Welcome to one of the darkest stories I've ever written. What you are about to read contains strong language, frightening moments, violence, and sexual acts, both consensual and forced, so if you are underage or don't want to read that kind of thing, turn away now!
"..." - talking
'...' - thinking
"Italics" - speaking in native language
Italics - flashbacks
Summary: Rei receives a job promotion which requires her to move to New York City. Six years later, she has a young daughter and life is good, but their happiness is shattered when Rei's co-worker begins to show an unhealthy interest in her.
An American Nightmare
Chapter 1
A taxi pulled up along the curb outside a New York City apartment building on 5th Avenue, in Manhattan's Upper East Side. A young raven haired woman climbed out of the back seat, paid the driver and walked through the large double doors of the building. She went to the front desk and was greeted by a woman with long reddish brown hair and green eyes. She studied the name tag on the woman's uniform, which read 'Alexandra.'
"Hello. How may I help you today?" Alexandra said, politely.
"My name is Rei Hino. I'm your new tenant. I've just arrived here from Tokyo." She introduced, her heavy Japanese accent coloring every word.
Alexandra smiled back as she looked up Rei's information in the computer system, and walked out from behind the counter. "Sure, let me show you to your apartment." She led Rei to the elevators and they rode one of them up to the tenth floor and walked along a brightly lit hallway until they reached their destination. "Here we are. I hope you enjoy your stay."
"Thank you very much."
"You're welcome, Ms. Hino. If you need anything, just pick up the phone and call the front desk."
"Great, I will do that. I appreciate the help."
Alexandra unlocked the apartment and handed Rei the keys. Rei walked through the place to take a look around. Her violet eyes brightened at what she saw. It was more extravagant than she had been expecting, more like a palace. For lack of a better word, she was mesmerized. The living room had a faûx finish on the walls, the glaze work giving the appearance that they were made of real white marble. On the over-sized windows, which had a spectacular view of the city were royal blue satin drapes and matching valances, and it had hardwood flooring.
The three bedrooms were decorated much the same way, except for the colors of the drapes. Rei was especially fond of the red ones in the master bedroom, as they matched the bedding and she liked that they gave off a romantic vibe. The other two bedrooms had silver and black ones, respectively. The master bedroom also had its own private balcony.
In the master bathroom, the floors were made of tile, and the walls were painted with water-resistant lavender colored paint. Though she didn't like the paint color and made a mental note to repaint it later, she was impressed by the hot tub, which had a shower attachment and the spacious double sink with a large mirror behind it so she could do her make-up. The second bathroom was smaller and less elaborate, with only a single sink and normal bathtub with a shower and was painted pale blue. Both bathrooms had water efficient toilets.
The open kitchen and dining room area had stainless steel appliances with an electric stove top and large oven, and a white tiled back splash. Above the long, rectangular wooden table was a crystal chandelier.
'Wow! The rent for this place must be steep. How am I supposed to pay for this?' She previously worked as an intern for one of the largest architectural firms in Japan and at only twenty-three years old, the CEO recognized her talents and promoted her to design architect, offering her a chance to lead a team of designers at their office in America. She had been shocked that he had chosen her, despite only graduating from University a year and a half ago and just a few months ago, passing the qualification exam. But she felt proud of herself and with the encouragement of her grandfather, her fellow senshi, and Yūichirou, she accepted the position. Even with the dramatic increase in her salary, she was unsure if she'd be able to afford the rent and taxes in this neighborhood.
She finished exploring the apartment and yawned as she laid down on the sofa, propping up her feet. It was after two in the afternoon by now and she was exhausted from the long flight from her native country, so she decided it was time to take a nap before dinner.
Three hours later, the sound of someone knocking on the door roused her from her sleep. Though she was still tired, she composed herself and got up to answer it and was surprised to see a woman in her thirties with chin length blond hair and brown eyes, accompanied by two young boys, who appeared to be between four and eight, standing there.
"Hello." She greeted.
"Hi, you must be new here." The woman said.
"Ah, yes I am."
"I'm Grace Weston and these are my sons, Tyler and Brandon. We live a few doors down the hall and we thought we should stop by."
"It's nice to meet you. I'm Rei Hino, but you can call me Rei."
"It's nice to meet you too, Rei." Grace reached into her purse and withdrew a notepad and pen, hastily scrawling her address and phone number on the top sheet of paper and handed it to Rei. "Here, you can call or come over at any time."
Rei graciously accepted the paper and smiled. "Thank you."
"You're welcome. Oh, I am planning to take the boys to the Central Park Zoo tomorrow and I was wondering if you'd like to join us and we could show you around the city." Rei put a hand up to her chin and considered the offer carefully.
"Sure, I'd like to. Thanks for the invitation."
"My pleasure. How does eleven sound?"
"It's perfect!"
"Great, we'll meet you in the lobby."
"Okay. I'll see you then." Grace and her sons waved goodbye as they left, and Rei, stomach rumbling from hunger from not eating anything since the sandwich and can of soda they served for lunch on the plane, pondered over what to have for dinner. She was a horrible cook, so she thought it was best to go out tonight instead. She didn't know her way around and not wanting to get lost in such a large city trying to find a restaurant herself, she chose to call the front desk.
At Alexandra's suggestion, she hailed a taxi and went to Da Nico Restaurant, an Italian restaurant on Mulberry Street. The place had a beautiful indoor dining room and was known for having the best coal brick oven pizza. It was frequented by many famous people, such as the NY Yankees and former Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
The waiter, a middle-aged man with salt and pepper hair and blue eyes placed a menu in front of her and said, "Welcome to Da Nico Ristorante. My name is Jack and I will be your server this evening. May I start you off with something to drink?"
Rei studied the items on the menu. She was thankful that the firm she worked for required her to learn more English than what she had been taught in middle and high school, and that Minako had helped her brush up on her language skills before she moved. She was currently at a lower intermediate level, in that she understood spoken English quite well and could engage in basic conversations and read simple English, though her writing needed more improvement. Her level of comprehension allowed her to choose what she wanted without much difficulty. "I'll have a glass of red wine, please."
"Certainly, Miss. I'll be right back with your drink." Rei perused the menu again as she waited for her drink and it didn't take long to figure out what meal she wanted either. Jack returned with her wine and she ordered the Pizza Primavera, a cheese and tomato pie with vegetables.
The pizza was served not too long after and the fire senshi found it to be delicious. She devoured half of it, two glasses of wine, and a free serving of the establishment's famous dough balls, fried and covered in powdered sugar for dessert.
She put the uneaten portion of her pizza into a carry out box and paid the bill, then she took another cab back home. She reentered the apartment, kicking off her shoes and putting the pizza box in the refrigerator.
It was a little after eight PM now and she had another long day tomorrow, so she filled the hot tub and turned on the water jets, then she got into the warm water for a relaxing bath. After she was finished, she wrapped a towel around herself and walked into her bedroom, grabbed a pair of underwear, a plain black t-shirt, and pink pajama pants with cupcakes printed on them from one of her suitcases and got dressed. Then she tucked herself into bed and read until she fell asleep an hour later and the book, with its pages down, rested at her side.
Next chapter should be up soon! I totally made up Rei's apartment instead of using an existing place, but the street it's located on, and the restaurant she went to are both real (the waiter is fictional though). The story line will start to pick up in the next few chapters. I'm open to ideas, so suggest away if you have any, especially on how Rei should redo her new home, because I don't know. lol