When I went back from TK I made myself a huge mug of strong coffee and started to memorize as many people and their data as possible. Obviously, I knew this wouldn't be ease. I had to come up with a system that would help me remember. After some thinking I figured that I should use one thing that I was certain of, and that was writer's creativity. I decided to stick to associations, so I could match some facts about those people… in the stupider way the better.
“Ginger-hair Elliot Walton, purchasing department… He reminds me of a squirrel gathering nuts… I would call him Mr. Squirrel. Then we have… Harvey Brown, Nolan Fortin's deputy, sniper… He looks unpleasant… sneaky… a sneaky-sniper… I will call him Mr. Sneaky-Lizard!” I used my imagination to the fullest.
Soon I created my very own imaginary zoo… I had pointy, short haired engineer - Ms. Hedgehog, 6.6 feet tall Mr. Giraffe from IT, and a bi
I had never thought that Melisa's lesson would include… shopping. It was tiring, but it was fun. I felt kind of awkward about using the company's money to buy me clothes, but Melisa explained that she would use it as the expenses from her department's budget… whatever it meant. I still felt like I was spending my boyfriend's money, but the anger inside me made state that even if he was against it, he deserved it as a punishment for not letting me know he was leaving!The clothes Melisa chose for me were… surprisingly innocent. They were extremely classy, expensive but innocent. I felt comfortable in that girly style, without deep necklines, nor short miniskirts, yet it didn't exactly matched my idea of a villainess, or was my imagination too shallow?Our next stop turned out to be more exhausting… We went to Melisa's ballet studio, so I could practice my posture and walk. It was dreadful! It was much worse than my first training with Jay! I
The more Melisa taught me the more I felt how pathetic I was before. I realized how many times I was being manipulated by others. They all implanted so many anxieties in me that I was happy with the minimum of interest and comfort they gave me later. Sending mixed signals, the game of push and pull… I knew how that works, because I was a constant victim of those tricks!The things that Hiro did with me were no different… my only hope was that he didn't do all of them on purpose, and that maybe some part of his words weren't fake. Now, I wasn't sure of anything, but it all had one good point – My affection for Hiro was not blind anymore…“Remember, Ana that we all manipulate others… Children use their cry to get a candy. Low level employees praise their bosses to get the higher position. The more you know about the mechanism of manipulation the easier is defend yourself against it,” Melisa declared.She was right&hell
I didn't know how long we kissed, but my coffee was cold when we finished, I decided to make a new one, and another one for Hiro. In the meantime, he sat on the sofa and kept grinning at me, resembling a good and loving boyfriend, like the time when he was gone and left without saying a word had never happened.“I was mad at you… No, I'm still mad at you for your silence… again. I'm mad at you for not telling me what exactly was your plan about…” I summoned up my courage to say at least that.“It was urgent… it really was. Besides, I only told Melisa, and I knew she would tell you right away,” he explained.“Still… a whole week without a word. I know you are busy… but…”“Did you miss me?” he interrupted me, “I missed you like crazy. I wanted to be with you as soon as I could…” he sounded his words in a deep, alluring tone.I gave up o
Marcus suddenly got up and smirked at me in strangely disturbing way. I froze, but quickly noticed that fortunately, he didn't come near me. He decided to come to Hiro instead, and then took him away to talk. As soon as Hiro walked out the room few people came to “welcome me” in TK.“Nice to meet you, Miss Anastasia,” some brown-haired woman pulled out her hand to greet me carrying a disgustingly fake smile.I remembered that her name was Natasha Elber, a level 3 deputy manager from a purchasing department. I also remembered she was coming from a wealthy family. She got the position mainly because her father was one of the early company's investors… that would explain her arrogance.“Nice to meet you, Miss…?” I pretended that I didn't know her name.“Natasha,” she replied, suggesting to call her by name.I guessed that she decided to act “friendly” towards me, but her i
Hiro stared at Marcus. On the surface he seemed to be composed, but I noticed that something in his eyes became darker. He walked to me, and took my hand, the one Marcus grabbed earlier. He held it and examined my wrist, then he looked at Marcus.“If you touch her hand again, I will break your arm,” he stated without changing the composed tone of his voice.Marcus stared back at him curiously and smirked a little hesitantly. It looked like he was quite surprised with Hiro's reaction. Hiro glared at him more intensively.“If you touch any other part of her body, I will break your neck… friend,” he sneered with the most terrifying expression I had seen on his face.Any traces of a smile disappeared from Marcus's face, he sat silently gazing at Hiro in cold disbelieve. Hiro kept his glare at him for couple more seconds, then he gently grabbed my hand pulling me up from my seat.“Let's go,” he commanded, leadi
