Feedback: ryokaori11 - Thank you for the review! You understand my characters really well and it is such a compliment. Also, I too despise people who have to term everything out of the ordinary as a handicap. They piss me off. -_- I am looking forward to your review on this chapter!
ScriptAngel - Thanks for the review as always, m'dear. One thing I'd like you to know about this chapter: mmuah! :P
Disclaimer: I do not own City Hunter or its characters nor do I own any of the songs mentioned here.
SINCE I SAW HER STANDING THERE
Chapter: 7
Tsuyoshi Onoda whipped his wet hair back with his palm and walked to the wardrobe. His wife was busy reading North and South in bed. He failed to understand the purpose of reading in bed when she had a whole study to herself, but he did not say a word to her about that.
'The traffic's been heftier than usual this week. I have to start fifteen minutes early if I am to make it on time for the breakfast'
From the wardrobe, he pulled out a fine black business suit and a grey shirt to go with it.
'That Julia woman is too over-friendly. One would think having her husband around would keep her from flirting'
There were no pre-knotted ties in the wardrobe, just like yesterday.
'What the hell?'
He knew he could not repeat the scene with Futaba before Saki. She had scolded him enough to make him feel like he was back in the convent. And her words...
'It's not her fault. She doesn't know'
Glancing once at Saki, Tsuyoshi picked the clothes off the bed and went into the study. He had apologized to Futaba yesterday because he shouldn't have barked at him so for a first-time mistake. However, this was beyond pardon. Futaba had neglected his duty.
"Hiroshi?", Onoda-san called to a servant passing at the bottom of the stairs.
Hiroshi came up running and bowed. Onoda-san said while buttoning the cuffs on his sleeves,
"Send Futaba to my room immediately"
"Yes, Sir"
What had gotten into Futaba lately? He used to be an honest and hard working man, and a family guy at that.
'I can't shout at him, I guess'
Tsuyoshi peeked once into the bedroom and then found Futaba standing outside his study. He was not afraid like the day before, just courteous.
"You called for me, Sir?"
"Yes", Tsuyoshi fought to contain his impatience and anger, "You have been treating me so well lately that I..."
Sarcasm – she would mind that too. Onoda-san massaged his brow with his fingers and asked in a calm voice,
"Why have you not knotted my ties yet?"
Before Futaba could answer, Saki walked in from the bedroom and said,
"Futaba, you should leave"
He did as told. Tsuyoshi turned around at Saki's voice and saw her holding a tie which would go nicely with the suit he was going to wear that day. She walked to him,
"I told Futaba not to pre-knot your ties anymore"
He could only ask,
"Why?"
In answer, he felt Saki's hands going around his neck and straightening his collar. She was standing too close. And in that moment, Tsuyoshi forgot what they were talking about.
Throughout the night, Saki had felt like she was wallowing in guilt. She had come up with what she thought would be a perfect reparation for a folly and had spent half an hour rolling her husband's already knotted ties into little bundles. Futaba had been warned early in the morning by her of what she had in mind and that he might be summoned for a questioning. As she stood within a foot's distance from her husband and straightened his starched collar, Saki said,
"This is my apology. From now on, I will be knotting your necktie every morning to atone for my ignorant and elitist behavior. Apology accepted?"
"Yes, but..."
He fell silent as Saki put the tie around his collar and worked on a quick yet tidy Windsor knot. Onoda-san was cautiously looking at her face then at the tie around his neck. Saki said,
"I am sorry"
She looked up at him,
"Not because you are dyslexic, but because I didn't realize it sooner and made assumptions I shouldn't have"
It took her less than two minutes with the necktie and she admired her work with a smile and a hand passing over his tie.
"There. Is that okay?"
He did not even look down,
"Yes. Thank you"
They were standing at the same distance when Ashitaka arrived at the open study door and bowed,
"Good morning, Madam"
"Good morning"
Saki stepped away from Onoda-san. Ashitaka said to his boss,
"Sir, we should really get going. The traffic might delay us for longer than yesterday"
"Yes. A minute"
Onoda-san stepped into the bedroom and came out, within a minute indeed, with his hair combed and his coat buttoned. He handed a briefcase to Ashitaka and looked back at Saki from the door,
"Bye"
"Bye", she smiled.
