The worst part was that after this entire damn week, we still hadn't found a way to solve the permit issue.
I watched Kazuo all week and saw his determination and anger gradually give way to despair.
Sometimes I caught him looking at the construction site when nobody else was paying attention. Looking at every wall we had built, every corner we had managed to restore.
The sadness on his face was so overwhelming that it made my throat tighten.
I felt guilty. Guilty that we were stuck in this situation because of me. Because of me, he couldn't bring back the place that meant the most to him.
Weren't we going to find a solution?
Were we really backed into a corner?
Did we seriously have no other choice?
I kept asking myself those questions again and again.
Lying awake at night. Searching through the internet for hours. Thinking about how the hell we were supposed to fix this.
We had already been to those government offices so many times that the whole thing felt completely pointless.
Even if we fixed every single issue they pointed out during our last visit, we would just come back there and watch the same cycle repeat itself all over again.
More humiliation.
More refusals.
More random corrections that made no sense.
So yeah.
It looked like we couldn't handle this alone.
I thought everything that happened over the last year had changed me. But apparently, I was still selfish enough to get stuck inside my own feelings.
Maybe it was finally time to shove all of that somewhere far away and do something right for once.
Something for Kazuo.
Letting out a slow breath, I started walking toward him.
One of the volunteers had just left, looking slightly disappointed after their conversation.
"Kaz!" I called out.
He turned toward me and smiled. His eyes were sad, though.
"Let's do it," I said before I even fully reached him.
Kazuo froze, his eyes widening in obvious surprise.
"Do what?"
"Let's meet them."
He blinked several times. "I'm not sure I understood you."
I took another deep breath and clenched my fists.
"I don't know if we should accept their offer or not. But we need to meet them. If they're willing to help us get the permit..." I forced myself to continue. "Why not at least hear what they have to say?"
Kazuo narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to read my face.
"You sure?" he asked quietly. "Because if you're even a little unsure, then we don't have to..."
"No. I'm fine. I'm completely sure," I interrupted him. "We all want this place to reopen. We all want people coming back here again. We want this place back." I gave him a small smile. "So maybe dealing with a little discomfort is worth it."
Kazuo smiled back at me.
It was sad, but there was something else there now too.
Something close to relief.
Slowly, he nodded. "Alright."
He pulled out the card James had given him along with his phone.
"If you're ready, I'll call them and set up the meeting." He glanced at the card. "Let's hear what that bastard wants from us."