When I woke up the next day there was still no reply from Hiro. I was a little worried, but decided to believe he was too tired after getting back from the office to even write me a message.I had to get up early to prepare for “work”. I got to admit it I had never thought that there would be any kind of office work that I would enjoy. Yet, I found my new position challenging and exciting. It was almost like I had become a main character from the novel, a strong heroin type… except for that it was my life… and I wasn't a strong type. Nevertheless, I was full of positive energy, I felt confident, and I was ready for my day 2.I walked out my apartment and decided to knock on Hiro's door… No one answered.“Did he leave already… without me?” I thought and felt an already known sting in my heart once again.I came downstairs and there was a driver waiting for me. I guessed that he truly didn't wait for me an
An aggressive looking blond woman barged into my office and sat comfortably on the sofa without waiting for my invitation or greeting me. I clenched my teeth expecting to hear some spiteful remark in 3, 2, 1…“Oh my God! You're not even pretty,” she sneered, “When I heard the news that some wench got an office just because she slept with the CEO, I thought she'll be a drop dead beauty…” she looked me up and down, chuckling.I heard some faint noises coming from outside. I guessed there were already some people peeking and listening through the crack in my office door. Then I gazed at the blond, she was glaring at and smirking while presenting her long, crossed legs and deep neckline… with tiny breasts supported by a push-up bra.“Excuse me, but… who are you to come here?” I asked, composed.“Sonia Dolan, manager Sonia Dolan,” she smirked.I remembered right away. She was le
I went to get some drinks from a vending machine just outside the building. I did mainly to kill some time since I was willing to give them those fifteen minutes Hiro mention. However, it didn't mean that I wasn't worrying like crazy about what was going on inside.“Should I call for an ambulance or something? God only knows, how are those two dealing with their conflicts! They are not going to kill each other, are they?” my thoughts were absolutely restless.I counted the time, after ten minutes I was already on the edge of a heart attack. I was so nervous I couldn't even think straight anymore. If I could just hear what was going on, maybe I wouldn't have been going out of my mind, but obviously, all the doors in here were soundproof.Fifteen minutes past, I stood beside the door and slowly placed my hand on the scanner, then I opened it but only to leave a crack, so I could at least listen what was going on. I truly prayed to hear both of them spe
I dreamt about attending someone's funeral. There were a lot of people without faces, they were all wearing black, mourning clothes, silently waiting for the burial. I passed them by and walked to the coffin. I was terrified, but something was pushing me forward, an unknown force told me to open the coffin lid. I gazed inside and burst into tears. I saw Hiro lying inside it. My chest was torn by agonizing pain, I couldn't breathe. My mind kept telling me it wasn't true, so I clenched my teeth and looked inside the coffin once more and I saw… myself. There was my body, lying, without the last ounce of life left. It was an empty shell. I flinched, but strangely the view didn't surprise me too much. Perhaps, I was aware that after you get shot, you die… I used to think that stories where one lover sacrifices himself for the sake of another are nothing more than a romantic fantasy. After some thinking, I always laughed at myself for writing such cliché ending in
Tsuchida Kosuke never made it to Police station. He used his connections to run away from police van, he must have planned it, just in case, before the meeting. He was now being chased across Japan, and the arrest warrant was sent all over the world. However, since he went into hiding, not even people from TK were able to find him… so far.There were no traces of Kaisei either. People from TK found out that he sold his all of the companies he owned a week before the board of directors meeting. It looked like he was preparing to leave. Perhaps, both Kosuke and him arranged that disappearance beforehand. That only made me more worried.It had been 3 months since Kosuke disappeared. I was restless. I could feel safe only when I was with Hiro, when I could hold his hand, or sleep in his arms. Whenever he wasn't around I constantly looked over my shoulder, even though Hiro set few of his best bodyguards to protect me.Hiro constantly traveled around to keep th
The election supposed to be made by a secret ballot. Every member of the board was given a specially prepared card to write the name of the candidate they vote for. Then the cards were collected and passed to Okada, so that he could read them loud. He stepped on the platform with his hands shaking, I bet it was a long time since he was that uncertain of his own position. He unfolded the first vote…“A vote for the current Chairman, Tsuchida Kosuke… Second vote for… Mr. Chairman… the third vote for, Mr. Tsuchida Kosuke as well…” he announced slightly relieved.I glanced at Hiro, he clenched his fist, but his facial expression remained unchanged. On the other hand, I was already breathing heavily and kept digging my nails into poor Melisa's hand. I guess, I was panicking for the both of us.“The forth vote is for… Tsuchida Hiro…” Okada squeezed out reluctantly, then unfolded another vote, &ld
