Love & Cherry Blossoms

by Amara Kent

  And the worst thing of all. The one crippling thing that has you going back and sticking around.

  Fear.

  Fear will make you do absolutely anything to stay alive.

  The rich words of pain came out as a promise from him. The ones that went into detail of what he would do to me and my family, were I to tell a single soul what happened. I believed him, because how could I not? He had already proven himself to be capable of the most heinous of crimes. There was no way I was risking their lives to save my own.

  “You never noticed because you were suffering as well, and I made it so that nobody knew. He… he, Um.” With a shaky breath in, I close my eyes and attempt to stop the quiver in my bottom lip. Knowing within yourself and being able to recognize what happened is one thing. Saying it out loud is something completely different. It’s showing other people how vulnerable you are. It’s announcing that you aren’t as strong as you’ve portrayed yourself to be. Taylor pulls me into her and hugs me. It’s supposed to be comforting, but it’s only painful and another sign of my weakness. I try to push her away, but she’s strong and keeps me stuck to her side. With one last deep breath in and out, I continue. “He broke my finger. He just snapped. When I thought he was going to get something to help me, he only pinned me down. I tried to get him off of me, but he just started punching me and slamming my head down onto the floor. I was able to hide and get away from him when he got off me, but he ended up finding me and… that’s when he stabbed me. I don’t know how, but I managed to get a hold of the lamp on the coffee table and smash it over his head. I ran to the front door, but he grabbed a hold of my ankle and pulled me down to the floor. That’s when I hit the floor hard and cracked my skull,” I rush out. Tears fall freely from my eyes and I allow them to.

  Taylor doesn’t say a word. She remains quiet, holding me and rocking back and forth as she strokes my head.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Kerri

  It’s a month to Taylor and Dean’s wedding.

  It’s been a week since I finally told Taylor what happened to me. I thought that divulging the most painful part of my life would create some awkwardness between us. Have her look at me like Bambi when his mother died. There was no sadness in her eyes the next day. No pity, as you would expect to receive from people when you tell them a sad story. The following day, she treated me like normal. As if I hadn’t poured my heart out to her. And for that, I am eternally grateful. She was right when she said that talking about it would put me in the right direction. It’s not an automatic fix, but it is the beginning of something. Being able to admit it aloud was a little freeing. A tightness within me and my chest faded away. This entire time I had held onto this secret, fearing that somehow he would know if I told anyone.

  We’ve run some errands, and plan to meet Dean at the little Japanese restaurant just around the corner from his office building. We decide to walk up to the restaurant since it’s such a pleasant day.

  “How does it feel, now that you have a month to go?” I ask.

  “Wonderful. I’m not scared in the slightest.”

  “No?”

  She shakes her head. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. I have a man that adores the fuck out of me. He also knows that were he ever to do anything to me, I have the skills and means to ruin him.” I laugh. “It’s a nice security chip to have.” She smiles.

  “I agree. I would never do anything to hurt you if I were a guy. Just knowing what you’re capable of. It’s kind of scary.”

  “I’ve got nothing on you, though. You were the one that came up with the more elaborate and extraordinary plans of revenge when we had that business.”

  I smile, slipping my arm through hers, remembering those times. As much as I love what I do now, I miss being able to give guys what they deserve. “I miss those days. It was so nice to see a guy get his comeuppance.”

  “It was nice, wasn’t it?” She stares off dreamily before shaking her head. “But what we did was wrong, and I’m pretty sure a lot of it was illegal. We are in a better position now than we were before, and we’re making a real difference in the world.”

  “Yeah,” I chirp.

  We spot Dean leaning against the wall of the restaurant. His face lights up when he sees us. Well, his face lights up when he sees Taylor. He would never be that happy to see me.

  “Hello, Kerri,” he says.

  “Dean,” I greet him.

  “Hello, beautiful, and future Mrs. Taylor Lukas.” He leans down and plants his lips on hers, kissing her sweetly, yet passionately. Taylor moans and I watch on, my face scrunched up in disgust at their public display of affection.

  “Come on, you two, break it up. Nobody needs to see that,” I order, prying them apart.

  “You’re not one for showing affection. What a shocker,” Dean drawls.

  “And you’re an asshole dressed in a tailored suit. What a shocker,” I drawl back, mockingly.

  A slight grin lifts his lips. “It’s always so refreshing to speak to you, Kerr. Never change.”

  “I’d love to say the same about you, but unfortunately I can’t. Please do change, Dean. For the sake of myself and the rest of the human race,” I throw back with a smirk.

  Taylor looks between us and rolls her eyes. “Should I be worried here?” she asks.

  “I would never get involved with someone like your fiancé here, Tay Tay. You have absolutely nothing to worry about.”

  “And there is no way I could deal with someone as insufferable as Kerr, here,” Dean retorts, using my epithet, which nobody but my closest girlfriends use.

  “Kerri?”

