Rebirth

7am, she wakes up.

Ring, Ring, Ring on her phone

Turns off alarm. Ignores the texts.

Just friends, boys, and simps.

Lisa wakes up at 7am, shuts off her phone alarm, and ignores her 99+ notifications from friends, boys, and simps. She checks her schedule and lets out a sigh of relief upon seeing that she has Advanced Japanese class at 10am. “That’ll be easy” she thinks.

She doesn’t need to spend much effort on this class since her Sobo taught her Japanese as a 10 year old. Lisa learned it while learning all about Sobo’s boutique clothing shop in Umeda. Sobo told her all about its loyal customers and the employees who came to be like family. Lisa often thought the class was so easy that the school shouldn’t call it advanced. She only took it because it was mandatory for her degree and she needed credits to graduate. Most of her classes came easy. Computer Science, check. Philosophy, no problem. Religion, she’s atheist; her neutral perspective only made it easier to understand anyway. She only wants a high GPA from the prestigious graduate school to land a high paying job in a field she’d like. She doesn’t know what career that is yet.

Before grad school she worked as a flight attendant for a charter airline. She was a shoe-in for the job. You could almost say she was born for it. She had the beauty and charm, she put on a calm and friendly face no matter the situation. Disgruntled passenger? No problem. She cooled the situation with a smile on her face. Significant turbulence? Anyone would think she’s survived hundreds of plane crashes. They’d almost be right. As a teenager her flight returning from a college visit made a safe emergency water landing. Since then no flight scared her. She’s always kept her calm, instructed passengers, and continued cabin service. Never a single complaint and always the top ratings.

The job had great perks. Free travel using on the airline’s flights. She travelled almost nonstop. She made the most of the opportunity. She saved money by not paying for an apartment. Instead she travelled as much as she could. Almost every week. By the end she checked off all her domestic bucket-list and then some.

She still wants to go back to Japan. She first went with her parents and had to do boring family things. This time she’d go as an adult, grown and independent. She wants to visit the neighborhood where Sobo’s shop once was. She wants to immerse herself in the culture her mother grew up in, and the heritage which she is so proud of. As she should. She knows she got her gorgeous good looks from her mom anyway.

Her passengers were always wealthy. Many were the business types, CEO of This. Founder of That. Some Finance Bros and Traders. The type she’d expect to be pompous, snooty, and holier than thou. But they did know about how to make money. They talked about stocks a lot. One summer passengers began talking about the same company. Across many flights and many different crowds. Everyone mocked it, said it was a joke and that nobody should invest in it. But they all did talk about it.

One day, a passenger overheard others mocking the company and snickered to himself. She noticed and they locked eyes. He whispered to her: “The others don’t know what they’re talking about. Investing would be the smartest decision you ever made.” He claimed he had made his fortune investing and he retired after that investment.

She didn’t believe him, yet his subtle and sure voice echoed for weeks and had her intrigued. She asked a friend for advice. Then she bought a little bit of the company. It was her first and only investment. She used a little bit of the sizeable money saved from not paying rent. A year later, that small investment grew to become large enough for her to never need to work again.

She wished she could thank that snickering contrarian for changing her life. But he’s on a beach. Who knows where. And her? Well, she quit her job and cannot travel anymore. Instead, she’s at graduate school preparing for her day.

Her favorite part of the morning is putting on her makeup. Not a lot. She wouldn’t want to overdo it and ruin her skin when she gets older. She doesn’t need a lot anyway. After a few years being a late-bloomer she ‘became hot’ as she put it. All natural, alluring, and magnetic like her mother. Overnight, every boy and man began checking her out. Some did through the corner of their eye. Some tried to hide it and failed. Some catcalled. Some were shy, some were confident. Thankfully some very charming too.

She’s got brains, beauty, and business. She’s Lady Luck herself.

More notifications arrive on silent mode, as she closes the door to her now empty apartment and thinks:

“There has to be more out there.

If this is it, it’s not going to work”