by Imari Jade
After resting, they changed clothing and Kevin took her out to dinner, followed by dancing. Tricia was totally exhausted when they returned to their room later that night. She changed into her gown, crawled into bed and went to sleep.
****
“I have had a wonderful time,” Tricia said to Kevin as they watched a firework show on Saturday night.
“I’ve had a wonderful time too,” Kevin said. He stood behind Tricia with his arms wrapped around her waist. “Too bad it has to end. The next time we will have to venture out of Osaka and see other places like Tokyo and Chiyo.”
“I’d like that,” Tricia said. “But we can’t do Tokyo on a weekend. It would have to be at least a week.”
Kevin agreed. He dropped his arms. They would both be very busy with their jobs in the upcoming months. Tokyo would be the perfect place for a honeymoon. “I know what we can do. Let’s go to an onsen the next time.”
“A hot springs?” Tricia asked excitedly.
“Yes. We can even have a private one in our room.”
“You mean rooms,” Tricia said. “We can’t wear swimsuits in the baths.”
Kevin chuckled. “Leave it to you to know that bit of information. You can wear a big towel and then remove it after you sit down in the water.”
“But I would still be naked,” Tricia said.
“I’ll be naked too,” Kevin said. He did enjoy teasing her.
“Hmm. Really? Maybe one room might not be such a bad idea.”
“You’re not being serious, are you?”
“I’m being very serious,” Tricia said. “I’m sure you’ve developed sufficiently since we were kids.”
Kevin tickled her and Tricia screamed and giggled like she used to do as a child.
“You are so crazy, but I still want to go.”
“Just let me know when you’re feeling stressed. I’ll make the arrangements.”
They walked back to their hotel and to their rooms to pack. Later, Kevin took Tricia to dinner and then returned the rental car.
The next morning they checked out of the hotel, rode a taxi to the train station and then rode the train back to their area.
Kevin had an important meeting in the morning and Tricia was scheduled for the lunchtime shift at the restaurant. Of course, he didn’t want their weekend to end and he was convinced that he and Tricia were right for each other. He did plan to tell her how he really felt about her and drive it home so she’d understand that he was serious. But before then, he would give her time to make a decision about her relationship with Damien, after she had some time to think about breaking off her engagement. He didn’t want to be a substitute for his brother. He wanted Tricia to be very sure she was over Damien and wanted him.
****
Damien pushed the paperwork he’d been working on aside. It was late on Sunday night and he’d lost his concentration. He kept thinking about what Tricia had said to him last week. Did she really mean the engagement was off or had she just said it in the heat of the moment? What a fine mess they were in. He really wanted to believe Tricia, but Barbara had been so convincing. Now he didn’t know if he believed Barbara either since she told him that she was interested in getting with him sexually. What in the fuck was he going to do now?
Damien rubbed his eyes. He was tired and confused about the situation. If he believed Tricia, Barbara would be mad and he had to work with her. If he believed Barbara, Tricia would never speak to him again. Either way, he would lose. The smart thing to do was just to forget about what happened and not take sides. One thing was for sure: He wasn’t going to a club with both of those young women ever again.
And he had another problem—Kevin. The relationship between them sucked now that Kevin had grown up and moved to Japan. But his younger brother was right. It was his fault for leaving Tricia alone for two years. He hadn’t done it intentionally. Time just flew by as he built his career with Niigata Entertainment. Maybe he should have called her more or took a trip back home occasionally for a visit. He didn’t know if it was too late for him and Tricia. People’s feelings did change. He noticed a difference in her when she arrived a couple of months ago. But he didn’t think she was crazy or depressed. She had mellowed some. No, she had matured and even though she got excited about meeting Distraction, he didn’t know if she would like waiting for him to come home off a tour. They did have to sit down and have a serious talk soon. He reached for his cell phone and typed a message to her. “I’m sorry. Let’s meet up this week to talk.” Damien sent it. Hopefully he would get a response.
Damien’s cell phone rang. He looked down at the display. It wasn’t Tricia, it was Barbara. Damien thought about not answering it, but it continued to ring. “Hello?” He turned on the speaker phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Paperwork,” Damien answered.
“Are you at the office?”
“Yes,” Damien said. “What’s up?”
“Would you like to join me for a drink?”
“Where are you?” Damien asked.
“At a bar near my house. I was bored so I ended up here with some friends.”
“Are they still there?”
“No,” Barbara replied. “Most of them went home drunk.”
Damien chuckled. It sounded just like one of those K-dramas. “What’s the name of the bar?”
“The Hell Hole,” Barbara answered.
Damien knew the place. “Give me about thirty minutes and I’ll be there.”
“Okay,” Barbara said and hung up.
Damien disconnected the call. He was bored too and not the least bit tired. Maybe a couple of drinks would relax him. He grabbed his keys, left the office and headed out the door to get into his car.
****
“What are you doing here?” Harper asked Kevin when he opened the door and found his youngest son on the other side.
Kevin entered. “Now is that any way to greet me?”
