Love Stories: Rain

"Rain! That's enough," said a man.

He takes away the jug of beer from a woman's hand. The woman glares at him and snatches it back. She chugs in the rest of the beer. The man sighs out at her, "Doing that won't make you feel better."

Rain slouches on the bar table and starts to cry, "I know..."

He patted her back, "It's late. Do you want to crash here or should I call a cab?"

She shakes her head, "I want to hide in a hole..."

The man puts the jug away and walks over to her. He wipes away her tears, "If you cry too much, you'll ruin that pretty face of yours."

Rain looks at him while hiding half of her face within her arm, "...it can rot away for all I care..."

"...Just who is he to make you feel like this? I've never seen you like this before."

"I don't want to say his name..." Rain said as tears fell from her eyes, "If I say... it'll be harder to forget..."

"Rain."

"Kai-Yu... I wish I had never fallen in love. It hurts like I'm dying... what can I do to make it go away..." Rain said as she cried more.

Kai-Yu pats her head, "Well, for starters you need to rest. After you rest enough I'll tell you what you need to do next, okay?"

Rain nods and hugs him. He patted her back and carried her. Kai-Yu places Rain on his bed. He fixes her up and closes the door behind him. As he walked down the stairs back to the bar, two customers came in. It is a man in his mid 20s and a girl who looked strangely similar to Rain. 

Kai-Yu smiles at them, "Welcome to LUST, what kind of drink can I get you guys?"

The man hands his lover a menu. He turns and looks at Kai-Yu, "I'll get 'Love on the Beach."

The woman looks over the menu and gives it back to Kai-Yu.

"Can I get "Dancing Naked?"

Kai-Yu pops out his mixture bottle, "Coming right up."

The girl smiles, "Thank you."

"You sure you’re good for a few drinks? You just came out of the hospital," the man said with a concerned voice.

The girl nodded with a smile, "First night out, and I want to spend it with you."

The man touches her cheek, "What am I going to do with you." 

Kai-Yu sets out their drink, "Dancing Naked, and Making Love on The Beach."

"Thank you," said both of them.

The girl sips the drink and giggles, "I miss this taste."

"Well, you've been in a coma for three years," the man smiled.

"Don't remind me," said the girl, "And you never told me what you were doing during those three years."

The man pauses at her word and slightly smiles, "I met someone."

"Is this cheating I hear?" The girl said with a smirk.

"No. I just met someone who became a good friend... I haven't seen her since you were released from the hospital."

The girl blinks at him, "Why not? You guys are friends no?"

"It's complicated. But I would like to see her again..."

Suddenly, there was a loud crash noise that came from the staircase. Kai-Yu rushed over and saw Rain at the bottom of the staircase. He ran to her and said, "Rain! Are you okay?"

The man twitched as soon as he heard Rain's name. He gets up from his seat and walks over. Rain massages her head, "Ow, that hurts. I don't remember your house having stairs Kai-Yu."

"We're not at my house but at my bar. How did you get out of the room? I made sure to lock it since you like to walk around while being drunk."

Rain takes out a hair pin from her hand, "I pick lock it."

"Seriously?"

Rain smiles at him like a kid, “Yes.”

“But there were three locks on the door,” said Kai-Yu.

Rain raises up her finger with a V sign at him. He sighs out at her, “What am I going to do with you?”

“Rain…?” a voice behind Kai-Yu called out.

Rain twitches from hearing the voice and looks up. It was the man who came in with the woman. 

He looked shocked as he saw Rain before him. Rain too was also in shock, but quickly hid it when she saw the woman. 

“Where have you been?” he asked as he reached out to help her up.

Rain pushes his hand away and leans against Kai-Yu who helped her up instead. He puts her on the chair to sit on. He pours a cup of water to sober her up. Kai-Yu had seen her drunk before and knew that things were about to go downhill quickly if she didn't sober up soon.

“Why does it matter where I’ve been?” she asked as she pointed the cup at the woman, “Your girlfriend is awake now, so go to her. What’s the need of caring for me?”

“Rain,” he called out, “You’re my friend. I’m worried about you.”

