Chapter 2

Keiko set her alarm for eight although she didn't get to bed until five o'clock. She didn't want to be late. When the alarm went off, she dragged her body out of bed and into the shower. She dressed in jeans and a tank top, skipped makeup, and pulled her shoulder length dark brown hair into a simple ponytail. Breakfast was an extra tall coffee with lots of sugar that she drank on the way to her destination. She found the address in the middle of a picture perfect neighborhood. All of the houses looked alike with minor differences such as color or if the garage was located on the left or right side of the house. Each had a perfectly manicured lawn; some were elaborately decorated with fountains and flower gardens. She found the house in the middle of a block with a plain but tidy yard. She parked her car on the street next to the curb instead of the driveway.

A little boy about six years old with blond spiky hair was playing on the small front porch with his fire engines and police cars. He looked up at her with the biggest, bluest eyes she had ever seen.

"Hi," she said, stifling the urge to say 'awwww' as he smiled up at her. She pushed the doorbell, holding her book tightly against her chest.

"Are you here to see my Daddy?" he asked, standing up.

"I-I guess so," she stammered. She wasn't sure who she was here to see; he hadn't told her. She jumped when the door opened. Her hazel eyes grew wide when she saw Mr. Umino standing there in khaki shorts and a red t shirt.

"You're on time," he remarked with surprise, stepping aside to allow her to come in. "Are you coming inside as well, Naruto?" he asked the little boy.

"Do I have to? Can I stay outside and play a little longer?" he whined.

"Yes. Why don't you go to the backyard?" he suggested.

"Okay, Daddy," the child replied, running between them to dart through the house.

"He's very cute," Keiko said, watching him run out of the glass french doors that opened to big backyard complete with a pool.

"Thank you. Shall we?" he asked, putting his hand on her elbow to lead her to the kitchen table. The whole back yard could be seen through the huge windows in the room.

"I had no idea you would be my tutor," she said, placing her book on the table and opening it.

"Well, it seems you need all the help you can get so I thought I should do it myself," he stated wryly.

"Gee, thanks," she rejoined sarcastically.

"All right. I suppose the best place to begin is from the beginning."

Two hours later, Keiko had a headache from all of the mathematical jargon swimming around in her brain. She groaned and dropped her head onto her book. She felt like she was on the verge of tears. She could tell Mr. Umino was frustrated and tired as well.

"Should we just stop for the day?" she asked finally.

"Yeah. I suppose so. I believe you're beyond your capacity for anymore today anyway," he said, getting up from the table.

"You know, sometimes you make it really hard to not be insulted."

"Why don't you come back tomorrow at two?"

"Are you kidding? Do I not get a day off from school at all?"

"Okay, I'm not beyond bribing you. If you come over and study for two or three hours, I'll cook dinner for you. How about that?"

Keiko would definitely take him up on that offer. It would be nice to be able to eat something besides noodles and canned soup.

Keiko startled her teacher by arriving on time again the next day. Naruto greeted her then scurried off to play.

"Is he always so active?" she inquired.

"Always," he replied, scrutinizing her face when they sat down at the table. "How did you get that bruise on your face?"

"I tripped when I was getting out of bed this morning and fell against my bedside table. You've seen how clumsy I can be," she said, doubting he believed the lie but hoping he did at the same time. She had left her hair down in an attempt to hide the purplish mark sitting high on her cheekbone near her temple.

"Tell me something and be honest this time," he stated in a no nonsense tone of voice. "What kind of work do you do?"

"That's really none of your business," she replied. "Am I here to study or what?"

"Fair enough. You can tell me when you're ready," he said, immediately dropping the discussion to move on to their real purpose.

After working with her for two hours, he allowed her to take a break while he began preparing dinner.

"Can I walk outside?" she asked.

"Sure. Go ahead," he responded.

Keiko walked out of the back door to explore the backyard. There was a little cottage behind the pool that she assumed was the pool house. A massive oak tree took up one whole corner of the yard. She smiled as she looked at the tree house that been built right at the top of the trunk where all of the branches divided off.

"Hey!" Naruto called, waving at her. "Want to come up?"

"Sure," she replied. She bit her lip nervously as she looked at the makeshift ladder nailed to the wide trunk of the tree. She held her breath and began to climb. Heights were not her favorite thing. She pulled herself through the entrance cut in the middle of the floor, sitting cross legged next to it.

"Are you going to be coming here a lot?" he asked.

"I'm not sure. I need a lot of help. I'm having a tough time in your dad's class," she said.

"I wouldn't mind it if you came here a lot. You seem nice," he said, smiling at her.

"Well, thank you. Hey, where's your Mom?" she asked. She had not seen any sign that a woman even lived in the house.

"I don't have a mom. It's always just been me and Daddy. I'm adopted you know," he stated openly.

Keiko smiled at him as he looked her. That explains a lot; she was wondering why the child looked so different from him. He sat down on the floor beside her, dragging over some of his favorite toys. She was more than happy to play with him. He was a charming, sweet little thing who was hard to resist. He talked incessantly as he played.

"Hey! Where are you guys hiding?" Mr. Umino's voice echoed across the backyard. "Dinner's ready."

"Okay, Daddy!" Naruto yelled, scrambling down the ladder and disappearing before she could even move to the hole in the floor.

Keiko dropped to the ground rather than climbing down the last few steps. She turned, gasping when she saw her teacher standing there staring at her.

"Well, come on slowpoke," he said, waving for her to hurry up.