“No, but lately you’ve been avoiding me.” Harper closed the door and followed Kevin into the living room.
“Not really,” Kevin said. “Here!”
“What is this?” Harper asked, taking the item in Kevin’s hand.
“A video tape from the club.”
“Where did you get this?”
“From the bar owner. It was delivered to my apartment last week.”
“Did you have time to watch it?” Harper asked.
“No, I was busy this weekend.”
Harper walked over to the video player. “Does your brother know about it?”
Kevin shook his head. “No. I wanted you to be the first to see it.” He sat down.
Harper turned on the machine and placed the tape inside it. He walked back to the sofa where Kevin was seated and sat down next to him. He reached for the remote and started the video. At first it didn’t show anything, then he saw Tricia enter the ladies room and Barbara followed her in. The video part of the tape ended there but the audio part continued. Harper figured there must have been some type of micro inside the ladies room for emergency purposes. Barbara spoke first. He recognized her voice.
“You’re not fooling anyone, but yourself.”
Tricia spoke next. “What are you talking about?”
The conversation continued.
“Why don’t you stop holding on to Damien and let me have him?”
“You’re crazy. Why would I do something like that?”
“Because you’re in love with his brother. I saw that kiss. You’re a tramp just like your mother. You can’t juggle two men at one time. And even your mother isn’t that much of a whore that she’d date two brothers.”
“Don’t talk about my mother. I’m not afraid of your black ass.” He heard a smack. Harper grimaced.
“You better not touch me again,” Tricia said.
“What are you doing?” That was definitely Barbara’s voice.
“You haven’t been away from America that long. I’m about to put a bitch in her pl
ace.”
“Shit!” Harper said when he heard a punch.
Kevin hadn’t moved. He just sat there listening and not speaking.
The fight continued for about five minutes in the ladies room and then it ended.
Harper rewound the tape. “I owe Tricia one hell of an apology. You knew this all along, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” Kevin said.
Harper stood and removed the tape from the machine. “How did you know Tricia was telling the truth?”
“Because Tricia has never lied to me before,” Kevin said. “I’ve known her most of my life. I had no reason to think that a person could change his or her personality just like that.”
Harper tried to hand Kevin the tape.
“No, you keep it. Lock it up somewhere.”
“You don’t want me to show this to Tricia, or Damien?”
“No,” Kevin answered.
“Why not?”
“Because Damien has to figure this out for himself. I don’t want him to say that it’s a fake.”
“But it’s in a box from the club. How can this be a fake?” Harper asked.
“It’s not, but Damien isn’t smart enough to read the package.”
Damien got the looks and Kevin got the smarts. Harper walked over to the safe, opened it and put the tape inside. “Now what’s in this for you?”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked.
“Baby boy, I’m not stupid. It took me a while to figure it out, but you’re in love with your brother’s fiancée.”
Kevin didn’t deny it. He just stood up and started heading for the door.
“I know better than anyone what it feels like to love someone who loves someone else.”
Kevin stopped in his tracks. “The difference between us, Father, is that I won’t sit around pining for Tricia for thirty years.”
“Oh, no? That’s just what you’ll do if she marries Damien.”
“Tricia called the engagement off,” Kevin said to Harper. “She told me so.”
“Then what are you doing here? Why aren’t you at the Yoshida residence trying to persuade her to date you?”
“That’s not my style,” Kevin said. “Even though Tricia told me that she broke the engagement, I know that she still has feelings for Damien. I’m not going to interfere. If she wants to be with me, she will come of her own free will.”
“Are you sure you’re my son?” Harper teased.
“Even you know the answer to that,” Kevin said. “You had a paternity test done as soon as I was born.”
That was true. He discovered that his wife had cheated on him shortly before she found out that she was pregnant with Kevin. “Don’t ever let a woman come between you and your brother,” Harper warned.
“Then the ball is in his court,” Kevin said. “Either he makes this right with Tricia or she will make the decision for him.” Kevin left.
Harper walked over to his bar and poured himself a drink. This is not going to turn out nice.
****
Tricia was just taking a break when her cell phone rang. She looked down at the display. Harper? What the fuck does he want? She stepped out of the back door of the restaurant onto the patio where she could talk privately. “Hello? Yes, this is Tricia. Oh, hello, Harper. Yes, I’m at work.” After the pleasantries ended he asked if they could meet so they could talk. “I have to work until five today,” she said. “Can you come to Ichiro’s restaurant? We can talk here.” And that would mean she wouldn’t have to try and find her way around Osaka to meet him since she didn’t have a car. He had promised her one for graduation. She guessed she could kiss that gift goodbye. “Don’t eat dinner. I’ll have Daichi prepare us something.”
Harper agreed to meet her at six. “Goodbye.” She hung up and put the phone away. I wonder what he wants. If something had happened to her mother he’d be in California by now even if he had to fly a plane there himself. That would just leave Damien. Tricia’s break ended and she went back inside to use the ladies room and begin her shift again.