Rain chuckles at his words. As Kai-Yu listened to them, he started to understand that the man standing before him was the man that broke Rain’s heart. If this was the man, and that was the woman she told him about, then he needed to change the subject fast.

“Rain,” said Kai-Yu, “It’s getting late, I’ll call an Uber to send you home.”

Rain ignores Kai-Yu’s concern and word of advice to change the subject and smirks at the man before her. She turns to the woman as she rises up her cup of water.

“To Anthony’s dearly beloved, it is good to see you finally awake,” said Rain, “I’ve been dying to see the person who looked an awful lot like me.”

The woman blinks at her, “...Huh?”

“What are you doing, Rain?” Anthony asked.

“I am congratulating her from awakening from her coma,” said Rain with a smirk, “I mean, wasn’t that the main reason why you approached me?”

The woman looked at Anthony and Rain in shock. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Anthony was starting to get irritated at her words. Kai-Yu facepalm himself. Rain had gone and did it, and there is no way to stop her. He thought to himself how he should have put on five or six more locks on the door. Since, once Rain gets drunks, she becomes a very nasty person to those who have wronged her.

“Anthony,” said the woman, “What is she talking about?”

“Nothing,” said Anthony, “She’s drunk and not in her right mind.”

Rain burst out laughing as soon as Anthony said that to her. She even cried a little. Kai-Yu shakes his head. It’s now over for Anthony is what Kai-Yu thought.

“Drunk? Yes, I am drunk,” said Rain, “Maybe because I am drunk I can’t help but think to myself, why in the world did I fall in love with you and comfort you in your darkest hour?”

“Rain…” said Anthony with warning in voice, “Don’t say things that you’re going to regret saying.”

Rain leans against her hand, “Regret huh? ...I do regret a lot of things after meeting you. For instance, I regret warming you up at night when you miss her.”

The woman instantly gets off her chair in disbelief of hearing these things. She glares at both Rain and Anthony. 

“Both of you are disgusting…” said the woman as she stormed out of the bar.

Anthony went after her just before giving Rain the most hateful look. Rain held her stomach as she laughed at them. While she laughed, she was also crying as well. Kai-Yu walks over to her side and comforts her in his embrace. 

“Why the fuck did I give him my heart…” Rain cried out, “I was definitely a substitute for her, and I knew that… So why did I like him… Why!?”

Kai-Yu pat her back, “Well… That’s just what love is. It just doesn’t make sense.”

Rain cried even harder after Kai-Yu said that. It wasn’t until a good hour passed did she finally fall asleep again in his arms. Kai-Yu picks her up and puts her back to bed. He wipes her face with a warm towel before he closes off the light.

NEXT DAY

“FUCK!” screamed out a voice early in the morning.

Kai-Yu who was downstairs yawns out with a funny grin. Rain came rushing downstairs with messy hair. Her face was as pale as a ghost. Kai-Yu could guest why she looked like that. All he needed to do was nod for her to just falter on her knee. 

“What the hell is wrong with me…” Rain said with an exhausted voice.

“Everything,” answered Kai-Yu, “For starters, you shouldn’t have acted like that in front of a girl who knew nothing about you and that man. You should have slowly let her know instead of blasting it off like that.”

“I know! And that was a rhetorical question!” cried out Rain.

“Yes, yes,” said Kai-Yu, “Now hurry home, or you’ll be late to class.”

Rain turns to the clock that was hanging high up on top of the bar ceiling. It was already 8:23 am. Her first class starts at 9:45, and her apartment was about thirty minutes away from where the bar was, and campus was at least ten minutes from her apartment. If she leaves now, she just might make it to class.

“Why didn’t you wake me up!” screamed out Rain as she ran out of the bar.

Kai-Yu chuckles to himself while shaking his head, “I did but you wouldn’t wake up.”

AT CAMPUS

“Shit! Shit! Shit!” Rain mumbles out, “I’m late!”

Just as she arrived at her class room, there was a certain person waiting in front of her classroom. It was Anthony. Rain clicks her tongue in irritation. When they broke up, she made sure to change her schedule and block off his number so that he wouldn’t have the chance to contact her. There was no way he could have known her class schedule at all unless he hacked into the school system or someone she knew betrayed her and told him about her changed schedule.

