Real Life Rom-Com

   “So,” he asked, gently putting his hands on my shoulders and slowly locking his eyes with mine, mischievous smile on his beautiful face. “What do you think?”

    I think back to what brought us to where we are now. It’s only been three months but feels much longer. I’ve been adoring him privately for almost three decades now, but we only met this past May.

    I had taken up walking dogs to supplement my income, as part-time cashier at the local dollar store wasn’t exactly getting the bills paid. I didn’t even know he was the client, just that it was going to be every day for only about two or three months. I was introduced to Reggie on the first day, and he gave me very detailed instructions for the dogs. Reggie, it turns out, is a personal assistant, I just didn’t know who’s. Max and Millie are the fluffiest Goldens I had met on the job so far. They were also fairly well behaved, except when it was storming. Much like myself, the louder the storm, the more anxious they became. On this particular day, there was quite a bad storm, so I decided to keep the dogs occupied and inside as much as possible, even agreeing to stay until Reggie came home.

    So, there I lay prone, on the living room floor, listening to some K-Pop, playing with the dogs. Millie was on my back playing her favorite indoor game of hide the squeaky toy in my hair. Max was playing fetch with what can only be described as the tennis ball of the damned. The vibrant green with bright white striping had been replaced with a putrid gray mixture of dirt, mud, saliva, and who knows what else. For about the millionth time, I chucked it into the kitchen, and he blissfully ran after it. This time, he brought it back but didn’t drop it at first. I had a strange feeling that we weren’t alone. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for Freddy Krueger’s nails to slice me into little bits. A split second later, both dogs began wagging their big fluffy tails so hard that it seemed they would soon become airborne. Instead, they raced to the foot of the stairs to stare up at their owner. Not Reggie, I realized as I turned over and followed their loving gaze. There he stood, larger than life. Magnificent even with severe bed head, ratty black sweatpants (complete with lots of Retriever fur) and a worn-out Ron Jon’s t-shirt. Riku (or “Ricky” as he was credited early on in his career) Matsui. The first biracial actor to play a superhero on television. I felt like the proverbial deer in the headlights, and I’m sure I looked the part. The ability to think, move, or speak coherently had fled my body. Fearing the worst, I could only stumble most gracelessly to my feet, attempt to smooth out the tangled mess that Millie left my hair, and struggle to say anything. “Sorry, I…I didn’t know you were here. Reggie hadn’t mentioned anything. I’m so sorry. I’m from…” And speech once more failed me. My brain froze, and I simply couldn’t recall the name of the company, or even my own name. He laughed a bit and finished his descent to give the dogs some attention. He made his way calmly, amusedly almost, to where I was, frozen between the living room and the hall. “Lizzie, from Walker’s Walkers,” he finished my thought, nodding at my shirt and badge. “Yes. I’m the dog walker. Again, I’m so sorry for waking you. Reggie hired me, and part of our agreement was that I’d stay with the dogs when the weather gets bad. It’s pretty bad today, and I was just trying to keep them company. But since you’re here, I’ll just…” I backed up towards the door, but a loud clap of thunder shook the house, spooking both the dogs and me. I got tripped up trying not to trip on the dogs. He reached out and grabbed me before I fell flat on my sitter downer. Then, in that instant, and only for the briefest of moments, I had the briefest taste of being in a rom-com. Riku Matsui was…no, the Riku Matsui, was holding my arm. I flashed back to my teen years, giggling at any and all attention from boys. Heart beating so loudly and rapidly, I was sure he noticed. “Are you alright? Come back inside, you don’t have to go just yet.” I let him guide me to the kitchen. I plopped down unceremoniously on one of the bar stools and once more tried to awaken my laboriously slow-moving brain. He grabbed two glasses and opened the fridge. “Want something to drink? There’s orange juice, and milk, but I can’t say vouch for the milk.” He pulled out the juice and filled both glasses. “Go ahead, it’s still good. Yeah, sorry about scaring you. I wasn’t expecting to still be here, but we didn’t finish until…well, early this morning, so the director gave us the day off. Doesn’t happen too often, so we all took it. Guess Reggie hadn’t heard. Tell the truth, I’m surprised he’s not already here. Kind of treats me like a child sometimes, you know?” “Kid gloves for the big Hollywood superstar, huh?” I somehow managed to say. He laughed, and I swear he has the best laugh. It reaches his brown eyes, making them sparkle in the bright kitchen lights. I smiled and sipped a little of the juice, careful not to swallow wrong and have a coughing fit; or, God forbid, drink too fast and end up burping. “Yeah, something like that,” he replied as he leaned against the counter across from me. “Would you like to come out to the set tomorrow?” I set the glass back on the counter, and slowly got back to my feet. “I…I don’t…I don’t think so. I’ve never been on a movie set before. What about the dogs? What about Reggie?” I scanned the living room for my purse and phone. Riku smiled again. “We can bring the dogs, everyone on set loves them almost as much as I do. And don’t worry about Reggie. Deep down, he’s an old softie. C’mon, Lizzie from Walker’s Walkers. Whaddya say?” Part of my brain began screaming at me to bolt out the door, drive home as fast I could, and hide under the covers. The other half screaming at me to JUST SAY YES YOU IDIOT!!! Still, I hesitated. It’s not every day one meets their dream guy in real life, let alone get paid to play with his dogs, and to top it off like a glorious sundae, hang out with him on a movie set. Things like that just don’t happen to normal boring people like me. Purse, keys and phone in hand, I head to the front door. Millie pads over to me, expecting her hug. Max stays by Riku’s side, but both are watching me. I bend over to give Millie a hug (and to get in one last deep calming breath.) “A tour of the set sounds like fun. Thank you.” I’m finally able to reply, and even manage a smile which widens when I see him smiling that much more at me. “Perfect. Come back here at eight, and we’ll drive in together, okay?”

