by Amara Kent
“I am. And you are?” he asks.
“I’m Hana. Hana Yakamori,” she states in a higher pitch.
“Very nice to meet you, Hana. I was wondering if I could steal Miss Bradford’s attention for a few moments?” he asks.
“Sure!” she blurts out.
“I have nothing to say to you, Ren. Why don’t you just leave me alone?” I say through clenched teeth.
“I just want a moment of your time. That’s all,” he responds softly.
I twist in my chair to face him. “You really are a forgetful dumbass, aren’t you?” I sneer.
“I thought I was an arrogant tool?” he says with a teasing smirk on his face. Clearing his throat when I don’t laugh, he says. “Please. I just want to talk.”
I stand up, so I’m closer to eye level. “I’ve told you multiple times. I don’t care what you have to say. Nothing will ever change what you did. And a piece of advice, constantly texting a person won’t solve whatever problems you have with them.”
His brows cinch together in confusion. “Messages?”
“Don’t act stupid. Now leave me alone, before I scream and grab the attention of the staff and they throw you out.”
“Kerri, I—”
“Leave.” I sneer with a rumble in my chest, turning away from him.
I don’t see him leave, but I can feel his presence slipping away.
“Are you okay?” Taylor asks, wrapping her arm around me.
“Yeah, I’ll be okay,” I lie. Because honestly, I don’t know if I will. The longer he continues to try to explain things to me, the more confused I’m becoming. The main part of me tells me he’s an asshole, but there’s the pesky little voice—the one that belongs to Taylor—that tells me I should listen to him and he may not be the person I’m projecting him to be.
“How do you two know Ren Hattori?” Hana asks in a whisper.
“I met him when I was here on holiday,” I answer.
“And I know him because of my husband.”
“He’s a very powerful man here in Japan. And very sexy,” she says the last part dreamily.
“Well, you can’t have him, he’s got a girlfriend,” I snap. She’s taken aback in shock. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to be so harsh.”
“It’s okay. It’s not like I could ever be with him anyway, but a girl can dream.”
I feel sorry for Hana. The naivety is strong in her. She doesn’t know that a simple dream can turn into a deadly reality.
Chapter Twenty-One
Ren
She refuses to listen to me. Refuses to speak to me and hear me out. I don’t know how else to tell her I’m not the man she thinks I am. I should just leave it. Should just allow her to think I’m a cheater, because why should it matter? She was a one-night stand, after all. What we had was never going to grow into being anything because that’s not the man I am, and that’s not the woman she is, but for some reason, I fucking care what she thinks. I care how she sees me, which is turning me into a goddamn fucking pussy. It’s a sign of weakness, and I don’t look fondly on being weak. I should be strong enough to walk away and not give two fucks about it all, but I do. Why? Why the hell do I care? She’s just some woman I screwed. You know the reason. No. Never. I have never fallen for any woman I’ve bedded, even though Aiya has stated she’s seen something in me.
Aiya. The reason for this entire clusterfuck. If she hadn’t blurted out that we were dating to that journalist from the magazine, then I wouldn’t be fighting my way for Kerri to forgive me. I haven’t spoken to Aiya since our last conversation months ago. I refuse to. I’ve been betrayed by one too many people before and for someone who constantly calls me their friend, she’s done the ultimate betrayal. It started innocently enough. I did what I thought a friend should do, and kept the ruse of us dating so that her parents would quit fixing her up with their friend’s sons, just until she was confident enough to come out to her parents. But this is more than I can take. This is public. She was stupid enough to think that telling the media she was dating me wouldn’t have sparked an article full of fiction.
She’s smarter than that. She used to be smarter than that.
I don’t handle people screwing me over very lightly. In business, I’ll handle it how any smart businessman should. In my personal life, let’s just say, I’ve cut people out of my life for less than what she did. If you screw me over once, that’s it, there is no turning back. I should give her some leniency because I’ve known her my whole life, right? Wrong. It’s because I’ve known her my whole life that she shouldn’t be treated with more respect and of a different caliber. She knows what I went through with Claudia, therefore she should know more than most not to fuck with me.
