Sipping on my sweet floral tea, I walk down the busy street to the Takahashi headquarters. The building is a bit of a distance from the café I decided to get breakfast at, but I didn't realize that since its height makes it in looking distance.
Thankfully, I'm about 10 minutes ahead of schedule, so I take a small break, sitting on a bench at the side of the road and finishing my drink.
The sights were ethereal. The harsh city lights and metal buildings were perfectly mixed with the soft cherry blossom trees and flowers on the sidewalk.
I see a couple walking hand in hand, sharing a packet of cookies and staring lovingly at each other. I can't help but smile at how happy they looked, completely consumed in each other.
A pang of sadness hits me when I realia that sort of love wasn't available for me.
Despite how compatible me and Alexander are, our love languages are completely different, and I never receive affection the way I want.
We have a different kind of love. A safe love.
A boring love, my conscience screams.
Sighing, I finish my drink and throw the cup into the nearby trash can. Having caught my breath and given my legs a break, I continue walking the last few minutes to the Takahashi building.
Immediately I'm called in and welcomed "Good afternoon, Mr Takahashi." I shake his hand.
"Please call me Hiroto," he says, dropping the formalities.
We make some small talk, mostly about my flight and such. before getting onto business. Eva Enterprises had little to no presence in Japan and Hiroto wanted to be the one to introduce it here.
"Listen, Miss Davis," he cuts straight to the point, "I don't want to make any unnecessarily complicated contracts or sneaky plans with you."
"I appreciate that."
"Here's what I wantâI'll take care of all the marketing and exposure of Eva Enterprises in Japan, essentially do all your work for you but I want a bigger than normal cut of the profit I'm thinking 40%?"
I was a little surprised and very impressed with the way he said everything so clearly
and perfectly. His deal was a good idea and certainly better than what I was thinking
of.
I originally decided on offering 40%, but now that he mentioned it, I have a little room
for negotiation.
"35% and I'll sign the contract right now," I offer.
"39%," he counter offers.
"36%," I reply. "Come on. You can't reject for a 3% difference."
"That 3% translates to billions of dollars when it comes to working with you," he entertains my ego.
"Aww, just for that I'll go to 37." I smirk.
"Alright. You have a deal." He types '37%' into a blank space on the contract on his laptop and hits print, pulling out 2 copies from the printer under his desk.
We both sign our names on both contracts, having a copy each.
I say goodbye and leave his office, getting a cab back to my hotel. I pull my phone out of my purse and call my pilot.
"What's the earliest I can get a flight back to New York? I know I said I'd leave in 4 days, but I'd rather be back now."
"No issues Miss Davis, I can have the plane ready and felled up in 2 hours can you come along at 12?" he asks.
"Okay perfect and don't tell Magi," I say, referring to my flight attendant. "She's with her family. I'll book her a flight back in a couple of days."
"Understood," he says and ends the call.
Usually, Tokyo is one of my favorites places to be, but I've always come with either Alexander or friends, and being here alone isn't fun.
I spend an hour getting my stuff ready and eating some snacks from the mini fridge before calling my cab to take me to the airport.
Spending most of the flight playing mindless games on my phone or reading a book, I try to sleep, but I had only woken up a couple of hours ago, so it's futile.
The plane lands smoothly and I get out the car, my suitcase in my hand. I walk down the stairs of the plane to see Alexander waiting for me at the end of the steps.
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"Alexander?" I say, more confused than excited.
"How was your flight?" he asks sweetly, gesturing for his driver to take my bag.
"It was good. What are you doing here?" I ask.
"I was going to come visit you in Tokyo, but your pilot said the jet was being used and that you're coming back this afternoon," he explains. "So I thought I'd come to pick you up."
"Thank you. That's nice of you." I put my arms around him and pull him into a hug, pecking his cheek.
It was awkward and I never expected him to do this but at the same time if felt good.
Just a few hours ago I was complaining about him not showing affection then he came to see me, putting a little faith in me.
We both sit down in his car. "I heard that you saw Mr King in Tokyo?" he asks.
"Yeah, how did you know?" I ask.
"He bumped into me as I was leaving my office on his way home from the airport."
"Oh, right. Is that when you called me?" I ask, remembering our phone call. He nods. "Did you speak to him much?" he asks.
"No. He left the day after I arrived, and I didn't speak to him much at all."
A sigh of relief escapes Alexander, as if a burden is removed from him. I raise my
eyebrow at his actions but don't question it.
We end up in my houses and Alexander sits on the couch, offering to order some food
for us. I say 'OK and head to the bathroom to get fresh.
I wash my face and get changed into some leggings and a baggy top.
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"The food's going to be about half an hour or so," Alexander informs me.
"I'm going to go for a quick run," I say as I tie the laces of my sneakers. "Sitting in a plane for 14 hours has my legs feeling weird."
He nods and turns the TV on as I open the door.
I soon regret not wearing a hoodie or something as it's so cold outside, but that only makes me run harder to warm up.
I want to just let every thought leave my mind and be in the moment, but I really can't. The way Alexander was acting was freaking me out, he didn't have the time of day to get dinner with me let alone drop his schedule to pick me up from the airport.
I finish my run and make it back home in 25 minutes bumping into the delivery guy on the way. I take the food off of him and take it inside.
"Did you take the day off or something?" I ask Alexander as we open the boxes of rice, chicken, and vegetables.
"I just wanted to see you." He smiles.
"That's unusual of you," I comment.
"We're going to get married. I'm allowed to miss you," he says defensively.
"You're right. I'm sorry. I just didn't expect any of this," I calm him down.
I knew this was normal, this is what engaged couples do but something sat uneasy
with me.
Perhaps the fact that Alexander's office is on the other side of the city from the airport,
and there's no way he would've bumped into Xavier.
Did Xavier go to see him?