He knocked on the large, glossy, wooden door and entered when his father told him to come in. The smell of jasmine and something else that was sweet enveloped him as he stepped inside.
His father sat behind his massive mahogany desk that held neat stacks of paperwork placed either side of a widescreen computer. He took off his reading glasses and acknowledged Hiroshi as he came in.
Hiroshi knew what he was thinking from the firm expression on his face. That this was going to be a meeting about trying to increase the training center budget, or him asking for some kind of help. Well, he was about to get a surprise.
“So, what can I do for you?” he began.
Hiroshi took a seat in front of him in one of the plush leather chairs. He sat straight with one leg crossed over the other.
“Everything is in order in Washington. Share prices went up by two percent and profits have a steady increase of ten.” He always talked about Washington first. If his father checked things more closely, he’d see that once again Washington was running ahead of the other companies, including this one.
“Good,” he replied in his usual nonchalant way.
“Dad, I wanted to talk about the training center. I have new plans for it.”
His father sat back in his chair. The firmness on his face turned to a flush of frustration.
Hiroshi pulled in a calm breath. “Thank you for the budget you have proposed and all the other plans you kindly agreed to, but I’m pulling the idea from the company, and requesting that I operate it as an independent organization, but still under the Fujita umbrella.” That was what he and Jake talked about this morning.
Although Jake had given some convincing arguments, running the training center as his own company didn’t feel right. It would definitely defeat the purpose of his intention for it and he would never be able to run Washington. That would be throwing away what his grandfather had given him. He also didn’t want any more contention than there already was. Setting up his own company was just asking for trouble. He didn’t think that his father would be too happy with something like that, and he wouldn’t either. It felt right to do it this way.
There might have been a fine line in calling it his own company and operating it independently under the Fujita umbrella, but this way made sure that it still fell part of the organization as a whole. He’d just be in charge.
“You want to fund it by yourself?” His father looked as surprised as Hiroshi hoped.
“Yes, I want to do this myself.” He was extremely careful when he spoke to him, using a very plain, businesslike tone. He made a point of it because of the attitude he used to give him when he was younger. “With every due respect, I have a vision for the training center, and I can’t do it with the restraints I’ll be placed under if I’m not solely in charge.”
“Restraints?” His father seemed surprised by the comment.
“Yes. With the way things are now, if I operate it with the budget you have in mind and the trial period, it won’t do as well as I hope. Forgive me for speaking out of line, but I can’t have you and the others telling me what to do on this.” He looked down for a few seconds as he said that. “Not like Washington.”
His father looked at him with narrowed eyes, probably trying to think of some business response, but couldn’t find one because Hiroshi was right. There was no business reason on this earth as to why he had to be monitored so stringently with his management of Washington.
Except for their distrust of him.
“I have no problem with you running the training center by yourself under the Fujita umbrella. Fujita is your name, and you have a right to it, like everybody else in the family. I am however interested to know what your plans are.”
Jake was right. Immediate respect flickered through his father’s eyes. Something Hiroshi had never, ever, seen.
“Jake has managed to sell the vision I have for the training center to some the universities across the U.S. and the U.K. They want to set up placements for their computer science and engineering students, and some want to invest.” He remembered what he’d read in the emails this morning. “They see it as a place that their students can benefit from by learning about the systems and technology we use.” As of this morning he pretty much had the world on his side.
He watched his father straighten up in his chair, his eyes widening with surprise and…he looked impressed.
He actually looked impressed.
Hiroshi waited for him to say something but all he did was lean forward onto his elbows and stare. He blinked several times, and Hiroshi was sure a few minutes had passed before his father opened his mouth to respond.
“Hiroshi, that’s exceptional.”
Exceptional. He didn’t think he’d ever heard his father say that about anything, let alone anything to do with him.
The compliment lifted his soul, and it felt like one of those moments in life that you wished you could take a picture of to remember it by.
“Thank you,” Hiroshi managed.
“This could be big,” his father pointed out.
“Yes.” He was already contemplating the possibility of opening another training facility in Washington if everything went well, which he had no doubts on.
“You can do this on your own, but if you require any assistance, then let me or the others know.”
It was such a shame that he couldn’t have been like this when Hiroshi had first come up with the idea. Why couldn’t he have been impressed then?
It didn’t matter. Hiroshi had done what he had to do. But there was more.
“I also have something else to ask.”
“Okay.” He suddenly looked cautious.
Hiroshi thought for a moment and then proceeded, no point delaying things.
“With things taking off so well with the center, I’d like to request some time to focus on it until everything is set up.” That was what he wanted in the first place. He just wanted to be in Japan for the year, put things in place so Washington could run itself, and take it from there.
To his relief his father nodded. “Yes, that goes without saying. You’ll need the time to sort everything out. What do you propose?”
Wow, he never thought his father would agree so easily. And, he was actually asking for Hiroshi’s opinion instead of dictating.
