Tomorrow
Episode 1: The Only Way
By: Ava Joyce
Disclaimer: A If Tomorrow Comes fanfic set in an alternate universe, all characters belong to their proper owner.
Okay, I'm going to warn everyone about this little story. First of all, I didn't get it beta-read. So, no complaining. Second, the Gundam Wing will not be showing up until probably the Fourth Chapter. Sowie! Third, I love reviews. *hint hint*
Changing into a bright red dress, so that the blood would not show. She sat calmly on her bed. The room was neat and tidy. Whitney Thompson opened the drawer of the night stand, and carefully took out the gun. Cradling it on her lap for a second, she caressed the cold metal. Taking a deep breath, she convinced herself that this was the only way. Picking up the gun, she raised it to her temple and squeezed the trigger.
Serena Thompson stepped out of the lobby of her apartment building, into a nasty rainstorm. Walking in a brisk pace, she quickly made her way toward the bank. Serena was in her mid-twenties, with a intelligent face, pouty lips , sparkling eyes, and a trim figure. Dressed in a black trench coat, red high-heels, and a black umbrella she looked like a woman who had it all in the world. But then again she did.
Approaching the bank, she quickly glanced at her watch. Eight-thirty. Perfect! Serena thought. Entering the bright lobby with her fellow workers, Serena took off her trench coat, and smiled lightly.
"What's got you so happy, Serena?" A teller teased.
Shaking her head, she glanced down at her desk, making sure everything was the way it was when she left.
"Ha, don't tell me you don't know David." A cashier chuckled, leaning against the wall. "Our little Serena is going out with Darien Shields."
"Darien Shields?!" A woman broker shrieked with curiosity. "Oh my, I heard he was a god in bed."
Serena blushed furiously due to the remark.
Serena had met Darien Shields, at a meeting, where he was the guest speaker. Serena had gone up to disagree with Darien's analysis. At first Darien was amused, but then intrigued by the knowledge the woman had bestowed before the public. Their debate had continued through dinner.
In the beginning, Serena was not interested with Darien, even though she was aware that he was considered Tokyo's prize catch. Darien was thirty-three and a rich and successful member of one of the oldest family in Tokyo. Five feet eleven inches, with dark unruly hair, blue eyes, and a seductive manner, he was, Serena thought, a leech.
As though reading her mind, Darien leaned across the table and said, "I'm sorry if I'm coming on a little strong. I don't usually do this."
"What?"
"Most of the time I'm very shy with woman." Smiling a sad smile, that made Serena's heart do flip-flops.
There was an aura of warmth and charm around him that made Serena almost immediately warm up to him. It'd be nice to marry someone like him. But it's not like he'll ever want to see me again.
Darien was saying, "I hope you're free for dinner tomorrow...?"
Tokyo was a dazzling city, with endless things to do and see. On Saturday nights Serena and Darien would either go to a play or watch a concert. During the week they would explore the city and eat at exclusive restaurants in Tokyo.
Everything was perfect until the pregnancy came. It was unexpected and when it happened, Serena was filled with uncertainty. Darien had brought up the subject of marriage, but she did not want him to feel that he had to marry her because she was pregnant.
Serena finally decided to break the news to Darien over dinner. She had prepared a steak for him in her apartment, and in her nervousness she had burned it. As she set the scorched meat in front of him, she forgot her carefully rehearsed speech and wildly blurted out, "I'm pregnant Darien."
There was a long pause of unbearable silence, and just before Serena broke out in tears, Darien said, "We'll get married."
It felt like a giant rock had been lifted from her shoulders. "You don't have to. I mean, I've thought it through. And well."
Darien raised his hand to stop her. "I want to marry you Serena. You'll be a wonderful mother and wife." Darien smiled and kissed her lightly.
Serena jerked upright in her bed, groggy with sleep, sniffing for smoke in the darkened room. The ringing continued, and she slowly became aware that it was the telephone. The beside clock read 2:30 A.M. Her first panic thought was that something had happened to Darien. She snatched the phone. "Hello?"
A distant male voice asked, "Serena Thompson?"
She hesitated. "Who is this?"
"This is Lieutenant Kato of the Osaka Police Department. Is this Serena Thompson?"
"Yes." Her heart began to pound.
"I'm afraid I have some very bad news for you."
Her hand clenched around the phone.
"It's about your mother." The Lieutenant paused briefly, before continuing. "She's dead, Miss. Thompson."
"No!" It was a scream. "She can't be."
"I'm sorry for your loss Miss. Thompson," The Lieutenant said.
"I'll- I'll be on the first plane."
Standing in the crowded Osaka airport waiting for her suitcase, surrounded by pushing, impatient travelers, Serena felt suffocated. She tried to move close to the baggage carousel, but no one would let her through.
When Serena finally retrieved her suitcase, she got into a taxi and repeated the address the Lieutenant had given her: "Seven fifteen South Street, please."
The driver grinned at her in the rearview mirror. "Come here for the big show, miss?"
She had no idea what he was talking about, but she thought. No. I came here for death. She was aware of the drone of the driver's voice, but she did not hear the words. She sat stiffly in her seat, oblivious to the familiar surroundings that sped past. It was only as they approached the Police Headquarters that Serena became conscious of the growing noise.
Lieutenant Kato was a middle-aged, harassed-looking man with a weather-eaten face, who seemed genuinely un comfortable in his role. "Sorry I couldn't meet you at the airport," he told Serena.
"Please, Lieutenant, tell me what- what happened to my mother."
"She committed suicide."
A cold chill went through her. "That's- that's impossible! Why would she kill herself? She had everything to live for." Her voice was ragged.
"She left a note addressed to you."
The morgue was cold and terrifying. Serena was led down a long white corridor into a large, sterile, empty room, and suddenly she realized the room was not empty. It was filled with the dead. Her dead.