Melisa led me to some conference room with a big screen and a remote control lying on the table. We were alone there, it looked like we were the only bystanders who were about to observe the board of directors meeting...I thought that Kaisei would be here as well, but he wasn't. It was relieving, I still wasn't certain how to react at his presence knowing he was the murderer's loyal dog.Melisa turned the screen on and soon we were able to see all nine people sitting at the conference table along with Okada, acting as a meeting clerk, standing beside the current Chairman. Hiro was sitting on the right side from Kosuke, he looked composed, but I could bet he was boiling inside being this close to his nemesis…“Are you nervous?” Melisa asked me suddenly.“Yes… a lot… but I have faith in Hiro,” I smiled.Okada walked on the platform and started the meeting, greeting everyone.“Let me present t
We had no time for our honeymoon, nor genuinely acting like newlyweds supposed to, but it was all right. I decided to help Hiro in any way I could for his plans to work out at last. His uncle had hard time acknowledging him in public, but he had no other choice since Hiro made sure that fact was widely spread by the media.Hiro and Melisa created a story where a young Tsuchida heir visited his father's friend when the rest of his family died in a tragic accident. The boy then suffered from a trauma for a long time and only now he decided to reveal his real identity… The press bought it. None of those articles mentioned Tsuchida Kosuke's involvement. There were no evidence that he had something to do with his brother family's death. Hiro realized long ago that the main culprit would never stand trial for this murder. His plan was to take everything his uncle took from him, and bring him to jail for something else…Tsuchida Ichiro, Hiro's father originally
Hiro smiled warmly and grabbed my hand.“Let's get married, Ana… now,” he gazed deeply into my eyes.My mind went blank for few seconds, after that my heart started to pound feverishly, a wave of heat filled my body along with some tingling sensation.“You don't want to?” he asked, hesitantly.I glanced at him in silence, and smiled. Then looked at his hand, gently holding and caressing mine, and understood that this sensation I felt in my entire body was pure happiness…“Do… do you… have a pen?” I muttered with my eyes filled with tears.“Are you crying?” he asked, confused.“Yes,” I laughed shedding tears at the same time, “Give me a pen… I will sign it.”Suddenly, he got up and jumped on my side through the table to hug me.“I'm sorry… The ring, the ceremony… I will give it all to you later, w
I stared at Hiro completely confused.“How can we go on date just like that…? Aren't you… hiding?” I asked.“The documents proving my identity officially came today. That's what this phone call was about… I can tell Wang Hiro goodbye,” he smirked.“That is great news… but what about your uncle? You are a big threat to him…” I tried understanding the whole situation.“I am, but he cannot do much about it now. He must have found out already that he won't find the thing he wanted in the vault, and that means he must have figured out that I have all the evidence against him,” Hiro snickered.“What are those evidence? What could they prove?”“There were video footage of my uncle bribing a government official, and a list of sums of money with names. There were all the people bribed by Okada and my uncle over the years. All the evidence were collect
I couldn't sleep. Hiro held me tight in his arms making me put my head on his chest. Unlike me, he was sleeping peacefully. I kept listening to the sound of Hiro's heart, it beat slowly and strong. It helped me calm down, but I was still far from away from falling asleep. I had this strange feeling that if I closed my eyes now, he would disappear…His sleeping face seemed amazingly kind and innocent. I suddenly thought how different he might have been if it weren't for his uncle and the death of his entire family. Perhaps, he would fall in love with some beautiful female college student, or a daughter of some other CEO, and he would have a happy life… and we would have never met. But could we truly be together… after all that had happened between us? If he meant what he said before, it would be possible… but I didn't want to go back to how the things were. I wanted something more. I wanted a declaration.I tried closing my eyes, but somehow
Hiro took me to his apartment in Tokyo's residential district. My mind was blank the entire time we were driving there. He probably asked me how I feel once, I couldn't remember if I replied or not. When we entered, he showed me a bedroom and informed me that I should sleep there, and he would sleep on the sofa in the salon. After that he went to the bathroom to take a shower leaving me alone…I looked around. It felt like déjà vu. I couldn't stand him treating me like this coldly, indifferently. I wanted to run away from this place, from Hiro, from everything. It was unfair… I literally gave up on my life, I risked everything because I was unable to betray him, but ironically none of my words were believable enough for him. I couldn't explain my behavior even in front of myself, it was irrational. I guessed, I didn't kill all the love for him inside me yet, but seeing how I was unworthy of his trust could help finally end this process.I sa