    I went, was painfully nervous the entire time, but enjoyed myself, nonetheless. At lunch, we took the dogs to a dog café, and I took them on home afterwards. As I was thoroughly exhausted, I went back to my shabby apartment to get in a nap before dinner. Riku and some of the other actors invited me out to eat with them. I was even more nervous, as I had never been to the restaurant before, and knew that I couldn’t really afford it. But by the end of the meal, I was considerably more at ease. We ended up going to a club afterwards for drinking and dancing. And yes, I even danced with not only Riku, but a few of the others as well. The next few weeks flew by in a strange, lovely, scary, wonderful way. I felt like I was having an out of body experience. Like I was watching a movie about someone else’s life, but I was starring as that other person. Once upon a time, I had been married for ten years, but I had never been as happy in that time as I was with Riku. His younger sister, Yua, came out to visit one week. She told me some fantastic stories about their childhood. About how their dad was an American soldier and their mom was a schoolteacher in Japan. Living in both places but never really fitting in in either. How he came to detest the moniker “Ricky,” but went along with it so he could get work. Ever since I saw him on T.V., I had a crush on him, just like every other person in the world. But now, I could feel myself falling not just for the actor, but for the person under the cape. Yua and her husband write children’s books and spend their time between the family home in Japan, and pretty much wherever Riku was working. One night as we were drinking and playing with the dogs, she told me that I needed to come out with her to Japan and meet the rest of the Matsui family. I didn’t sober up immediately, but I managed to come to my senses somewhat. I jokingly laughed it off, and quickly changed the subject. After some time, I got up to take the dogs for one last walk around the block when Riku hopped up to join us. The walk itself was relatively uneventful. We mostly just talked about inconsequential things. Right before we got to the door, he stopped and took my hand. “Lizzie, wait. Let’s not go in just yet. I…we need to talk. Here, sit and I’ll put the dogs in.” I sat on the porch, looked forlornly at the “for rent” sign in the front lawn and waited. Well, I thought, here it comes. It’s been fun, but I knew it wasn’t going to last. I shuddered a little and scolded myself to keep my emotions in check. Keep it together long enough to leave with your head up. NO crying! In fact, maybe order an Uber now… But as I was bringing up the app, he came back out. “If you don’t mind, this really can’t wait.” I nodded and turned off my phone. “Are you alright? Is Yua okay?” He smiled, nodded, and sat next to me. “Yes,” he said once more taking my hand. “She’s fast asleep on the sofa. She’s fine now, but she’ll have one hell of a hangover in the morning.” “She’s probably one of the nicest people I have met, Riku. Honestly. As you know, I have two sisters, and neither are as sweet and loving as Yua. I’m so…well, forgive the cheese, but I’m so honored to have met her. And you” The words hung hopeful in the stillness for a moment. Meanwhile, I blushed violently, and looked away in an attempt to will the words out of existence. Tenderly, as though I were a fragile flower, he turned my cheek towards him and kissed me in a way that weakened not just my knees, but my every muscle. Had I not been sitting; I would have definitely swooned. We are both close to fifty, not exactly the swooning age, but there it is. Such sweetness, tenderness, love in that one kiss I have never felt before. I didn’t want it to end, but I knew that as our end was near, I wanted this kiss to be my best memory of him. I stood up and turned away to brush the tears from my eyes. “I…Thank you for making these past few weeks the most amazing in my life, Riku. I…I hope that…that you’ll still text me from time to time. And you know that if you ever happen to be back in these parts, I’ll still be here. We can hang out or something. I…I’m going to order an Uber and head on home.” I hear him start chuckling as he gets to his feet. “Look, Lizzie from Walker’s Walkers, this isn’t the big good-bye scene. When Yua invited you to Japan, she wasn’t asking to be polite. I asked her to invite you. We have one week left here, and then we’re finishing the shoot in Japan. I want to introduce you to not only her husband and their kids, but to my parents as well. You’ve spent all this time thinking that you were so lucky to have met me. And you might be, but believe me, I am lucky to have met you. You have ignited in me passion that I thought was long extinguished. I can’t ever remember waking up every day this excited to see someone. I love our walks and talks, the way you love and care for the dogs. And…” he takes my shoulders and turns me to him. He lifts my chin and wipes off the tears. “And, yes, I love you. Very much. So, what do you think?”