*****
Terrell understood when I told him that we’d be leaving out early to head back to D.C. Kira and I would have to pass on breakfast at his and Maisha’s house. After my talk with Kira the night before, I realized that the best thing I could do for myself and my relationship was to go home. Being around Sam was only causing conflict.
Eight hours after leaving the hotel, we were parked in our own garage, ready to unpack and relax. I carried the rest of our luggage in while Kira threw a load of our laundry into the washer. I left the tux hanging in the back of the car so I could return it the next day after work. It took a good hour to get everything back in order and then get settled on the couch in front of the TV. We’d barely started browsing the DVR for a show to watch when my phone went off.
Kira lifted from her post, lying on top of me with my arm draped over her back, so I could answer.
I frowned. “It’s your dad.”
She frowned too.
“Hello?”
“Sorry to disturb you, I’m sure you’re just getting back into town,” he replied.
“Actually we made it in about an hour ago. Is everything okay?” I asked, already sure that this call was work-related. That was about the extent of my relationship with my future father-in-law…much like my relationship with my own father.
“Yes, yes, everything’s fine,” he replied. “I understand that you’re technically scheduled to have tomorrow off to rest up from the long drive, but I’d like for you to come in if that’s at all possible.” He paused. “There are a few details that I’d like to discuss with you.”
That’s it? Was he really going to be that vague?
“Uh – sure. That’s not a problem.”
“Great. Come to my office as soon as you arrive and we’ll discuss everything then.”
When the call ended, I stared at my phone, confused.
“What was that about?” Kira asked.
“Honestly? I have no clue. He just said that he needed me to come in tomorrow. Didn’t explain much further than that.”
Kira pouted. “That sucks. I planned to keep you naked in bed with me all day.” As she said it, she lifted my t-shirt a few inches and ran her hands up my torso from where she rested between my legs. She kissed the contours of my stomach and my head fell back against the arm of the couch, ignoring the sound of the television. When my phone rang again, she’d just tugged at the elastic band of my sweats. I cursed and answered without checking the ID.
“Yeah,” I said harshly. Good thing it was my father – that’s how I would’ve greeted him anyway.
“Did you already get the call about tomorrow?” he asked.
I slapped my hand to my forehead while Kira continued to place kisses near my hip.
“Yeah, I got it. I’ll be there.”
“Good,” he said, sounding satisfied.
“What’s this about, anyway?”
He hesitated, but only because he was choosing his words, not because he was thinking of a lie. Sadly, I could tell the difference. “Let’s just say, your hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed. We’ll discuss it tomorrow, though. Get some rest. We need you in by 6:30.”
What the hell?
I sighed. “Ok. Whatever. I’ll be there.”
And I was. Not quite bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but I was there. Cup of coffee in hand, I made my way down the narrow hallway to Mr. Tanaka’s door. When I approached it, I could see him and my father sitting across from one another at the pretentious, mahogany desk near the window. Mr. Tanaka noticed me first.
“Come in. Please,” he said, waving me inside.
I pushed the door open the rest of the way and stepped in. Taking the seat beside my father, I waited for one of them to start.
“How was your trip?” Mr. Tanaka asked, beginning our private meeting on a personal note.
“Fine. Thanks for asking.”
Just get on with it, I thought to myself.
“Good. Glad to hear it.” I watched as he retrieved his reading glasses from the top drawer and then glanced down at the paper resting on his desk. While you were away, there were a few new developments.”
“New developments?” I didn’t quite follow.
Mr. Tanaka felt inside the pocket of his lapel for a pen. “Yes. An opportunity.”
From the corner of my eye, I could see my father smiling a bit, which was never a good sign.
“As you’re well aware, we spent a better part of the last two years since you’ve been with us here at Arata trying to expand and market ourselves more effectively on a larger scale – first concentrating on meeting our national marketing goals so that we could then expand our global reach.”
I nodded, knowing all the details that he was reiterating, but still not understanding what any of it had to do with me.
“There was, as you also know, a brief period of time –“ I tuned him out and waited for him to get to his point. “However, even with the minor hiccup that we experienced, I am pleased to announce that, for the past three quarters, we’ve managed to not only meet our quarterly forecasts, we’ve exceeded them - exponentially. It isn’t lost on us that credit for this achievement is owed in part to the excellent work that you did in Tokyo last summer. You managed to singlehandedly make a name for Arata on foreign soil, which has not only given us the capital to fund this venture to expand globally, but also the strategic positioning that will ensure our success.”
I stared at him wordlessly when he situated his glasses on his nose and then checked that the pen in his hand was working properly before sliding it and the sheet of paper across his desk to me. I set my coffee down before leaning in to inspect the document. I wasn’t sure if I was reading it right.
“You want me and all TWO years of my experience,” I said sarcastically, “…to head the Eastern Division? Alone?” I added.
The smile on my father’s face didn’t fade. This felt like a setup; like they were purposely forcing me to bite off more than I could chew, so I’d fail, and then they could let me go.
I shook my head and pushed the paper back to Mr. Tanaka. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’m perfectly satisfied with my position here.”