  A heaviness sinks into my chest, as I hear the name from the one man I never thought I would ever run into again. Well, not in the States anyway. I look up to see Ren, and my heart skips a beat at seeing him. The sexiness of this man is not something I’ll ever get used to. It blows me away every time I see him, which is painful and annoying and infuriating and is spurring up sexual needs inside of me all at once. Taylor’s hand flies to mine and she gives me a supportive squeeze.

  “What do you want?” I bark as soon as I’ve affectively beaten down the heady need I have for him. The one that got me into this damn position in the first place. This, ladies and gentlemen, is why attraction is dangerous. Attraction leads to like and like leads to love, and love is where things get messy and toxic and obsessive and possessive and deadly. The attraction is what gives that person the invitation into your heart and head. And that’s the worst place they could be.

  “I need to explain what happened, I called Dean’s office, and they told me where you’d all be,” he states. Desperation set deeply in his eyes.

  “Well, you’ve wasted your time. I—”

  “Hey, hon. Sorry to interrupt, but Dean and I will be inside. If you need me, just give me a shout,” Taylor says.

  I give her a quick nod. She struggles to move Dean.

  “You’re not going to leave her here with him, are you?” he growls.

  “Dean, you know she can handle it. She’ll be fine,” she says softly, soothing him to acquiesce.

  “I’ll be right inside, Ren. You do anything more to hurt her, I assure you, that no amount of money will help put you back together,” he warns darkly to Ren, who just stands there and nods.

  Satisfied he’s gotten the point across, he gives me a quick reassuring nod and takes Taylor’s hand, leading her inside the restaurant.

  “So that’s Taylor Dunlop?” Ren asks.

  “You didn’t come here to enquire about my friend, nor will I give you the time to explain yourself. You cheated on your girlfriend multiple times with me, and God knows who else in the world. You are fucking scum. It’s men like you that make women go mad. It’s men like you that destroy women so badly they can never recover.” I go to turn away, but he grabs my wrist, firmly. Not so much that it would hurt, but enough that I wouldn’t be able to wrench my wrist away. “Don’t you dare touch me. You have no right to touch me in this
way, or any other way, after what you did. Get the fuck away from me. I never want to speak to you, or see you ever again.”

  “I just want you to listen. I can explain everything,” Ren begs.

  “Is this why you came here? To beg for my forgiveness? Exactly how did you think that would go? You’d give me some kind of bullshit lie like she isn’t really your girlfriend, and I would just magically forgive you and we’d fuck in the next ally? I may have a very good sexual résumé, but I’m not that easy. You’ve wasted your time and money flying here. Go back to Tokyo, because New York already has enough scum in it, without adding some more.”

  “I thought I could have you hear me out if I came. I didn’t want to call you because I knew you would probably just block me,” he says with a dejected look, releasing my wrist. I turn on my heels, flipping him the bird as I walk into the restaurant. Taylor and Dean are watching me like a hawk protecting their young, as I walk in their direction and sit down.

  “He’s leaving,” Dean advises.

  “Good,” I say.

  “What happened?” Taylor asks.

  “He had the balls to come over here to explain the situation. Like seriously? What the fuck is it with guys who think they can explain away cheating on someone they’re with?”

  “He flew over here?” Taylor asks.

  “Yes, were you not listening?.”

  “And he said he flew all the way over here just to explain? This wasn’t just something he thought he would do while he’s here on business?” she asks. I give her a look, trying to figure out where she’s going with this.

  “I guess. Why?”

  “Well, that doesn’t seem like something a guy who cheated on their girlfriend with a one-night stand would do,” she explains cautiously.

  “Are you trying to explain away the actions of an asshole? We both know that they don’t need reasons to do what they do,” I argue.

  “She’s right,” Dean pipes up.

  I shoot him a look. “Are you serious? You just threatened the guy out there, and now you’re defending him?”

  “That was before I knew that he came here specifically to talk to you,” he states.

  “What are you two saying?”

  Taylor gives Dean a look before saying, “We both know that most men would lie to their spouse, the one they’ve cheated on. We know that in the end, the person they are in a relationship with is the one they will try to resolve things with because they have more of a history and have more issues that come from them than a one-night stand. In the case of Ren. He’s supposedly—”

  “Oh, so it’s supposedly now?” I snap.

  “He’s supposedly dating his best friend, Aiya. The designer and someone he’s known since he was a baby. The Funai’s and Hattori’s have a long history of friendship. That’s a huge risk to take for a one-night stand, first of all, but why would he risk flying over here just to patch things up with a one-night stand? Why would anybody go to such lengths? That doesn’t make much sense to me. Are you sure he’s dating Aiya?”

  I shake my head because thinking about the possibility of him being a decent guy will mess with my head. With everything coming up, the last thing I need is to be thinking about Ren Hattori.

  555-456-6754:

  Please forgive me.

  I roll my eyes.

  “Who’s that?” Taylor asks.

  I hold up the message received so she can see. So much for the, “I didn’t want to ring you because I knew you’d block me” bullshit.

  “Ren?” she asks.

  “Yep. He said he didn’t want to ring me because he knew I would block his number, but here he goes, messaging me. I guess in his warped mind, he hasn’t exactly gone back on his word.” I scoff.