Today will be the first time I see her. I didn’t want to and thought a lot about canceling this get-together, but I knew that would look suspicious to both my parents and Aiya’s, who I’ve been informed will be there as well. I drive up to the big pristine gate, leaning out the window to press the button on the intercom.
“Hattori residence. Name and business?” The security guard states.
“Hello, it’s Ren Hattori.”
“Oh, hello, Ren. I didn’t recognize you. I’ll let you in now.”
I smile at his apology because we go through this every time I come see my parents. I let it pass, because of the rarity of my visits. The gates silently open up to the long driveway that leads up to the house. Taking a spot at the front. I shut the engine off and step out.
“Mr. Hattori,” Hachiro greets me.
“Hi, Hachiro. Good to see you again.”
“You too. Your parents and the Funai family are waiting out in the courtyard.”
I step into the house and walk the length of it until I reach the courtyard. It’s warmer out here then it is at the front. The slight breeze of the autumn air, garnering the need for a jacket to take the chill off. Out here, there is no need. It’s comfortable enough, and I slip out of my jacket.
My stepmother stands up and holds her arms out at me, welcoming me into her embrace. She squeezes me tight and I have to push her away lightly to let me go. I walk over to my seat next to Aiya and place a soft kiss on her cheek. She may be the last person I want to see right now, but I won’t be the one to destroy my parent’s perception of our relationship.
Mrs. Funai looks at me lovingly. Her eyes crinkling at the corners from the huge smile on her face. “It finally happened,” she announces.
“Yeah. It did.” Aiya laughs lightly. A slight undertone of nervousness there.
“Aiya still hasn’t told us how it happened.”
“We were watching a movie together, and we were drinking. It sort of just happened,” I explain.
I don’t want to go into depth with this lie. Keep it simple. The more elaborate the lie is, the more likely there will be holes that can be made bigger. Bigger holes mean more dirt to fill them up. I don’t want to spend my time trying to find my way out of this mess.
“We have been waiting for you two to get together,” Mrs. Funai states merrily. “Can I please get a picture?”
Biting the inside of my mouth, I give her a toothy smile and drape my arm around Aiya’s shoulder, pulling her close to me. She stiffens, and I give her a quick squeeze as a warning to loosen up. If she doesn’t relax, then my very observant father will notice something amiss. It takes a few moments, but she relaxes under my touch and I plaster on a wide smile that is full of love and adoration for the woman I’m hugging. Mrs. Funai takes a few shots, smiling after each one. Once satisfied she puts her phone down and Hachiro comes around, placing a glass of whiskey in front of me.
“Thank you,” I say to Hachiro.
“You’re welcome, Ren.”
“Your parents tell me you’re working on some new technology for designers, Ren,” Mr. Funai states.
“Yes. I’m hoping it will revolutionize the way they work,” I explain.
“That sounds wonderful. I have a few friends that have children in that
field. They would love to be able to test it once it’s in that phase. How long do you think it will take?”
“At the moment, I’m still trying to work out a few kinks. I’m hoping to show a prototype of it by the end of the year, but I’m not sure. It depends on when I can fix all the glitches.”
“I hope you get there quickly.”
“Thank you, Mr. Funai.”
“You two are the talk of Japan,” Mrs. Funai states, returning to the annoying topic at hand. My and Aiya’s fake romance. It still amazes me how two people who aren’t massive celebrities have grabbed the attention of the Japanese people. I can only put it to a very slow trashy news year.
“Oh yes. You should have heard my friends when they called me on the phone. Their daughters were so disappointed to hear the news. They were hoping their children could be the one to become Ren’s partner.” My stepmother giggles.
“Oh, I know. Same with my friends. They were all terribly upset when their sons couldn’t be the one to stand by Aiya’s side.”