Surely enough, as soon as Rain thought of her that her phone rang. She opens up her phone and one of her friends texted her about giving Anthony her class schedule. Rain tightly squeezed her phone in irritation. She held back from breaking her phone, and instead texted her friend back as she was putting them on the blacklist and to never contact her again.

After she finished, she looked up and saw that Anthony was walking her way. Rain wanted to run off, but she can’t be late to her class. So, she decided to listen to whatever it is that Anthony wanted to say to her before heading to class.

“How could you say that in front of Anna,” said Anthony as he stood in front of her just a few feet away, “Couldn’t you have said it in a different way instead of making her misunderstand the whole entire situation?”

Rain taps her feet as she listens to his complaint. When he finished, she rolled her eyes at him and ignored him. She heads over to her class only to get stopped by him. He grabs her arm to stop her.

“Wait!” said Anthony, “You haven’t answered any of my questions!”

Rain jerks her arm out of his grip and glares at him, “I don’t like strangers touching me. Do that again, and you’ll lose your hand next time.”

Anthony was shocked at her action towards him. Rain walks away and enters her class just as the bell rang. She sighs out heavily as the anxiety for being late to class melts away. After an hour of lecture, her class finally ends. She packs up her stuff and gets ready for her next class, but just as she left the classroom, Anthony was still waiting on her. Was he waiting for this whole time for her to get out of class? Did he not have anything better to do?

Rain was starting to get a headache. She had a feeling that if she doesn’t talk this out, he’ll never leave her alone. She looks at her watch to see how much time she had before her next class. Rain had at least thirty minutes before her next class started. 

“Why the fuck are you waiting in front of my class?” Rain asked in irritation.

Anthony looked at her somewhat stun at her words. He didn’t remember her acting like this before. She had her ways of being sharp with words, but never cussed at him before. Just what made her change like this?

“You haven’t answered any of my questions that I asked earlier,” said Anthony.

“Do I need to?” Rain answered with a question.

“What?”

Rain sighs out at him, “We don’t have any kind of relationship with each other so why am obligated to answer any of your questions?”

“What are you talking about?” said Anthony, “Are we not friends?”

Rain glares at him, “Friends don’t sleep with each other and get out with each other, and then breakup acting like nothing happened. Excuse me, I’m late to class.”

Rain quickly left before even letting Anthony say anything else to her. Throughout her class schedule, Anthony was waiting for her in front of class. Annoyed at his action, Rain would just ignore him and pass by him like he was air. Towards the end of her class schedule, she finally stopped seeing him at the entrance of her classroom. Good ridiences, was what she thought, but that too was too soon to even say.

When Rain finally left campus after finishing her class schedule, it was dark out. She headed back to her apartment but was shocked at what she saw there. Anthony was there once again waiting for her in front of her apartment. Anthony’s presence was starting to antagonize Rain’s moral sense of not murdering him right where he was standing. She calms herself down before meeting him face on.

“What are you doing in front of my apartment?” Rain asked with an irritated tone.

“I got worried since it’s getting dark,” answered Anthony, “I wanted to make sure that you get back home safe.”

“...Why would you do that?”

He smiles at her, “Because you’re my friend, and it’s what friends do.”

“...What?”

“Beside,” said Anthony as he walked closer to her, “If I don’t wait here for you, then who knows who will break into your apartment or even try to harm you on your way back. It’s the least I can do as your friend.”

Rain’s eyes were starting to twitch at his words and actions. He was making himself sound like she needed him in her life or she wouldn’t be able to survive in this world. Her rationality was starting to snap with each word that was coming out of his mouth.

“I’m worried about you Rain,” said Anthony, “And I know you would do the same for me.”

That was the last straw. Rain snapped at his words and chops him right where his Adam's apple was. Anthony was caught off guard and started to choke for air. As he gasped for air, he looked at her in shock. Rain walks to her apartment entrance and glances back at him.

“No, I wouldn’t because a friend wouldn’t do such a thing…!”

