Asami frowned and hung up his phone, this was the fifth time he had tried to reach Takaba. He wondered what had gone wrong, after he had agreed to Asami's offer, the photographer had seemed happy. Maybe he had miscalculated, maybe he shouldn't have rushed the physical contact, maybe after the boy had returned home; good sense had prevailed and he decided against having anything further to do with Asami.
This was a first for Asami, hesitating on his approach. He was a man accustomed to taking what he wanted and damn the consequences. Somehow, he knew that, this approach although it would get him what he wanted, it would destroy something in the process. For some reason the boys' trust and innocence meant a lot to him; maybe, it was because he had fallen in love at first sight with the boy that he wanted to preserve the pure emotion that had embedded itself into his heart.
Asami dialed again, no answer. He stood and headed to the door. 'Kirishima, cancel all my appointments for the rest of the afternoon. Inform Suoh that I'm headed to the parking level, and to have the Range Rover ready to take me to Takaba's apartment.'
Without waiting for a reply from Kirishima, Asami headed for the elevator. He was determined, even if the boy didn't want him as his patron, he would make sure the boy wouldn't be able to run from him.
Akihito's head was pounding. He pulled the pillow closer to his head, the pounding stopped. He sighed; he didn't know how long he had been in bed, after the disastrous phone call with his father. The pounding was back, why was it doing that? Stopping and starting. Exasperated, he threw the pillow across the room. The pounding was louder now. It took him a few moments to realize that the pounding in his head was coming from the door of his apartment.
Irritated he slowly got up. Why was it when he wanted to wallow in his emotions did someone always want to come over? He took a deep breath, in front of the door to prepare himself to deal with whichever of his friends or acquaintances, who had chosen the worst timing in the world to come over to his apartment. Forcing a smile onto his face, he opened to door to find Asami.
Asami's heart was pounding, the anxiety he felt while he stood there pounding on Akihito's door was new and foreign to him. When the door finally opened, he felt an intense sensation of relief. However, this feeling soon fled as he took in the photographer's forced smile and red puffy eyes.
Driving on instinct, Asami pulled the surprised boy into his arms. 'Shh' Asami said as he soothed the boy as he tried to pull away. 'It's okay, I was worried, and whatever happened I'm here for you.'
Ba-thump. Akihito felt his heart skip a beat. Standing here in Asami's arms, hearing him say these words was shocking and yet at the same time calming. He had never had anyone worry over him like that before, except with Kou and Takato. It was strange he hardly knew Asami, yet the man seemed to be able to connect with him on a different level.
'Thank you.' Akihito said as he reluctantly pulled away from Asami's embrace. 'Um- I'm sorry I didn't answer your call, I was upset- I didn't mean to worry you.'
'Do you want to tell me what happened?' Asami asked as he closed the door behind him, and followed Akihito into his apartment and sat on the sofa next to him.
'Nah, not really; it's just something that always happens I'll be fine.
'If you're sure, but just know that I'll be here for you.'
Akihito blushed. He wondered if Asami knew how those words sounded, almost as if he talking to a lover.
'Umm – why are here?' asked Akihito turning his face to the side to hide his blush. 'Shouldn't you be at work?'
'I was but I canceled my meetings when I couldn't reach you.'
'What?' Akihito was shocked; he couldn't believe that an important man like Asami had done that just to come over to check up on him. Ba – thump – Akihito placed his hand over his heart.
'We had an agreement didn't we.' Asami, could see the puzzled look on the boys face, the way that he was looking at Asami, blushing cutely and with his hand over his heart. Asami, knew it wouldn't be long before he had the young photographer in love with him.
Pulling Akihito up by his arms from the sofa he led, the boy to his bedroom. 'Now get in there, get dressed and pack your camera.'
While Akihito dressed, Asami took the opportunity to look around the boy's apartment. There were photos of friends, books on photography, cooking, astronomy, philosophy, magazines, and documentaries on ancient culture, art, and world religions.
The room was filled with everything that interested the boy; the furniture consisted of a kitchen table, with four chairs and a large pull out sofa and a comfortable loveseat.
'Is this okay, I'm not sure where were going?' Akihito said as he came out of the bedroom. Dressed in fitted black skinny jeans, a green plaid shirt, and a tan colored jacket with converse sneakers; Asami was at a loss for words. Akihito looked delectable; Asami could not wait to see what the boy would like in a suit on his arm.
'You look great.'
'So where are we going?' asked Akihito as he picked up his camera bag and headed out of his apartment.
'To meet a business acquaintance of mines' Asami said.
Akihito was surprised; when Asami said a business acquaintance, he had expected a stuffy executive. Instead, he was sitting in the kitchen of a five star restaurant with the owner and chef. Asami's only instruction for him was to set up his camera on the tripod with the time delayed video setting.
Akihito, found that luncheon to be very informative. The Chef Suzuki-san; was very passionate about food. He viewed food as art, he reminded Akihito of himself. As chef Suzuki-san cooked, he spoke about how he met Asami, how with Asami's backing he was able to open his own restaurant. How he was able to have his point of view show through his food and the ambiance that he created in his restaurant. He wanted not only for the food to look good, but taste good and have the customer leave with a feeling of satisfaction and appreciation of for the work that went into preparing it.
Akihito was blown away, he always loved food. Sushi in particular, he had often taken pictures of food. Yet he had never thought of the feelings of the people preparing the food. Their passion and creativity, to create a dish that they hoped transmitted their feelings to those that would eat it. By the time he left the restaurant with Asami, he had a newfound respect for cooks and for Suzuki- san.
Asami stared at Akihito as he sat thoughtfully in the limo. The boy's mood had improved greatly, he wished the boy had shared with him, his problem but he knew that it would take time before the boy trusted him completely.
'Akihito, why don't you take a look at the video?' Asami said interrupting the boy's thoughts. 'I want you to tell me what you see.'
Taking out his camera, he turned it on and watched their hour-long conversation with Chef Suzuki-san as he cooked compressed into a two-minute video.
Playing it a second time, Akihito noted the changes in Suzuki-san face; he could see the moment when Suzuki-san's face became open. He paused the video, frozen like that; he could see the passion alive and shining in his eyes.
'This is it? Isn't it?' Akihito asked in awe looking up at Asami.
'Yes, that's why I wanted you to meet Suzuki-san. You see Akihito; all you need to do is find a subject that you are passionate about, that will make all the difference in your work. Your pictures are already stunning. Just find that one thing that interest you that evokes your passion and you'll capture it.'
What Asami was saying to him, he had heard many times before, but somehow today, it finally made sense. Seeing it unfold before his eyes, for the first time, he felt like his dream would be attainable. As he looked at Asami, he realized that he couldn't have asked for a better patron.
When Asami's eyes met his, he felt trapped in Asami's unwavering gaze, he felt as if he was the only one in the world right now with Asami.
Leaning over Akihito pressed his lips to Asami's chiseled cheek. 'Thank you' Akihito said as he blushed sweetly. Without waiting for a reply, he quickly exited the car and walked into his building.
