“So.” David eyed her. “When are you leaving for Japan?”
“As soon as Sonia can book me a flight.”
He nodded. “Well, have a safe flight, and I have confidence that we’ll all be in Tokyo in a few weeks’ time celebrating the completion.”
“You’ll be bringing Nina and the kids, right?”
“Wouldn’t want to go anywhere without them.” He lifted a hand and left her office. Only a few months had passed since he’d been a devoted bachelor. Now, he was very much a devoted family man and Helen had no worries that he’d be a distant parent like his older brother George had been.
For one thing, David adored Nina and her two children. He’d married her for the right reason—love.
She pushed the intercom for Sonia. “Book me the earliest flight for Tokyo.”
“I’m already looking into schedules,” her assistant came back. “Give me five more minutes and you’ll be all set.”
Satisfied, Helen grabbed the phone and her personal phone directory and made some notes to leave with Sonia. She sorted through the paperwork and files and tasks on her desk, rapidly selecting those she needed to take with her, and those that could wait until her return or be assigned to someone else.
She was just closing her jammed briefcase when Sonia entered. She handed Helen a printed itinerary. “Plane departs in three hours. I’ve ordered a car for you. It should be downstairs as soon as you leave, so you can run by your place and pick up some clothing. You have your passport?”
Helen nodded, skimming the itinerary. “Thanks. It’s in my briefcase already. Here.” She handed her assistant the notes that she’d made. “I need you to make those calls for me. And—” she patted a stack of file folders topped by a thick report “—if you can get Evan to handle this, I’d appreciate it.” He was officially head of the radio division, but he’d also been pretty much acting as her replacement whenever she’d been in Japan and he’d been doing a tremendous job of it.
“This—” she tapped the middle stack “—you can take care of.”
Her assistant pulled a face, but Helen knew she was perfectly willing and capable of handling the assignment. “These are the invitations that you wanted me to look over.” She handed them back to Sonia. “Just send my regrets on all of them.”
“Even Judge Henry’s birthday celebration?” Sonia flipped through the dozen or so letters and cards.
“Send a gift…” Helen thought for a moment. “Make it a basket of chocolates. Dark, milk, white, whatever, but make sure they’re individually wrapped. Small pieces that he can keep up at the bench with him. He’s always telling me how he wishes he had chocolate to sweeten his disposition when he’s hearing cases.” She had a longstanding friendship with the elderly man dating back to the first time they’d sat on a philanthropic committee together. She was sorry to miss his party. She’d wanted to talk to him more in person about Jack’s career.
“How do you remember this stuff?”
“Years of practice as the wife of George Hanson.” She slipped on her raincoat and grabbed her briefcase and purse. “Meredith’s been trying to get Devlin Catering on line for the merger celebration. It might help if you give Cynthia Devlin a call. Her number’s in my desk. She’s a silent partner in her sister’s catering firm, and she and I go way back.”
“Are you sure we should start making those plans? Devlin will want a hefty deposit, given the short notice.”
“Cynthia and I got our MBAs at the same time. Plus, she owes me about a million favors and that’s why she won’t quibble over the short notice. We want Devlin Catering because, quite simply, they are the best. And yes, I’m sure we need to plan.” Her voice was determined. “Everyone in Hanson Media will be celebrating when this thing is finished. If anything else comes up, send it to Evan. Otherwise, you know where I’ll be. Oh. And don’t forget to feed Captain Nemo.”
Sonia picked up the fishbowl. “I’ll move him out there with me. He’ll be in good hands. Have a safe flight.”
But Helen barely heard her assistant. She was striding out of the office, her mind mostly consumed with one thing, and it wasn’t the merger.
It was Mori Taka.
She reached him by phone while she was on the plane. It would be very early in Tokyo, but she suspected he’d already be at the office, and he was.
“How are you?”
He didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “I have had better days.”
“Mori, I’m so sorry this is happening. I feel responsible.”
“Unnecessary. My father has been looking for an excuse, and he focused on the merger and you. What is the phrase your old Western movies were fond of? Rounding the wagons?”
“Circling the wagons.”
“Hai. Circling the wagons. That is what I am doing.”
“That’s great, just as long as you have enough wagons,” she murmured.
“I am not without some influence here,” he reminded drily.
“Considering it’s your own father that has taken this route, you’re sounding remarkably calm.”
“Should I run screaming through the hallways of TAKA?”
She almost smiled at the unlikely picture of that. “No.”
“Where are you calling from? The reception is thin.”
“I’m in flight.”
“You are coming to Tokyo?”
She could have been flying anywhere, yet he’d automatically assumed Japan. “Yes.”
“I will be glad to see you.” His voice held a note that sent her pulse thudding.
“Mori—”
“You are not responsible for the actions of my father.”
She closed her eyes, pressing the phone hard to her ear. “How do you seem to know what I’m thinking?”
“It is why I earn the large dollars.”
She smiled. “You mean the big bucks.”
“Hai. That is what I said.” He was silent for a moment. “I must attend to matters here, but I will see you when you arrive.”