That was never going to happen. They would have remained upset for the remainder of their pathetic lives.
Our mothers continue yapping on with delight over us. Our fathers talking politics and mundane things to each other. Aiya and I remain in silence, allowing the two discussions to fall around us like an invisible shield. Only we can feel and see the tension that whorls around us like the makings of a tornado. Only we know the lies that slip off as truths on our mother’s tongues. It’s suffocating and I for one can’t take it anymore. Excusing myself, I walk inside. The marble floor creating a strong rhythm as the slight heel of my dress shoes create an audible footprint of my steps. Down the hallway, I reach the bathroom and open the door, walking in. My pants are halfway down my legs when the door clicks open and Aiya steps in.
“Do you mind?” I drawl.
“Sorry. I didn’t know—” Aiya begins to say.
“You didn’t know I would be taking a piss in the bathroom?”
“I just thought you might have wanted to escape the conversation out there,” she explains softly.
“I can see this is going to be a long conversation. Can you at least wait until I don’t have my dick in my hand?”
“Oh, sure.”
I wait for her to face the bathroom door. When I’m done, I pull my pants up and flush the toilet; moving over to the basin to wash my hands. Picking up the fluffy embroidered hand towel, I dry my hands and hang it back exactly as it was, before turning around and leaning on the basin.
“Make it quick, Aiya,” I demand, crossing my arms.
She turns, walking over to the toilet, dropping the lid and sitting down. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” I tell her.
“I know. It means a lot to me, still.”
“Is that all?” I ask gruffly.
“I wish you weren’t involved in this. I wish I felt like I had another choice.”
“You did have another choice. You speak as if you were forced into every decision you have made. I made a promise to you when you blurted out that we were together to my parents because I’m your friend. We agreed to keep this between us because this relationship,” I gesture between us, “isn’t real. We are both high-profile people in our respective fields. Did you ever think of how it would impact the people around us when they all discover that you’re a lesbian? Did any of that cross your mind?”
“No,” she says weakly.
“Because you were only thinking of yourself. I can’t begin to imagine what it’s like being in your shoes, and for God’s sake, I wouldn’t wish it upon anybody. But when you bring someone else into your life, your personal life, like this, you need to understand that it’s a two-way agreement, not a solo one.”
“I just thought, because you were never going to get into a relationship, it wouldn’t matter.” It’s a pitiful excuse, and she knows it.
“It shouldn’t have mattered. We knew this relationship would have an expiration date, which is why we agreed to keep this out of the media. You should have known better.”
“You really like her, don’t you?” she asks, shocking me.
“Like who?”
“Kerri.”
“Don’t start with this shit again, Aiya,” I warn.
“You like her, and that’s why you’re getting so upset about this. When we announced that our relationship had ended, it would have had no negative impact on you. Just me. Yet, you’re so caught up on it screwing with you. Why?”
“I told you it gets messy when the public is made known. They’re going to want to know everything about the relationship. They’re no longer going to focus on my new product. Instead, it’s just going to be about me and you.”
“Quit using that as an excuse. Your upcoming software is for the design industry. That’s a small fraction of the community. It’s not like you’re releasing the next phone and you killed a person. When will you admit that in the short time you knew Kerri, she gave you hope? You saw something you hadn’t seen in a long time. You like her and it kills you to admit that because you’re so scared to allow somebody else in again. You refuse to talk about Claudia, but you don’t see how, regardless of her not being in your life anymore, she is still fucking it up! You need to let go of her. You need to—”
I slam my hand on the basin. “Enough!” I bark, storming out of the bathroom, shaking from her words and the wild emotions raging within me. The little voices that move within them that scream we know Aiya is telling the truth.
“Is everything all right, Ren?” Hachori asks.
“I’m fine,” I snap, marching out into the courtyard.
