Chapter 1: A Chance Encounter

“Ahhhh”, yawned Leah as she stretched out her arms. She turned her head and frowned to see that she was the only one in her bed once again. She had been single for longer than she could remember now. Probably best that she didn’t remember. The truth would only make her more miserable. “Welp, time to start another day” she thought.

Leah brushed her dirty blonde hair from her brown eyes and began her morning routine. She grabbed her bath robe, walked into her kitchen, and turned on her Keurig. While she waited for the machine to warm up, Leah scrolled through TikTok, filtering out the crummy commercials which were becoming more annoying with each passing day.

It wasn’t long before the Keurig beeped. Leah got up from her chair and placed a mug on top of the drip tray. The machine grumbled for a minute then began to pour a creamy substance into her cup.

French Vanilla.

The sweet smell of the coffee filled Leah’s nostrils. She allowed herself a quiet moan, then began to drink. If only she had someone to share this moment with. But she didn’t, and that was her life. 28 and single as could be. But, she was comfortable. She had her friends, she had her health, she had a great job. In truth, she had a lot to be grateful for. But she didn’t have the one thing she really wanted. The one thing she craved for. A person to start a family with. A person who loved her and whom she loved. A person who she could spend the rest of her life with.

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Le ah finished her French vanilla coffee then hopped in the shower. She washed her hair, face, and body before turning off the water and drying herself off. Normally, she would just throw some clothes on but she saw the scale in her bathroom glaring at her. She hadn’t weighed herself in a while and had noticed that her jeans weren’t fitting the same anymore. So, she pulled it out from under her sink, took a deep breath, then planted her feet on the platform.

The last time Leah weighed herself, she was 134lbs. Had Leah been shorter, her weight may have concerned her. But standing at 5’3, it was a healthy weight. Any fat that she had tended to rest mostly in her ass. Not something to complain about, that was for sure.

*137.7lbs*

A 3lbs gain wasn’t the worst thing in the world but it was still a 3lbs gain. “I suppose it can’t be helped” she mumbled to no one in particular before stepping off the scale, “Better lay off the snacks for a bit.”

Normally, Leah would have made her way to work around now but, seeing as it was a Saturday, she had the day to herself. “What to do” she thought as she fidgeted with a pen. Then, as if on cue, her phone buzzed. It was Kita.

“Hey hottie!!! Me and Kylie are heading to sushi for lunch today. Wanna come?”

Kita, one of her closest friends, was always inviting her out for lunch and dinner. Now that Leah thought about it, Kita was probably somewhat responsible for the 3 extra pounds that Leah had gained in the past 2 months. But, Leah wasn’t about to play the blame game. She knew better than that. More than anything, she knew it would only lead her back to herself. Kylie, on the other hand, wasn’t Leah’s favourite but Kita liked to bring her along so Leah had to deal with it.

“Um, sure! I would love that! Which place?”

It was a stupid question. Kita was Japanese and had very high standards when it came to Japanese food. If it wasn’t top tier, it wasn’t Japanese food.

“Kushi Kushi 😉”

Of course. Kushi Kushi was their spot. They pretty much went there every week. And with $3 pints of Sapporo, it was a good spot to have.

“Works for me! Wanna meet around 1?”

“Yep!”

“Perfect. See you then!”

Leah put down her phone then looked at the time. The clock on the wall read 10:00 o’clock. “Lots of time to kill” she thought. So, she did what any productive person would do. She picked up her phone, then spent the next 2 and half hours scrolling through Instagram and watching TikTok videos.

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When it was time to leave, Leah dressed herself in a casual summer dress from Shein. Nothing too fancy but she didn’t want to wear anything too tight. Not for sushi anyway. She had made that mistake before and was not one to repeat the same mistake twice. Or, at least she tried not to make the same mistakes twice.



“Hey girls!” said Leah, as she walked up to a patio table where Kita and Kylie were sitting. “Hey!” replied the two girls in unison harmony. “So, what’s the game plan?” asked Leah. “I’m thinking we get an order of ebi mayo and tuna tataki to share. Kylie already ordered us all Sapporos. Now all you have to do is decide what you want!” Leah smiled a friendly smile. She didn’t have to force it either. A round of Sapporo was always appreciated.

After spending a minute glancing over the menu, Leah decided to get an order of shrimp tempura sushi rolls. It wasn’t a huge plate of food. There were only 12 pieces of sushi. But it was arguably her favourite dish that was served at Kushi Kushi. Why? Because it was fried. And Leah had a bit of a weakness for fried food. But that was besides the point. Generally, the 12 piece shrimp tempura was just enough to fill her up. And with the added pieces of ebi mayo and tuna tataki? Plus beer? It would surely be enough.

“So, has everyone decided what they want today?” came a familiar voice from just behind Leah. She turned her head to find an attractive, slim figured man standing behind her. His hair was sleek and his cheek bones high. He raised his eyebrows and gave Leah a comforting smile. “Makoto!” she screamed in excitement. “How’ve you been! I haven’t seen you since university!” “I’ve been well” he said, his honey eyes examining her figure. “I’m working here part-time and trying to start up my own business the rest of the time. What about you? How’ve you been holding up?” “I’m good! I’m working at a law firm in town. I’m just an associate for now but it pays well and has great benefits. I’ve thought about starting my own law firm but I think that’ll be something to do in the future.” “That’s amazing! Good for you.” Replied Makoto, his eyes still glued to her body. If he was trying to be inconspicuous, he was doing a poor job. But Leah didn’t quite mind. He was attractive… she gave his a quick look from top to bottom. Yep, he was definitely attractive. “Time has treated you well” he continued. “I’m sorry?” “Oh! I just mean- what I meant is that you look really good. Its been so long since we’ve last seen each other and…” he paused for a moment while trying to collect his thoughts. Leah gave him a reassuring smile. “Always were a ladies man, eh?” Makoto’s cheeks began to turn red. “I’m teasing! Relax. You look great too!” Makoto’s shoulders seemed to loosen after hearing that. “Thanks… Sorry! I’m rambling. Um, what did you guys want to order?”

The girls all placed their orders while Makoto struggled to write everything down on his notepad. He then read off everyone’s order and, after he made sure that he got them right, he smiled and stumbled away to the kitchen. Leah watched him go. Watched the muscles on his ass work as he went. Watched- “Oh my god. He’s so cute!” whispered Kylie. “Is he single, Leah? Please tell me he’s single.” “I-I honestly don’t know. I haven’t seem him in years and-“ Kylie cut her off. She had a habit of cutting people off mid sentence. It was one of the many reasons why Leah didn’t like her. “Right, well, could you find out for me please?” What she wanted to say was “Could you shut up for a change?” but Kita rested a hand on her thigh before she could get the words out. Kita always knew how to calm her down. Her dark, sparkling eyes mixed with the comforting warmth of her hand on her thighs always seemed to stop her from bad decisions. Sure, Leah vastly preferred boys, but there was something about Kita. She made Leah wonder what it might be like to dip her feet in the devils pond from time to time.

Leah’s thoughts were cut short once again by Kylie, whose eyes were staring daggers at her empty beer glass. “What about it girls? Round two?” Before Leah could object, Kylie was already flagging down a server. “Another round of Sapporos, please!” she said, handing her empty pint to the server. “I guess one more won’t hurt the numbers on the scale” thought Leah as she picked up her beer glass and chugged the remainder of the cold carbonated beverage down her throat.