A white-coated attendant strolled over to a wall, reached for a handle, and pulled out an oversized drawer. "Do you want to take a look?"
Nodding slowly, Serena moved forward slowly. Each step a scream inside her. Then she was staring down at the lifeless remains of the body that had borne her, nourished her, laughed with her, loved her. She bent over and kissed her mother on the cheek. The cheek was cold and rubbery. "Oh, Mother," Serena whispered. "Why? Why did you do it?"
"Miss. Thompson, the note." The attendant said, handing over a small piece of parchment.
My darling Bunny,
Please forgive me. I failed, and I couldn't stand being a burden on you. This is the best way. I love you so much.
Mother.
The note was as lifeless and devoid of meaning as the body that lay in the drawer.
That afternoon Serena made the funeral arrangements, then took a taxi to the family home. The Thompson residence was a Victorian house that took residential section known as Uptown.
Serena had grown up in that house, and it was filled with warm, and loving memories. She had not been home in the past year, and as her taxi slowed to a stop in front of the house, she was shocked to see a large sign on the lawn: FOR SALE OSAKA REALTY COMPANY. It was impossible.
Filled with a strange, unreasoning fear, Serena moved past the Cheery Blossom tree toward the front door. She had been given her own key to the house when she was in the seventh grade and had carried it with her since, as a talisman, a reminder of the haven't hat would always be there waiting for her.
She opened the door and stepped inside. She stood there, stunned. The rooms were completely empty, stripped of the furniture. The house was like a barren shell deserted by the people who had once occupied it. Serena ran from room to room, her disbelief growing. It was as though some sudden disaster had struck. She hurried upstairs and stood in the doorway of the bedroom she had occupied most of her life. It stared back at her, cold and empty. Oh, God, what could have happened? Serena heard the sound of the front doorbell and walked as if in a trance down the stairs to answer it.
Andrew Furuhata stood in the doorway. The foreman of the Thompson Automotive Parts Company was an young man with a handsome face and a trim body, with a mob of blonde hair.
"Serena," he said in a heavy Japanese accent, "I just heard the news. I- I can't tell you how sorry I am."
Serena clasped his hands. "Oh, Andrew. I'm so glad to see you. Come in." She led him into the empty living room. "I'm sorry there's no place to sit down," she apologized. "Do you mind sitting on the floor?"
"No, no."
They sat down across from each other, their eyes dumb with misery. Andrew Furuhata had been an employee of the company for as long as Serena could remember. She knew how much father had depended on him. When her mother had inherited the business, Furuhata had stayed on to run it for her.
"Andrew, I don't understand what's happening. The police say Mother committed suicide, but you know there was no reason for her to kill herself." A sudden thought stabbed her. "She wasn't ill, was she? She didn't have some terrible-"
"No. It wasn't that. Not that." He looked away, uncomfortable, something unspoken in his words.
Serena said slowly, "You know what it was."
He peered at her through crystal blue eyes. "Your mother didn't tell you what's been happening lately. She didn't want to worry you."
Serena frowned. "Worry me about what?"
His work-worn hands opened and closed. "Have you heard of a man called Jadeite Onosaka?"
"Jadeite Onosaka? No. Why?"
Andrew Furuhata blinked. "Six months ago Onosaka got in touch with your mother and said he wanted to buy the company. She told him she wasn't interested in selling, but he offered her ten times what the company was worth, and she couldn't refuse. She was so excited. She was going to invest all the money in bonds that would bring in an income that both of you could live on comfortably for the rest of your lives. She was going to surprise you. I was so glad for her. I've been ready to retire for the last three years, Serena, but I couldn't leave Mrs. Thompson could I? This Onosaka-" Andrew almost spat out the word. "This Onosaka gave her a small down payment. The big money- the balloon payment- was to have come last month."
Serena said impatiently, "Go on, Andrew. What happened?"
"When Onosaka took over, he fired everybody and brought in his own people to run things. Then he began to raid the company. He sold all the assets and ordered a lot of equipment, selling it off but not paying for it. the suppliers weren't worried about the delay in payment because they thought they were still dealing with your mother. When they finally began pressing your mother for their money, she went to Onosaka and demanded to know what was going on. He told her he had decided not to go ahead with the deal and was returning the company to her. By then, the company was not only worthless but your mother owned half a million dollars she couldn't pay. Serena, it nearly killed me to watch how your mother fought to save that company. There was no way. They forced into bankruptcy. They took everything- the business, this house, even her car."
"Oh, my God!"
"There's more. The district attorney served your mother notice that he was going to ask for an indictment against her for fraud, that she was facing a prison sentence. That was the day she really died, I think."
Serena was seething with a wave of anger. "But all she had to do was tell them the truth- explain what that man did to her."
The foreman shook his head. "Jadeite Onosaka works for a woman named Beryl Han. Han runs Osaka. I found out too late that Onosaka's done this before with other companies. Even if your mother had taken to court, it would have been years before it was all untangled, and she didn't have the money to fight him."
"Why didn't she tell me?" It was a cry of anguish.
"Your mother was a proud woman. And what could you have done. There's nothing anyone can do."
Your wrong, Serena thought fiercely. "want to see Jadeite Onosaka. Where can I find him?"
Furuhata said flatly, "Forget about him. You have no idea how powerful he is."
"Where does he live, Andrew?"
"He has an estate in Northern Osaka, but it won't help to go there, Serena, believe me."
Serena did not answer. She was filled with an emotion totally unfamiliar to her; hatred.
Jadeite Onosaka is going to pay for killing my mother, Serena swore to herself.
Author: And that ladies and gentlemen is the first chapter to our new series, Tomorrow. I hope you enjoyed reading it. And please, I'd love to hear all comments and criticisms.