The two shot one another the same look – shock.
My father moved to the edge of his seat. “Son…I don’t think you’re understanding; this is a huge career move for you. There’re men working for this company who would kill for the opportunity that we’re offering you.”
“Exactly my point! Why not offer it to someone whose got the years under their belt, someone who –“
“Because, despite the quantity of your experience, your father and I both recognize your potential. We’re basing this decision on quality,” Mr. Tanaka replied calmly.
I sat back in my seat. “And you all really think these people that’ll be working for me are gonna respect me as their boss when they find out what my qualifications are? When they find out what my last name is and who my father is? After all, that is the only reason I’m even being offered an executive position so soon, right?”
My father sighed. “Son, you were groomed to run this company. I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into creating all of this,” he said, gesturing around him. Mr. Tanaka, although he now owned a majority of my father’s brainchild, didn’t even flinch or jump to deny my father bragging rights. He simply sat there and listened. “This is not charity,” my father added. “Believe me you’ll have to work to prove yourself ten times harder than the average man would because your last name is Hahn. However…it isn’t in you to run from adversity. So, no matter what apprehensions you’re having, I also know that you’re levelheaded. This is an opportunity to jump aboard the fast track to your future, son. You’re too intelligent to let it pass you by.”
I felt myself breathing at twice the normal rate, staring at the document from a distance. The details – salary, housing allowance, signing bonus – were already spelled out in black and white. The only thing missing was my signature at the bottom, whi
ch would determine whether this became reality or nothing more than a dream on a sheet of paper.
“There’s a housing allowance here,” I noted. “That won’t be necessary. Living in D.C. hasn’t been a problem – the commute to Fairfax is only half an hour, forty-five in moderate traffic.”
Mr. Tanaka smiled and pointed to a section of the paper that I’d overlooked. “Driving from D.C. to Fairfax might not be a problem, but driving from D.C. to New York City would be one hell of a commute.”
I thought I’d misheard him. “New York? The Eastern Division is stationed right here in Fairfax, though. That doesn’t make sense.”
The smile on my father’s face grew. “Correct. However, we’re moving the facility to a more…lucrative milieu. Like we said before, it’s all about strategic planning. Proximity to your target can make all the difference in the world.” He stared at me while I deliberated.
Move?
“But Kira and I – we just bought the house and –“
“We’d take that off your hands, give you what you paid for it with a 10% increase for the trouble,” Mr. Tanaka chimed in.
“Kira’s job is here, though. I can’t just expect her to pick up everything and follow me. I’ll have to talk this over with her before I sign anything.” My head was spinning.
“Take all the time you need,” Mr. Tanaka replied, and then laughed. “Well…take 24-hours. As much as we hate to rush your decision, we’re looking to move things along fairly quickly. Time is indeed money.”
“Quickly? How quickly?” I inquired.
“Today is Monday, and we’d like to have you there this time next week,” my father responded.
I sat back and ran both hands through my hair, blowing all the air from my lungs. “Next week?”
“Of course there will still be loose ends to tie up here that may require you to be in town on occasion, but…yes, a week,” he reiterated.
I imagined the conversation in my head that I’d have with Kira. How would she feel about leaving her job as an editor of the popular women’s magazine she’d dreamed about working for all through college, only to abandon her post to follow me to the crowded city? She was even on the fence about D.C. being too congested, but compared to New York? D.C. looked like a ghost town.
“I’m gonna have to give it some thought,” I stated again, subconsciously hearing the 24-hour stopwatch ticking inside my head.
I stood from my seat and noted the exasperated look on my father’s face. From the expression that he wore, I realized that he expected me to take the job without question. However, I wasn’t only making this decision for myself. I now had a fiancé who I had to take into consideration too.
*****
The television lulled quietly from the living room when I walked in the house at around noon.
“Hey,” Kira’s voice rang out. “You’re back early.”
I was still in a daze, so my response didn’t come immediately. “Yeah…I just had to sit through a couple meetings, then your father told me to come home and get some rest.”
I untied my shoes and walked to the living room, still immersed deep within my thoughts. When I sat beside Kira on the couch, she leaned in and kissed my cheek.
“What’s wrong?” she giggled. “You look like a deer caught in the headlights.”
Basically, that was how I felt.
She lowered the volume a bit and then turned to face me again. “Did something happen?”
I didn’t even know where to start. “There’s something that we need to discuss, and I want you to be completely honest about how you feel.”
Curious, she cocked her head to the side. “Okay, you have my word.”
I blew out a breath and broke it down for her the way our father’s had broken it down for me. “Things with the company are going really well. So well, in fact, that they want to expand.”
Her eyebrows lifted when the news impressed her. “Well, that’s good.”
“Yeah…but I don’t know how long you’re gonna feel that way.”
She continued to watch and wait for me to explain.
“They want me to be over the Eastern division, Kira.”
Her eyes lit up when she clasped her hands together, turning her body on the couch to face me full-on. “Oh my god! Are you serious!” Her arms wrapped around my neck. “That’s amazing, babe!”