She slams the door shut and leans against the door. Rain was seriously asking herself why in the world did she fall in love with him. The very next morning, Rain peeks out of the window to make sure that Anthony wasn’t standing there. He wasn’t. She sighs in relief and gets ready to leave for school. Unfortunately, Anthony was there again in front of her classroom. He was stating that he was waiting for her as a friend to make sure that she was safe. But safe from what? The cold from the wind?

He also continued to wait for her at her apartment at night as well. This continued for three more days, until Rain couldn’t take it anymore. She decided to head over to the bar first thing in the morning. The sign on the bar was still closed but she went in anyway. Kai-Yu was cleaning the counter as he heard the bell jingles.

“The bar isn’t open until 12 pm,” said Kai-Yu as he looks up, “Oh, it’s you Rain. What are you doing here so early?”

Rain sets her bags down and leans against the counter while covering her face in her arm, “I’m tired… Let me stay here for a few days.”

“What’s up?”

Rain told Kai-Yu what happened these past few days. After she finished, instead of getting comfort by him, he laughed at her right in her face. Rain’s face was bursting red at his action.

“What’s so funny!”

“I mean,” said Kai-Yu as he wiped his laughter's tears, “Why didn’t you just call the police?”

“I did,” said Rain, “But he would disappear as soon as the police came!”

“Then why not have a restraining order done?”

“Right now? I can’t, I'm too busy with class after changing my schedule,” answered Rain.

“Kukukukuku, to think that the man you were in love with turned out to be a stalker,” said Kai-Yu.

“It’s not funny… This is why you don’t have a girlfriend,” said Rain as she pouted at him.

“Hey, I have dated just so you know,” said Kai-Yu.

“Oh really?” said Rain a little bit surprised, “When was the last time you dated someone?”

“Hmm… It’s been five years?”

“Wow,” said Rain, “Why haven’t you dated anyone? Did the last one break your heart?”

“Yes and no,” answered Kai-Yu, “I was heartbroken when she broke up with me, but it was also because I’m waiting for someone.”

“Who?” asked Rain with curiosity.

“A special someone,” answered Kai-Yu as he wipes the glass cups, “Until then, I won’t be dating anyone or settle down any time soon.”

“If you keep waiting for that special someone, you’ll be single forever you know,” said Rain as she leaned against her arm.

He grins at her, “Like you?”

Rain pouts at him, “I’ll have you know that I dated others more than.”

“Really now?”

“Yes,” said Rain, “Plus, I bet that you’re not willing to go out with anyone because you're terrible at dating.”

Kai-Yu puts down his glass cup and turns to Rain, somewhat offended. He walks over to her who was smirking at him as though she had won the conversation. He grinned at her, “Then, want to try dating me for the day?”

“Sure, why no-” Rain stops in the middle of her sentences and looks at him, “...Huh?”

“If you think my dating skills are the reasons why I can’t get a date, then why not try dating me for the day?”

“...Right now?”

“Sure, why not?”

Rain was puzzled at his words, “Ahh….”

“Then it’s settled,” said Kai-Yu, “I’ll close up the bar for today and you should skip out of class for today as well.”

“Wait, wait, wait” said Rain as she was still trying to process what was happening, “Are you sure you want to close up the bar for a date right now?”

He shrugs at her, “Why not? If I don’t do it, won’t you think that I’m not taking this seriously?”

“I mean… I would, but… Seriously?”

He smirks at her, “Seriously.”

Rain had known Kai-Yu since the start of her college life. Her friends wanted to go out and drink at the bar and were bar hopping. Kai-Yu’s bar was the last bar they went to. Although he was the owner of the bar, he made sure to take care of his customers. During that time, Rain was not in a relationship with Anthony and was single. She was the DD for her group, the designated driver. 

They didn’t step on the right foot with each other as he was sarcastic towards her for looking younger than what was stated on the ID. He had assumed that Rain faked her ID and that her friends were more of her cousins who were trying to get her wasted. He wasn’t wrong about the wasted part, but was wrong about everything else. 