"He's fast," she remarked. "I wish I had just a little bit of his energy."

"I know what you mean," he rejoined, shoving his hands in the pockets of his shorts. "When would you like to come back for another lesson?"

"Never," she answered, making them both chuckle lightly because she was only half way joking.

"What about Tuesday afternoon?" he asked.

"Sure." Keiko's mouth began to water when the delicious smells entered her nose. She stared at the plates of roast beef with mashed potatoes and gravy. "Wow! That looks wonderful."

"I thought you could use a treat. I remember what it was like to be a college student."

"Hasn't really been that long has it?"

"I'm probably a little older than you think. Hey! Naruto! Where are you?" he called.

"I'm coming," the vivacious child responded, sliding into the room. He slammed right into Keiko and shoved her into his father's arms.

"Seems like we've done this before," Mr. Umino commented as he looked down at her with a big grin on his face.

"At least this time it wasn't my fault," she giggled, standing back up quickly to muss the blond's already wild hair.

"Let's eat! I'm starving!" Naruto exclaimed.

They all sat down at the table to eat. Keiko was not only thrilled with the food, but the company was great too. This was so much better than eating crappy food alone in her dumpy little apartment. They continued to talk even after Naruto had finished and ran off somewhere.

"Oh! What time is it?" she gasped suddenly, rifling through her purse to find her phone.

"It's eight o'clock," Mr. Umino answered after checking his watch.

"Oh, I've got to go! I've got to be at work in an hour," she murmured, gathering her things. She hurried to the door with him following behind her. "Thank you so much, Mr. Umino. The food was great! I'll see you tomorrow in class."

"Good-bye and be careful," he called after her as she ran out the door.

" 'Bye!"

Keiko showered quickly, applied her make up, and put on her a red dress with a neckline that opened all the way down to her belly. The skirt was wide an full but stopped about four inches above her knee. She amazed herself by arriving at work on time. Her boss greeted her at the door, kissing her on the lips which made her want to vomit. She hated it when he did that.

"I've already got a customer asking for you," Denji said. "He's sitting at table nine."

Keiko nodded and deposited her purse in her locker, throwing in her flat black shoes that she just took off. She slipped into her red rhinestone studded six inch heels.

"Time to shine," she muttered to herself, smoothing her hair down. She plastered on a big fake smile as she opened the door to enter the club. She had been working as a hostess for six months now. It was her job to flirt and drink with men, convincing them to spend money – lots of money. She wasn't a hooker; she didn't have sex with them. What she did was far worse. She played mind games with them; pretending she cared and was interested in them when that couldn't be further from the truth.

At table nine a big man with wild spiky white hair and black eyes waited for her. He was quite handsome in a very virile, masculine way with his square jaw and sharp nose. He was quite a treat after having to look at pretty, almost girly, boys at college all day. He was dressed in black dress pants and red silk shirt that was unbuttoned halfway down his chest. How funny – they matched. A genuine smile replaced the plastic one when she came closer to him. She liked this man; he was a frequent customer of hers and would ask for her by name. He was funny and nice though he could be a little perverted at times but it was usually in a comical way. He liked to ask her questions about her experiences on the job because he was a novelist specializing in raunchy romance novels.

"Hello, Jiraiya," she said, kissing him on the cheek after she sat down beside him.

"Hello, sweetheart. How's my favorite girl?" he asked, putting his arm around her shoulders.

"Tired. I've got a teacher busting my behind to learn math concepts that are nearly impossible for me to understand," she complained. She caught the bartender's attention, pointing to the man sitting next to her. The bartender nodded that he understood to prepare the usual drinks for them.

"Oh, you'll be fine. You're a smart girl. It will be a sad day for me when you leave and I don't get to see you anymore," he stated gloomily, kissing her on the cheek. "So got anything interesting to tell me?"

"You bet," she responded, handing him his drink as she took her customary glass of champagne. She proceeded to tell him about the incident that led to the bruise on her cheek.

"He did that, huh?" Jiraiya asked, still able to see the bruise despite the dim lighting in the room.

"Yeah. Why is it that some men still insist on believing that no means yes when it does in fact mean no? And besides, this isn't that kind of place. I guess he was too stupid to notice there's an escort club across the street," she fussed, sighing deeply. She reached for the bottle of champagne to refill her glass. She kicked off her shoes and placed her feet in his lap.

"Keiko, why don't you leave here? I hate to see you go, but this just is not the kind of job you should be working," he said, rubbing her feet.

"That's why I'm going to college – to get out of this hell hole. It's the only place where I can make enough money to keep from starving to death," she explained.

"I could take care of you. You could live in my apartment that I use when I'm here in the city. The rest of the time it just sits empty," he said, moving up to massage her calves.

"And just how would I be expected to repay you?" she asked as if she didn't already have an idea.

"Well, I'm sure we could find some kind of suitable compensation," he replied, sliding his hand up her thigh and under skirt.

"Yeah. That's exactly what I thought. I like you, but I don't like you that much," she responded, placing her hand over his to stop its upward slide to the area between her legs.

"I'll leave the offer open. Just think about it," he urged, removing his hand from beneath her skirt.

As far as Keiko was concerned there was nothing to think about. She liked Jiraiya well enough; he was handsome and she enjoyed his company but she refused to be a kept woman. It would be a form of slavery and worse yet, she would be a sex slave, expected to give it to him when and how he wanted it. That would be worse than this job.