“I’d like to put my senior team in charge of Washington while I’m away. They’re very capable of running everything. I can have a teleconference with them once a week to see how everything is going, and check over the accounts and everything from here with the accounts manager. If it’s okay with you, could I put that in place and see how things go?”
“That sounds feasible. We could see how that works.”
Had they ever agreed on anything? Hiroshi couldn’t quite remember. It was nice to agree on something for a change.
“Are you sure you won’t need help? The magnitude of this project just got a whole lot bigger,” his father asked.
Hiroshi looked at him and focused on the interest that flicked in his eyes. There was so much he wanted to say to him, but like always he chose his words wisely. “I’ll definitely let you know. I want to see how I get on first. There’s a lot of ideas I want to put in place. I know you want more than just to run a business, I want to reflect that. You want to attract talented people who genuinely want to learn about what we do. People who want to make a difference. I want that, too.” His words seemed to have some effect, because the look on his father’s face changed.
He looked less ridged and stern, his face looked softer. Kind of like how he used to when Hiroshi was younger and his father used to try and get him involved in various things.
His father nodded. “I appreciate that, Hiroshi. Sometimes I think we lose our values because we make so much money.” He was talking to him, actually sharing his thoughts. Hiroshi smiled at that.
“I’ll make sure we don’t lose our values. Grandpa wouldn’t have wanted that,” Hiroshi commented. It was the first time since t
he day his grandfather died that he’d mentioned him to his father. Before, he was too ashamed. Now he felt he could because he was finally doing something of value.
He was pleased when his father nodded and the corners of his mouth turned up into a respectful smile of admiration.
“I’ll still help where I can,” his father offered.
“Thank you.”
He had hope now. Hope that this could be the start of something new for him. It already looked like it was bridging the gaps in the relationship with his father. Now perhaps it could also mean having a better life. One where he wouldn’t have to work tirelessly to prove himself. One where he had more time.
Time that he wouldn’t mind spending with Savannah.
* * *
Sakiko was looking at Savannah expectantly, like she was waiting for a response from her.
Had she been talking? She couldn’t remember. They were walking across the garden path that led up to the house.
She opened her mouth to try to answer but wasn’t sure if she should say yes or no. Or even if a yes or no response was required.
“Did you even hear me?” Sakiko narrowed her eyes under her thick black lashes.
“No, I’m so sorry. Can you repeat what you said?” Savannah offered her a waning smile and a sheepish shrug.
Curiosity filled Sakiko’s eyes. “You’ve been doing that all day.”
Had she?
Oh God, she wouldn’t even know. Being with Hiroshi yesterday had sent her into some kind of stupor. All she could think about was him. As if it wasn’t bad enough before.
No. It wasn’t bad before, because she’d kept tabs on herself, but now it was like she literally couldn’t think past him.
And, that was not a good thing.
The problem was she liked him too much, far too much, and there was so much at stake here. If she couldn’t think then she couldn’t write. And, there was the whole other thing about him being…let’s face it, a playboy.
Yesterday was unreal, amazing unreal. She’d never, ever been with anybody who’d made her feel the way he did. Like she was the most beautiful woman in the world with this earth-shatteringly gorgeous man, who until yesterday she’d only been with in her dreams.
Then she realized just that. He was definitely earth-shatteringly gorgeous, but she wasn’t the most beautiful woman in the world. Not that she was saying she thought she was in any way lacking or ugly, but compared to who she’d seen him with, well, she didn’t think she could compare.
That was her thought last night, and she did the worse thing ever. Instead of compiling her notes and pictures of the temples they’d visited she spent half the night Googling him and looking up practically everything about him.
When she looked with Breana and Laura, they were too taken up with looking at pictures of him with his shirt off. They’d also seen pictures of him with various women and models but they hadn’t read that many of the stories. The pictures kind of spoke for themselves.
Last night when she looked, she left no article unturned. Her curiosity had eaten her up, and she noticed that there was one model in particular that kept cropping up.
Jade Fox.
How on God’s green Earth was Savannah supposed to compare herself to someone who wasn’t just a Victoria Secret Angel, but also the face of Chanel and Dior? And that was just one person.
She’d made her speculations about not really seeing anything recent written about him, but that didn’t mean the women had stopped swooning over him. She’d seen it for herself. Look at when they’d gone to the racetracks, Miss Devil Hair had jumped on him and kissed him, full on kissed him like you would to someone you were involved with. She didn’t know anyone else that happened to.
And Sakiko was giving her that look again.
“Savannah, I was asking you about Akeno. Again,” Sakiko said, folding her arms. A little smile played on her lips as the cool afternoon breeze lifted the ends of her straight black hair. She’d just had it cut, so the ends were completely blunt.
“Who’s Akeno?”
“Oh my gosh, something is wrong with you,” Sakiko winced. “He’s my boyfriend. We just had lunch with him.”
“Yes, oh of course. Akeno?” Honestly, she hadn’t heard his name when he introduced himself. She was too busy thinking. “Why were we talking about him?” Savannah sipped from her extra-large, triple chocolate, Oreo cookie, and crushed hazelnut milkshake. It was divine, and as she crunched on a few bits of cookies and nuts she wished she could buy another one. Although it was a sure way to pile on the pounds, the indulgence would soothe her nerves.