Rain was offended by that and had to constantly prove to him that she was as old as she said she was. Her friends weren’t exactly helpful as they were drunk. Kai-Yu told her that he would only believe her if she could pick three locks he set in front of her.

Rain had no idea who this would prove her age to him, but she didn’t hesitate to do it since she knew how to pick locks. After she finished picking the locks he gave her, Kai-Yu decided to believe that she was indeed 21 or over. Rain asked him what was the point of the locks, and he told her that it was a way to scare off those who faked their IDs to him.

Since then, the two of them became acquaintances to good friends. It never occurred to her that this kind of day would come. Rain was standing in front of a family restaurant while waiting for Kai-Yu to get a table for them to sit. A few minutes later, they finally had a place to sit. 

As they looked through the menu, Rain noticed that most of the food that was presented on the menu was her favorite food. It made her thoughts about the time Anthony took her out to eat at a fancy restaurant and there wasn’t a single food there that was her type at all. Next, Kai-Yu took her out to an arcade to play games, including Virtual Reality goggles. After food, Anthony would always take her to a park for a walk and they would talk about their days. 

Rain preferred going to an arcade after eating instead of walking to get all of the energy out. The more time she spent with Kai-Yu, the more she would compare them to the time she spent with Anthony. Not once during her date with him was fun, entertaining, nor did it involved with anything she liked. Suddenly, Rain remembered about Anthony’s real girlfriend who was in a coma. It seems very like her to like those kinds of things. In the end, she really was used as a substitute for his girlfriend and he wasn’t looking at her who was before him. 

Rain shot a score of 100 as this thought passed through her mind. She started thinking about why she found Anthony attracted in the first place. Perhaps it was because he was the first person who complimented her for looking pretty or even nice. When Rain was growing up, she always dressed like a boy or just mainly wore clothing that was comfortable for her. Not once did she ever wear a skirt or a dress. However, after she dated Anthony, she started wearing those to make herself look good for him.

Just that thought alone pissed her off. She slammed her fist into the machine and scored a high four hundred points. Towards the end of her date with Kai-Yu, Rain found herself laughing the whole time instead of pretending to smile or even laugh at jokes that made no sense. Rain was starting to doubt herself for falling for a man like Anthony.

Rain stretches out her arm on their way back from their date to her apartment. She swings her arms around with a big smile on her face.

“Skipping school once in a while isn’t so bad right?” asked Kai-Yu.

Rain nods, “It was a very good stress reliever… Plus, the date was fun. Thanks Kai-Yu.”

He smiles at her, “I had fun as well, Rain.”

They chuckle at each other as they bring up a topic to talk about. As they got close to Rain’s apartment, someone called out to her in the distance. Rain turns around and her face twisted into irritation. It was Anthony again. He ran up close to her with a worried expression. As he reaches out to touch her face, Rain backs away.

“Rain,” said Anthony with a worried tone, “I was so worried that something had happened to you. Why didn’t you pick up your call?”

Rain narrows her eyes at him, “What the hell are you doing? Didn’t I tell you to knock it off?”

“What are you saying Rain?” said Anthony as he looks at her with concern, “Isn’t it obvious for me to wait for you?”

“Huh?”

He reaches out and grabs her hand as he glares at Kai-Yu, “Anyone would be worried about their girlfriend.”

Rain’s eyes widened at his words in shock. Without much realization, her fist was about to fly into his face if Kai-Yu didn’t stop her. He moved Anthony’s hands away from Rain and stood in front of her. Anthony glares at him, “Who are you?”

“I could ask you the same as well,” said Kai-Yu, “Who are you to touch my girlfriend as he pleases?”

Anthony narrows his eyes at him, “What?”

Rain blinked at his words, but suddenly remembered that they were dating for the day. Anthony growls at him, “Who are you calling your girlfriend?”

“Rain has told me what you’ve done,” said Kai-Yu, ignoring his question, “If you continue to do this, we will take legal action against you.”

“Who are you to talk like that to me!” Anthony said as he raised his voice, “As her boyfriend, it’s only right of me to be concerned about things that involve my girlfriend.”