She couldn’t help the anticipation that warmed inside her, even though she tried to steel herself against it. “That might not be the wisest course,” she cautioned.
“I will see you when you arrive,” he repeated.
And she didn’t have the willpower to argue.
Well, wasn’t she haring off to Tokyo? She might as well forget she’d ever had any willpower. “All right. Until then.”
“Sayonara.”
She disconnected the call and leaned her head back against the high seat.
“Mrs. Hanson, would you care for a cocktail?” The flight attendant stopped next to Helen’s seat.
“Just coffee, please.”
The beautiful girl smiled and moved to the next row in first class, repeating the spiel.
How many times would she be making this flight to Japan?
For a moment, she envied Jack and Samantha for their plan to remain in Tokyo at least for several months.
They won’t need to if the merger fails.
She shushed the negative little voice. The merger could not fail.
And neither could she.
“The TAKA board is meeting tonight.” Richard announced the moment Helen cleared customs. He took her carry-on suitcase from her.
“So quickly?” Everything seemed to be happening at breakneck speed.
“Yukio isn’t wasting time. He knew Mori would still be busy dealing with his father-in-law’s death. If it weren’t so nasty, I’d have to give the guy points for hitting Mori at an optimal time.” He glanced her way. “You look tired.”
“Thanks. You look good. Marriage must agree with you.” She knew his first marriage certainly hadn’t, though. And while she’d definitely benefited from his intense drive focused solely on his career for as long as it had been, she was delighted he’d found a way to slow down enough and not let love pass him by.
“Jenny’s anxious to see you,” he said, as if he’d read her mind.
“Anxious as in worri
ed, or anxious as in looking forward to?”
Richard looked sympathetic. If it weren’t for him, she would never have known that Jenny Anderson was the baby girl she’d long ago given up. But he’d recognized the similarity and the coincidences when he’d become involved with Jenny and had put the puzzle together.
Helen would be forever grateful to him for that.
“Looking forward to,” he assured. “She has a massive photo album from the honeymoon that she can’t wait to share.”
Helen’s heart squeezed. “I can’t wait to see it.”
Richard’s pace ate up the distance as he led the way through the very busy airport, skirting business travelers and tourists with ease, and it wasn’t long before they were outside and he was heading for a waiting car.
A familiar car.
Helen’s feet dragged as she recognized Mori’s driver, Akira, standing alongside the long vehicle.
Richard turned when she slowed. “What?”
“That’s Mori’s car.”
“Handy, since he’s inside.”
She swallowed, suddenly nervous as a teenager. She’d been traveling for the last fifteen hours. Her hair was mussed, her suit wrinkled and if she had a lick of makeup left on her face, it would be a minor miracle.
“Well?” Richard raised his eyebrows. “Come on.”
When Mori had said he would see her when she arrived, she hadn’t taken him quite so literally, but painfully aware of the way Akira and Richard—and Mori, for all she knew given the darkened windows of the vehicle—were watching her, she moved forward as if she’d never hesitated at all.
“Konnichiwa,” she greeted Akira when he reached out to take her heavy briefcase.
He bowed, murmuring in stilted English, “Good afternoon, Hanson-san.” He quickly stowed the briefcase and the suitcase he took from Richard in the trunk then opened the rear door for them.
Helen climbed inside.
It seemed foolish, but she was grateful for Richard’s presence on the facing seat when Akira closed the door and moments later the limousine began moving.
“Richard tells me the board meeting is tonight,” she said, noting that Mori looked as urbane as ever in a black suit, and not at all worried about the outcome of the meeting. “You’ve probably got more important things to be doing than picking me up at the airport.”
“I am doing exactly what I choose to be doing. Your flight was turbulent.”
“How did you…never mind.” Mori had his ways, and she wasn’t going to wonder too hard just now about it. “It was bumpier than usual. There was a storm we had to go around, otherwise the plane would have been on time.” She assumed that if Mori knew the flight conditions, he’d also known about the delay and hadn’t sat, cooling his heels, in the loading zone all that time.
“Kimiko sends her greetings.”
His right hand rested on the long leather seat. It was a full ten inches from her left hand, also resting on the seat.
And still, her hand felt tingly warm.
“How is she?”
“Well.”
“How did you and Richard come to be together this afternoon?” She finally voiced the question that had been hovering inside her.
“Mr. Warren and I were discussing a few points of the transition.”
So, they were still in an all-systems-go mode. That was good.
Knowing it didn’t alleviate Helen’s worry, though. It would be there, lurking under her own forcibly positive attitude until Mori’s board had met.
“What points?”
“Nothing for you to be concerned with.”
Helen looked across to Richard, waiting.
“Really,” he assured, “it was small potatoes.”
The CEO of TAKA didn’t spend his time on frivolous details. And she’d foolishly thought that she and Mori were past the days when he clearly hadn’t wanted to discuss even major business matters with her.
She folded her hands in her lap and looked out the window, hiding the sting she felt.