“I asked you if you thought he was boring.”
Savannah narrowed her eyes wondering why Sakiko would ask her that. “No, he even made jokes and everything.”
“You thought those jokes were funny?” Sakiko raised her eyebrows and inclined her head.
Honestly, she’d thought Akeno’s jokes were lame, but how could she say that? She didn’t know anyone who told knock knock jokes anymore, and if they did it was usually to children under the age of ten.
“Maybe he was nervous,” she offered.
“He’s like that all the time.” Sakiko rolled her eyes.
“Maybe it was just a bad day for jokes.”
“I saw my mom roll her eyes, and yawn.” Yumi had been with them earlier. “She accommodates everyone, but if she thinks someone’s boring, and that’s never happened, then it says a lot.” Sakiko adjusted the shopping bags over her arm. “And then she made up that whole thing about meeting her friend just to get away.”
“Really?” Savannah had to laugh. She had to admit that she did find it strange when Yumi left. First of all, Yumi wasn’t the kind of person to forget she was meeting with a friend, and she always had the day planned so she would have mentioned it at the start. “Where do you think she went?”
“Home,” she replied with an exasperated sigh. “I’m going to break up with him. And fast, too, like this week. I don’t want him coming to the fundraiser.”
“You don’t love him?”
“God no. He’s likeable, and sure he’s very good looking, but please.”
“Oh,” was all Savannah could say. This was one of those times when she thought Sakiko would get on extremely well with Breana and Laura.
“Do you think I’m being cruel by breaking up before the fundraiser? He was looking forward to it.”
What did she know? “Sakiko, ask me about what to wear for dinner, or the newest shade of Dior lipstick. But I’m not that great when it comes to men. My last boyfriend specialized in the mating habits of ants and bees.”
“What?” Sakiko started to laugh. “Where did you find him?”
“The library.”
“In what section?”
“Bugs, or anthropology. I can’t remember. I was doing research for an article and made a wrong turn.” Savannah raised her eyebrows and took another sip of her milkshake. “He spent an hour talking to me about the different types of bees you could find in a hive.”
“And that turned you on?” Sakiko gave her a doubtful look.
“No, but I knew my parents would like him.”
“Please don’t tell me you went out with him just because of that.” Sakiko looked at her wide eyed.
She nodded. “Sadly, yes. They weren’t too happy when I broke up with him. Believe me, I didn’t think I could stand to hear about another ant. And he used words like fathom and flabbergasted.” Savannah shook her head at the memory. What on Earth had she been doing with a guy like that?
Sakiko suddenly got this sly look on her face and smiled. “Good thing your next boyfriend won’t be so boring, although I’m not so sure your parents would be too thrilled with his obsession for fast cars.”
Savannah stopped in her tracks and froze. Sakiko stopped, too, and turned to face her, smiling even wider.
Had she said something, anything at all, that would make anyone realize she’d been obsessing over Hiroshi all day?
“I’m…” What should she say? “What would make you say that?” Best to tiptoe around it. Maybe she was talking about someone else. Although that was just silly to think that, and really who else was there, that they both knew, with an obsession for fast cars?
Sakiko laughed at her.
“Sakiko,” Savannah prodded.
“Okay, fine. But drop the frightened cat look.”
“Frightened cat?”
Sakiko giggled. “You tend to have that look when anyone mentions Hiroshi. And you go all goo-goo eyed when you see him,” she teased, making a show of widening her eyes and fluttering her lashes. “Plus, I kind of saw you two devouring each other on the lawn last night.”
Shock completely washed over her, and her mouth dropped open. “Oh God,” she winced, bringing her hands up to her cheeks.
“I wanted to yell ‘get a room’, but I didn’t want to spoil it for you.”
“Oh my gosh, I’m so embarrassed.” Then her mortification worsened as she wondered who else saw. What if his parents saw them? Oh gosh, his dad?
And what if Jake saw? She didn’t know what he’d think. What if it upset him?
“Don’t be. It’s him that should be embarrassed, but I doubt he’s ever felt that emotion.”
“Sakiko, how did you see us?” She was shaking from the mortification.
“With my eyes,” Sakiko teased. “Savannah, it’s the front lawn, you were outside the house where everyone could see if they wanted to. I was adjusting my curtains.”
“What if your mom saw, and your dad?”
“They didn’t. If my mom saw then, I’m pretty certain that that cute little hat she made you would have been cute baby booties.” Yumi had presented Savannah with a beautifully knitted beret this morning. It was a soft baby pink with little sequins embedded in it. Since it matched the pink top she was wearing Savannah decided to wear it. “She absolutely adores you. And my dad…well, he’s pretty much non-responsive, but he likes you, and he doesn’t like anybody. Ever.”
Savannah simply stared open-mouthed at that whole explanation, but felt touched at the same time. “I…” She wasn’t sure what to say.
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