Rain couldn’t hold it in anymore after hearing Anthony saying that. She was about to slap him, but Kai-Yu held her back again. He smiles at Anthony, “Funny, was the woman who came into the bar not your girlfriend? Does she know that you’ve been stalking Rain like this for the past few days?”

This shut Anthony up fast. His face turned pale at the mention of his real girlfriend. Rain grit her teeth as she stares at him. Kai-Yu continues, “Moreover, Rain is your girlfriend? That’s weird, did you two not break up already? Are you trying to crawl back to her and use her to cheat on or something?”

“I-”

Before Anthony could continue, Kai-Yu continues on talking, “Last warning, if I see you hanging around my girlfriend again, I will take legal action against you.”

Anthony glares at Kai-Yu but couldn’t say anything. He turns to Rain with a pleading look, but all he received was a disgusted face. 

“We are not related to each other in other ways,” said Rain, “Leave or my boyfriend will take care of you.”

Anthony looks at her irritated as he says, “...Fine.”

When he finally left, Rain burst out a hollar of irritation before looking back at Kai-Yu who patted her back. He sends her to the entrance of her apartment with a smile. She smiles back at him, “Thank you. The date was fun.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it,” said Kai-Yu.

“I hope you find that special person soon,” said Rain sincerely, “She’s missing out on an awful lot of things.”

He smirks at her, “Tell me about it. I thought that with this she would realize something, but it seems that she’s not too smart about it.”

“Huh? What are you talking about? about?” said Rain as she stares at him.

“My special person,” said Kai-Yu as he stares back, “I found her a while now and I’ve been waiting for her to realize that I’m right here waiting for her.”

Rain looks at him somewhat baffled at his words. For some reason she could feel her face turning red from embarrassment and butterflies in her stomach.

“Sometime she doesn’t realize how pretty she is when she works hard on her project or how annoying she can be when she’s drunk,” said Kai-Yu, “I mean, she’s still pretty even when drunk, but I like her more when she smiles at me without worries. So, I’m glad that she enjoyed our date tonight.”

Rain quickly covers his mouth before he could say anything more. She felt like her whole face could explode. Kai-Yu just smiles at her through his eyes. Rain had to cover her face so that she couldn’t feel those eyes looking at her.

“You… Since when…” Rain asked.

“Since the beginning… No, after I found out that you dated that man,” answered Kai-Yu, “I didn’t know that I was in love with you until then.”

Rain covered her ear, “Really…! Don’t say that word.”

He looks at her puzzled and then grins. He removes her hand and whispers in her ear, “I’m in love with you Rain, would please go out with this helpless man before you?”

Rain’s whole face burst out red as her knee went out. He held her up and held her in his embrace. Rain had no idea what to do about his confession but all she knew was that her heart couldn’t stop racing. No, it started racing ever since he called her his girlfriend. At that time, she thought that he was saying it because they decided to date for the day, but after finding out that he had liked her for a while now, and wants to date her, her heartbeat was racing even faster. 

This man who was a sarcastic jerk to her in the very beginning became a very good friend along the way and was in a way her only place to be comfortable around. Just how did she not realize that she too was in love with him for a while now. Well, who could blame her when she never really experienced love before.

Rain gathered her courage to answer his feelings, “...Yes.”

Though his face was unreadable because she was buried in his chest when he touched her face to kiss her, Rain was a little but stunning. She had never seen him with that kind of expression before. A child-like smile that could charm anyone who would see it. He hugs her deeply as he said, “Finally… You’re mine…”

It was the first time, but it wouldn’t be the last time as well for Rain to pat his back. After that day, they continued to date for a few more years before committing to a serious relationship. Turns out the day after Rain’s drunk fit, Anthony’s real girlfriend broke up with him after finding out that Rain wasn’t his only relationship after her three years in coma. 

Rain and Kai-Yu decided to get married after a few years of their serious commitment. They were both well liked by both families and had four sons, and five daughters. Kai-Yu’s oldest daughter took over the bar, as his other children went on with their dream. Rain and Kai-Yu stayed together until old age and passed on surrounded by their beloved family.

On their tombstone wrote:

Love is hard to find, but it is always around the corner