The hours went by swiftly and soon it was six and she was seated in a private room waiting for Harper to arrive. Moments later, the door slid open and Hana appeared.
“Your guest has arrived,” her aunt told her.
“Thank you,” Tricia said. “Show him in.”
Hana left but returned shortly with Harper in tow. Tricia already had the table set for dinner. She rose and bowed to Harper.
Harper bowed back first and then gave Tricia a fatherly kiss on the forehead.
“Please be seated, Mr. Kehoe.”
Harper scowled at her. “You called me daddy up until your tenth birthday.”
She sat down and Harper sat across from her. True, she had always wanted Harper to be her father, but things turned out differently.
Hana knocked on the door, excused the interruption and began serving the food.
Tricia waited until everything had arrived and Hana had poured the tea before finding out why he was there.
“Thank you,” Harper said to Hana.
Hana closed the door again, leaving them alone.
“Why did you want to meet with me?” Tricia asked as she picked up her chopsticks and began eating.
“Do I need a special reason to come see my child?”
Tricia pouted. “No.” She and Harper had spent a lot of time together when she was growing up in New York. He’d bought her a bike for her fifth birthday and taught her how to ride.
“I’ve come to apologize,” Harper finally said. “I was wrong for not believing you about the fight with Barbara.”
“What changed your mind?” Tricia asked. “Did my mother stop speaking to you?”
Harper cleared his throat and moved around nervously. “Not exactly. I saw a tape from the club.”
“What tape?” Tricia asked. “Someone is taping women going to the toilet?”
“Not exactly,” Harper said. “They only tape the area outside the door. I saw both you and Barbara enter, but there was only audio after that. Can you forgive me?”
“I guess I can,” Tricia said. “So has Damien seen this tape?”
Harper shook his head. “No, and he’s not going to. He has to learn to trust you. Damn, girl, you pack quite a punch. I would have socked her too if she was talking like that about my mother and if she had pushed me.”
“I told you. I would never lie to you, Harper. I thought you knew me better than that.”
“That’s why I’m here to apologize.”
“Yes, but I’m not sorry for cussing at you and Amaya.”
“You wouldn’t be Shaundra’s daughter if you were. But I understand. You have your mother’s temper. Speaking of which, are you going to call her and tell her about the tape?”
“No,” Tricia said. “I am a grown woman and don’t have to call my mother every time something happens. Let her enjoy California. All this can wait until she returns.”
“I’ll have to find a way to make this up to her too,” Harper said. “But I can’t wait until she gets back here.”
“Don’t send her lingerie,” Tricia said.
Harper looked surprised. “Oh, you know about that?”
Tricia nodded. “Kevin does too.”
“Speaking of my youngest son, have you seen him lately?”
“Yesterday.”
“Did he seem strange to you?”
“Stranger than normal?” Tricia teased.
“Yes, he and Damien got into an argument at my place last week.”
Kevin hadn’t mentioned that to her. “What did they argue about?”
“You,” Harper answered. “And Barbara.”
“Kevin is on my side,” Tricia announced.
“I know,” Harper said. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but are you sleeping with Kevin?”
“No,” Tricia said.
“Does he even like girls?”
Tricia chuckled wickedly. “Yes.”
“Damien seems to
think otherwise.”
“Damien is an ass,” Tricia said. “Just because Kevin doesn’t have girls going in and out of his place doesn’t mean he’s gay. But no, he and I definitely have not done the mattress mambo. He is cute though and he has gotten an erection or two in my presence.”
Harper nearly choked on his food. He reached for his water and took a big sip. “You are definitely your mother’s child.” He sighed “I knew Damien was wrong, but even if he was I’d love Kevin unconditionally.”
“And he’s hawt,” Tricia added.
“You think so?” Harper asked.
Tricia nodded. “He has that geek thing going for him. I see a lot of you in him even though he has dark hair and eyes. You don’t have to worry about Kevin. He has a great job, he’s responsible and I’m sure there are lots of grandchildren in your future.”
Harper scowled again. “I’m too young to be a grandfather.”
Tricia chuckled. Harper was still as vain as ever.
They went back to eating.
“This food is good,” Harper said. “I’m going to have to try coming here more often.” He paused. “What about Damien?”
“He’s definitely not gay either,” Tricia said.
“No, I mean, how are things between the two of you?”
“Not so good,” Tricia answered. “I broke our engagement.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” Harper said. “Your mother will probably blame this on me too.”
“It’s not your fault,” Tricia said. “I saw Damien with Barbara on Friday. They were in a restaurant near the mall where I’d been shopping. I just stopped in to get lunch when I saw them together.”
Harper shook his head. “He might look like me, but he doesn’t act like me. I hope you didn’t make a scene.”
“Nope, I just left before they saw me.”
“I do appreciate that,” Harper said. “It pained me to see you guys behind bars.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. I will never go to jail again over some trifling woman. I know now the best thing to do is just walk away. Barbara isn’t worth it.” She paused. “Are you sure you’re not going to show Damien that tape?”