  “What are you going to say?” Dean asks.

  “Nothing. I’m not even going to respond to the lying ass. Now, the important question is, what should I have for lunch?”

  I pick up the menu, perusing the selections available. Another message vibrates on the table and I ignore it. Whatever Ren has to say means nothing to me. I’m not about to indulge in this delusion he has of being able to subdue me into believing I can be won over so easily. He should know me better than that.

  Chapter Twenty

  Kerri

  +81-9001059276:

  I need to see you. Please.

  I groan when I see the message, pocketing it. Ren has been rather persistent since I last saw him. It got so annoying that I had to block his number. It worked, up until now.

  “Is that Ren, again?” Taylor asks.

  It’s been an insane road to lead us here. While Taylor was on her honeymoon, I was putting the finishing touches on the pre-production of our upcoming special here in Tokyo. With the help of the wonderful staff at ABS and mine and Taylor’s agent, we were able to do what was necessary. ABS put the casting call out for people who needed help with love, and we received an overwhelming reaction to it. With over a thousand applicants, it was hard for us to narrow down the people we would use for the show.

  We arrived a few days ago. I knew that things would be a little hectic for the two of us for the next few months, so I wanted Taylor to see parts of Tokyo in a more relaxed environment. She loves it here, just as I do. She told Dean she wanted to move here and to say he wasn’t too happy about that, is an understatement. Of course, Taylor could never do it. Her relationship with New York is very Carrie-from-Sex-and-the-City-esque. They have a very symbiotic relationship with each other.

  “Yep. It seems like he’s back to his usual antics.”

  “Why don’t you just talk to him?” she asks.

  “You know why, Tay.”

  “But clearly, ghosting him is not getting the message across.”

  “So you think messaging him will? Tay, the guy can’t stop messaging me, it will only get worse if I give him the time of day. I’m not doing it.”

  She sighs. A heap of judgment in the sigh. I can hear it. She doesn’t need to tell me she thinks I’m making the wrong decision by ignoring him. And part of me is annoyed that she doesn’t get it. She knows what I went through with Garrett. She knows that me entertaining this need of Ren’s is only going to make it worse for me. That I am going to end up forgiving him, and I can’t be doing that. If he were any other man, I would have no problems hearing them out and putting them in their place, but I can’t with Ren.

  “Let’s just ignore him and enjoy our meeting with our guide.”

  She smiles, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. I open the door to the café, where we are to meet our Japanese tour guide, Hana. We’ve communicated over ConneKT. She speaks English better than most predominantly English speakers, which I think is hilariously awesome. Her grasp on the language even surpasses mine most of the time. She spots us and gives us a wave, standing up to greet us. All three of us bow to each other before taking a seat.

  “It’s so wonderful to finally meet you in person,” Hana chirps.

  “It’s so great to meet you in person, as well. I can’t believe we’re finally here,” Taylor says happily.

  “Neither can I. There’s a lot of buzz around the show, and everyone is excited.”

  “I know. When we heard the number of applicants, we were so gobsmacked,” I state.

  “The Japanese people love, love. To be able to find someone you can spend the rest of your life with is a wonderful thing, to us. I’m not surprised there are so many applicants. A lot of people watch your show. Would you like to discuss your first client?” Hana asks.

  We nod, and she takes out a folder from her bag and hands it over to us. Placing it between us, we open it up and read up on her. There’s not a whole lot here, but just enough for us to grasp the kind of person she is. She’s a workaholic who takes pride in her position as an office manager. The last date she went on was five years ago. Her story reads of a tragic romance. Kind of how The Little Mermaid really ended, rather than the Disney version. She once loved a man, but he never felt the same. Since then, she l
ost her will to put herself out there into the world. She’s into this guy at her gym, but she’s never had the confidence to tell him she likes him. They’ve had a few exchanges, but nothing more than gym talk.

  “It’s so sad,” Taylor says softly.

  “Unfortunately, there are a lot of people like her. I’m so glad there are people like you, helping those who need a little guidance and support,” Hana says.

  “Okay. Tomorrow we are meeting with her friend, the person who nominated her for the show, Evelyn.”

  “Yes.”

  “What time are we to be on set?” I ask.

  “Seven a.m. for hair and makeup. A copy of the run sheet has been sent to your emails by the production manager. As per usual, you will not be meeting Evelyn until filming is to commence, so…”

  She stops short. A look of awe on her face. I wave my hand in front of her and when that doesn’t work, I look behind me to see what has possibly grabbed her attention. Walking into the café is Ren. My face drops and I instantly turn back.

  “Who… oh,” Taylor says.

  “Why can’t he ever take the hint?” I grumble to myself.

  “Taylor,” Ren greets her.

  “Morning, Ren.”

  I shoot her a look, and she shrugs and mouths, “what.” Don’t give me what, you know what, you traitor.

  “Y-Y-Y-You’re Ren Hattori,” Hana stammers.

  What the hell is going on here?