"You idiot… How could you mess with my emotions like that." Her muffled complaints entered his ears, stunning him.
'Playing with her emotions? What does she mean by that?'
"I thought something was wrong… That you were going to break up with me." She admitted, not removing her face from his chest.
"EH!? Why would I do that?" Ken's jaw dropped, not understanding how she could have gotten such an idea. He stepped back and placed her at arm's length, wanting to understand what he'd done wrong.
However, upon seeing the tears streaking down her face, Ken felt a pang in his heart once more. He could only blame himself for causing her to cry.
'Is it because I hesitated?'
"I don't know… But you need to be careful with your words in the future so I don't jump to any conclusions." Ai said, wiping the tears away from her face.
Just as Ken was about to respond, a guy grabbed his arm and pulled him back away from Ai.
"Hey, can't you see that you're bothering her." A guy in his late twenties with a thick New York accent spoke up, revealing himself. He was rather tall and had wide shoulders, looking very fit. Yet Ken's height was still above his.
He stared at the guy in both shock and confusion. "What the hell is your problem man? This is my girlfriend." Ken felt his anger rising, especially after his pitching arm was touched.
Ignoring him, the guy turned to Ai and asked, "Is this guy bothering you? I can kick his ass if you need."
This only caused Ken's expression to darken, a dangerous anger brewing beneath the surface.
"H—He's my boyfriend." Ai stammered, doing her best to calm the situation. English still wasn't her strong suit and she had been crying, painting a pitiful scene.
"That's not what I asked." The guy said, turning back to Ken and sizing him up. "Look buddy, don't think you can treat your girlfriend like this just because she's weaker than you. It might work like that in your home country, but not in New York."
"Who the hell are you? What do you mean treat my girlfriend like this? I just asked her to marry me you bastard." Ken was burning with anger, ready to strike at a moments notice. Not only was the moment ruined, but this guy was butting into his affairs and making assumptions.
"Huh? Is that true?" The guy's face was dumbfounded as he turned to Ai for confirmation. His whole body froze, as if he was now filled with uncertainty and regret.
"Yes, he did." Ai replied swiftly.
"Ah crap…" The guy's body language changed in that instant, showing his remorse. He turned to Ken and began to apologize profusely, his attitude doing a complete 180.
Though still annoyed, Ken decided to let it go. Getting into a fight in Central Park wearing his Columbia tracksuit was a one way ticket to getting suspended, something that he couldn't afford to do.
"It's fine… I'm sure your heart was in the right place." He said eventually, though it was clear his anger had not completely subsided.
The guy let out a small sigh of relief and reached into his pocket, pulling out something. Ken was on guard until he caught sight of the two tickets now in the guy's hand.
"Here, you two should take these VIP tickets to the game tonight as an apology. If you arrive early, I'll take you on a tour through the locker rooms and you can meet all the guys." The man said, handing the tickets over to Ken.
Ken looked down at the tickets and sure enough, they were the VIP tickets for tonights game. New York Yanks vs Boston Red Socks at Yank Stadium.
"How did you get these?" Ken asked, his shock evident.
"Oh? You don't know me? I guess that makes things a little awkward. I'm Alex Cole, one of the starting pitchers for the Yanks." He said, holding out his hand towards Ken.
Ken grasped the hand by instinct, but that didn't mean he had processed what was happening in front of him. Of all the ways to meet a bona fide MLB pitcher, it had to be in Central Park off the back of a huge misunderstanding.
"I'm Ken… A freshman pitcher at Columbia University." He managed to say, though it sounded quite lame when compared to the man's accolades.
"Oh, a fellow pitcher? Excellent. Maybe I'll be able to give you some tips to get into the starting line up." He said, smiling.
"He's already a starting pitcher." Ai said, doing her best to speak coherently.
"Mmm?" Alex's expression shifted, and he took a proper look at Ken, as if evaluating him. "I didn't think that Columbia would start a freshman. You must be pretty good then." He said, nodding.
Ken didn't know what to say. He wasn't one to brag, especially if it was in front of an already established MLB pitcher. While Ken didn't exactly follow the Majors, he had at least heard of Alex Cole.
So he decided to respond modestly, "I still have much to learn before I'm ready for the Majors."
A grin tugged at the corner of Alex's lips as he heard this, "You're confident in making the big leagues huh? Very good. You can show me what you've got tonight before the game."
Before Ken could reply, Alex said his goodbyes, "Well, I better get back to it. I'll see you two later tonight before the game."
With that, he turned around and waved goodbye, leaving both Ai and Ken to watch his retreating figure.
"What the hell was that…?" Ken muttered, still in disbelief.
But instead of an answer, Ai wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close. "Isn't that great? We'll be able to meet the Yanks players." She said brightly.
"Y—Yeah, I guess…"
Ken felt his chin get grabbed from Ai's small hands before his face was brought down to her level. She placed a deep kiss on his lips and whispered, "If you were to ask the question… I'll say yes."