Fortunately the limo arrived quickly enough at the TAKA building. “Akira will drive you to your hotel,” Mori told them. “We will speak later.”
“Good luck this evening, Taka-san,” Richard told him.
Mori bowed his head. “Thank you.” His gaze slanted to Helen. “I am glad you are here.”
She wanted badly to ask him why, but kept the words inside. “Good luck.”
A faint smile touched his lips, and then he was gone, a tall, striking man striding into the skyscraper that bore his name.
Helen eyed Richard. “What little details?”
He huffed out a noisy sigh. “I knew you weren’t going to let that slide.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Richard?”
“He had some questions about you, okay? That’s all.”
“Questions?” Her voice was not growing any warmer. “About what? And why ask you?”
“I was delivering the statement Jack and I worked on this morning and happened to mention I was picking you up from the airport. He already knew when you were arriving, and offered the car. I was pretty surprised when the guy came along, too. Just what is going on between you and Taka, Helen? It’s clear that something beyond business has occurred.”
“Well, that’s terrific,” Helen observed, “since it will lend credence to Yukio’s ridiculous claims against Mori.”
“Are they ridiculous?”
“I’ve said so, haven’t I?”
“And I’ve believed you. But—”
“But what?”
Richard paused, very much the attorney framing his words. “The man looks at you, Helen.”
She felt her face flush. “At the risk of sounding extraordinarily conceited, I’m afraid men have often looked at me.”
Now, Richard just looked impatient. “He looks at you the way I probably look when I watch Jenny.”
“That’s…impossible,” she said.
It was Richard’s turn to raise his eyebrow. “Is it?”
Chapter Nine
That evening, Jack, Samantha and Helen went to Jenny and Richard’s apartment for dinner.
Despite the cheerful face everyone put on, and the true enjoyment Helen felt when Jenny pulled out the photograph albums of the honeymoon, it felt more like a wake than a family get-together.
They were all waiting on word from the board meeting.
Jenny eventually turned on the television and they watched the news channel to see if there would be mention of a TAKA coup. She also made a few calls to her associates.
No one seemed to know anything.
By eleven o’clock that night, Helen was simply dragging.
She had slept a few hours on the flight, but other than that, she hadn’t put her head on a bed pillow in more than twenty-four hours.
“Much as I’d like to stick it out with you youngsters, I’ve got to get some sleep.”
Richard snorted. He and Jack were both only a handful of years younger than she. “Nice try, Helen. You’re still not gonna pass for a gray-haired granny, even when we make you one.”
Her gaze flew to Jenny’s, who blushed and shrugged. “Not yet,” she said, “but there have been some negotiations.”
The first real smile Helen had felt since the previous morning hit her face. “I think that sounds great,” she told Jenny, and couldn’t keep herself from hugging her.
Her eyes stung when Jenny hugged her in return.
Then they were gathering jackets and purses and heading out into the cool evening to hail a taxi.
Count your blessings where they are, Helen reminded herself. Whatever happens with the merger, she’d found Jenny and the boys had found their loves.
Wasn’t that more important than anything else?
Alone in her hotel room, she took a shower, realized she’d forgotten to pack any nightclothes and wrapped herself in the plush white bathrobe provided by the hotel.
Despite her exhaustion, though, she couldn’t relax enough to cl
imb into bed.
She stepped between the heavy drawn curtains and the window and looked out at the city lights.
Was the board meeting still in progress?
She imagined that she could see the shape of the TAKA building, but knew it was unlikely. Her window faced east and the TAKA building was west.
Sighing, she rested her forehead against the window-pane. It felt chilly to the touch.
They were supposed to sign the final paperwork any day now. A gala celebration would shortly follow for the employees in both Japan and Chicago, the media and every mucky-muck in both countries.
Would that still come to pass?
Her head hurt from thinking about it.
Tugging the lapels closer around her, she slipped from between the heavy drapes and headed to her bed, but a soft knock on her door stopped her.
Jack or Samantha, she thought, immediately crossing the room and throwing open the door. “Have you heard—”
She stared at Mori, her words drying up.
He looked like hell. His face was tired, his eyes bloodshot.
His tie was loose, his jacket bunched in his fist.
Without thinking, she stepped back, silently inviting him inside.
He entered, pulling his tie even looser.
She closed the door, leaning back against it, and watched him cross the room. He tossed aside his jacket and went immediately to the bar and opened the small refrigerator that was stocked with every known assortment of alcohol.
She’d never bothered touching it.
But given Mori’s countenance, she strongly considered the need for a stiff shot of something.
He pulled out a bottle she didn’t recognize the name on, and dumped the contents in one of the squat crystal glasses that sat atop the bar.
When he’d finished, he turned, drink in hand, and looked at her.
Her hands balled in the deep pockets of her robe. “Are you all right?”
“My father saw the wisdom of retracting his request.” He drank half the contents of his glass in one long drink, then moved to the couch and sat on it.
His head bowed and he stared at the drink held loosely in his hands.
Mergers & Matrimony Page 11