“In…New York,” I added, still embracing her.
In my arms, she stiffened. In that second, the celebration was over. Kira backed away slowly and her eyes were trained on mine. “New York? But I thought –“
“They’re moving the facility from Fairfax to New York…which would mean that we’d have to be in New York,” I interjected.
She ran her fingers through her hair, looking like my revelation had knocked the wind out of her. It probably did. That’s how I felt too.
“Wow,” she eventually sighed. “Like…when? A month? Six? A year? When would we have to leave?”
My stomach sank, hearing that none of her estimates were even close to the short amount of time we’d have to pack up everything and go. It would only make things worse when I revealed that we’d have to have an answer by morning.
“Actually…they want me there by Monday.”
“Monday!” She shot up from her seat and started to pace. “AJ…I have a job here, too!”
I nodded. “I know. That’s why I said I want you to give this some thought. Don’t just think about how it’ll affect me. Think about how it’ll affect you, too. You’re living your dream right here in DC,” I replied calmly, despite the elevation in her tone.
She cursed under her breath and stood in front of the window, arms folded over her chest, probably wondering how this was all happening so quickly.
“Whatever you decide, I’m cool with it,” I added.
“Whatever I decide? AJ…you can’t put something this big all on me.” She turned in my direction with a bewildered look in her eyes.
I sighed and let the reality of what Mr. Tanaka and my father were offering me sink in. My salary would more than double, the housing allowance would cover our living expenses for the first year in the city, and the bonus was big enough to buy my Bentley…twice. But more than the money, this promotion was an opportunity to hold an executive position like I’d always wanted within my father’s company – an opportunity I thought I’d lost out on when things went south when he messed things up all those years back. This opportunity was a chance to have the life I was supposed to have back. But was it okay to tell Kira all of that? Would it sound selfish that I wanted this so bad? She’d have to walk away from her dream to follow me while I chased mine.
“What’re you thinking?” She asked. “I mean…honestly.”
I organized my thoughts before speaking. “Based solely on what this would mean for my career…it’s the opportunity of a lifetime.”
She weighed my words and placed her hands on her hips when she leaned against the wall to think. Her expression was tense while she appeared to be having an internal conversation that she hadn’t decided to make me privy to just yet. When she sighed hard and looked up at me again, she nodded. “Take it.”
My heart sped up. “But what about the magazine? What about –“
“AJ…take it. I can see if the magazine will let me work remotely. I can set up an office in our home there and maybe commute every now and then when they need me to.” She nodded again, seemingly more sure this time. “Take it.”
It felt like my head was going to explode from all the excitement and uncertainty. When I stood, Kira smiled. “Are you sure? I was serious about turning it down if you didn’t want to leave.” I kissed her cheek once and then her lips. Her smile grew.
“How could I ask you to turn down an opportunity this big? Regardless of what my dad thinks, Arata belongs to your father…and to you.” She fixed the collar of my dress shirt and then my tie. “And as your fiancé, I support you one hundred percent.”
I kissed her again
. “Thank you, Kira…just…thank you.” Our lips touched one more time and then she giggled when I rained kisses against the side of her neck.
“You’re gonna be a great boss and a great husband, Mr. Hahn,” she added with a smile.
She held my gaze when I pulled away and looked over the doll-like details of her face. Sweeping the few loose strands of hair aside, I marveled at the strength and selflessness that Kira possessed.
“You’re amazing. You know that?” I kissed her forehead and her eyes drifted closed.
Without words, I led her up to our bedroom and made love to her for the rest of the afternoon, celebrating not only my new job, but also celebrating us. Deep down, I believed that once we made this move and got settled in, we’d only grow stronger together. Nothing was powerful enough to tear us apart. Nothing
Chapter Seven
Sam
“You seem…lighter?” Dr. Gill said with a smile. “That’s the only word I can think of that fits. I mean…look at you! You’re smiling and…happy,” she added. “I take it this past weekend went well. Tell me about it.”
I didn’t even know where to start. “Well…the wedding was beautiful. I think it did me some good to be around my old friends like that. I hadn’t seen Terrell and Maisha in nearly a year.”
She nodded, waiting for me to continue.
“The change of scenery was nice, too,” was all I added.
Dr. Gill shot me a look and then shook her head with a smile. “There was a truce I recall needing to be made. How’d that go? Or did you decide against it?”
I lowered my head, smiling to myself as I fidgeted with my nails. My thoughts drifted back to AJ, mostly our moment on the dance floor, but also the way he’d dismissed the drama between us with that one short statement that he made while we stood outside the hotel gift shop.
“I’m good. We’re good.”
Dr. Gill’s face lit up. “Good? So you did do it.”
I looked up at her for a moment, honestly feeling embarrassed that I couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of AJ. But, my god, the butterflies that man could still give me…
“I didn’t have to. He beat me to it,” I admitted. “Maybe I’m giving myself too much credit. I think I would’ve chickened out actually,” I said with a laugh.
Exposed (Free Falling) Page 9