Fifteen minutes later, a visibly shaking Aiya steps out into the courtyard. Everyone looks to face her. There’s a look of determination painted on her face, and with a deep breath, she says something I never thought she would.
“Mom. Dad. I’m a lesbian.”
My mouth drops open. Out of all the ways I imagined her coming out to have gone, this was not one of them.
“What?” her mother asks.
“I’m a lesbian. I like girls.” She stands up straight. Her eyes are fierce and she lifts her head, but the slight quivering of her bottom lip gives away the facade she’s erected.
Mrs. Funai scoffs and shakes her head. “Don’t be so silly. No, you’re not. And why would you disrespect Ren in such a way?” The annoyance in her tone is clear.
“I’m not disrespecting him, because we aren’t together. It was a lie I told you so you would stop trying to fix me up with your friends’ sons.”
“Stop it.”
Aiya takes a step forward. “No, Mom. I won’t. I have liked girls since I was young. I didn’t tell you back then because I was scared of what you would think of me. When I told you I was a lesbian, you and dad were angry about it; I told you it was a joke and that I was dating Ren.”
“Stop it. I don’t want to hear anymore,” Mrs. Funai orders. Her head is shaking rapidly.
Aiya takes another step forward. “I’m into girls, Mom. You need to accept that.”
“No.”
“Please, Mom.”
“No.”
“Mom. Dad,” Aiya pleads. “Look at me. I’m still your daughter.”
Mrs. Funai lifts her head and twists around to face Aiya. “You’re not my daughter. You’re a disappointment.”
There’s no hiding the tears that stream down Aiya’s face. Not wanting her parents to see her like this, she spins around and runs. The front door to the house slams shut behind her. I stand up. Collecting Aiya’s things.
“Where are you going?” my stepmother asks me.
“I’m going to Aiya. She needs someone right now.”
Mr. Funai scoffs. Every anger I had toward Aiya dissipates as if it was never there. Everything that was said and done fades away to nothing, and I’m left with this incurable anger toward her parents. “I’ve always looked up to you two. You were there for me when my mother died, and helped my father c
ontrol me when I would act out because of her death. You even accepted the woman I now call mother. The respect I’ve had for you, I never thought could ever be destroyed because you’ve done so much, until now. That amazing woman out there.” I point to the door. “Your daughter just told you something that was very hard for her. You treat her as if she’s scum. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t fucking deserve to have her, and she’s better off without you two as parents.”
I expect a fight. I expect my parents to get angry with me, but they don’t. They remain quiet as they watch me leave. I’m grateful when I see her sitting in her car. She’s slumped over the steering wheel. Her body twitching from the sobs that escape her. I open the door and take her hand, guiding her out of the car and hug her. There are no words to be spoken. Because she doesn’t need words of comfort. She just needs a shoulder. She needs someone in her corner. She needs reassurance and love.
Most of all. She needs family.
And I’ll be damned if I remove the only remaining family she has left from her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Kerri
Here,” Taylor says, holding a large coffee out to me.
I take it graciously and take a sip. Oh, sweet caramel deliciousness. It’s getting a little chilly here, being fall. I’m not entirely sure why we chose to film in one of the coldest times of the year, but we were foolish enough to do such a thing. We have just finished the second day of shooting. Our new client is wonderfully shy and a huge workaholic, which isn’t a bad trait to have, it just doesn’t leave room for a social life, which she is in dire need of. Somehow she’s become a little socially awkward and the thought of having to interact with people outside of the workplace is terrifying for her. Today we gave her a task to complete. Write down all the things that scare her and then all the things she wishes to accomplish by the end of the two weeks we are with her, and then by the end of the month and then by the end of the year. We are hoping to be able to give her the tools she needs to boost her confidence back up again, and then give her the tools to approach the guy she likes at the gym. Taylor, having taken psychology, will assist with her insecurities. I will be handling the makeover side and finding work and social balance, and together we will work on her having a simple non-gym related discussion with the guy she has a crush on.