Saki saw Ashitaka's small frame following Onoda-san's tall one and turned around. She felt somewhat better.
'I would have seen him off at the door but it seems too lovey-dovey with people watching'
Barely had Saki taken a step towards the bedroom when a firm hand on her shoulder turned her around. Her eyes were wide open as she felt Onoda-san's lips pressing against hers. The fragrance of his cologne invaded her barrier of resistance and Saki Makimura's knees almost gave in. Onoda-san's kiss was soft and chaste at first; then it intensified into a thrilling adventure which sent sparks along Saki's spine. He did not let go until she had kissed him back and had felt herself floating away on a wave.
Saki panted when he pulled away. Onoda-san still kept his hands on her face. His eyes were so close, seemed large enough to fill her whole world. He said,
"Thank you"
And he left. Saki stood gaping after him and trying to make sense of what had just passed between them. He had kissed her, made her kiss him back. It was not at all like the "another man's touch" she had dreaded. It was soft, tender, passionate and surprising – all at once. Just like him.
Saki touched her lips and realized that there was no weight on her conscience. Her heart definitely seemed light. There was a delightful, bright fluttering in her soul and a delicate, shy glow of happiness on her face.
That night, Onoda-san had come home early. He and Saki had exchanged discreet, covert glances across the dinner table. She lay on her side in the bed while he did the same. He had a dreamy look in his eyes and Saki smiled at him from the distance of three feet. She said,
"I am not upset that you didn't tell me. I was just angry at myself for not realizing it in all these years"
Onoda-san smiled and asked her in a leisurely tone,
"Aren't you curious about me? My story?"
"I am but I thought it best to leave it up to you to share with me only what you wanted to"
Onoda-san turned and lay on his back. He watched the ceiling for a while and then spoke,
"My mother was a nun"
Saki raised herself on an elbow,
"Really?"
"Yes. She left the habit for my father. There was a complication when she was carrying me and, she died in childbirth"
"I am sorry"
"Don't be", he paused, "Since I was a painful reminder of his beloved wife, my father sent me under the care of the convent where my mother used to stay. I was not a very bright child, quite slow, in fact. And dyslexic. The nuns gave me a hard time about everything – that I was left-handed, that I was too slow, that I hated to read the Bible. When I told Sister Kana that words seemed to float before me when I read, she had me exorcised"
"Oh God"
"Some of them were quite nice to me though. Sister Edith, Sister Jeiko... I lost my virginity to Sister Jeiko"
Saki shook her head,
"And you wonder why they exorcised you"
He grinned,
"She was sweet, looked a bit like you, if I remember"
Saki laid her head on her arm and asked,
"What else?"
"My father didn't tell me I was his son till he was on his deathbed"
She sprang up in bed. This was too much to believe at once.
"Are you serious?"
He raised his eyebrows,
"Yes"
Saki simmered down and lay on the bed again. Her poor, poor husband.
"That is terrible"
"In his defense, he did not completely abandon me. He came to meet me every week at the convent. The sisters told me he was my benefactor. We would talk about model planes, cars, my studies, his family. Back then, I wished that he was my father. We shared the same last name after all. I was so stupid. But he encouraged me to pursue engineering. When I stayed up all those nights, studying and trying with all my might to make sense of what I was reading, to stop being so dumb, the thought of hearing him say, 'Well done, son', it was what kept me going. I was working in the Onoda Corporations as an entry level engineer before he died. He appointed me as the CEO when he was hospitalized, and when he was dying, he told me the truth. His last words were – take care of Tadashi"
Onoda-san wiped a stray tear from Saki's cheek and smiled,
"All of this, Miss Saki, it belongs to my stepbrother. I have worked tirelessly to make my father's company the best in all of Japan but I don't feel a shred of regret for handing it over to Tadashi. Two weeks from now, I will be retiring. I will still work as an adviser, and a Board Director, of course. And I am quite looking forward to it since I will get to spend more time with you"
Saki smiled and wiped her eyes dry,
"I can't believe you stood by me in my suffering without breathing a word about yours"
"My suffering has long been over. And it's not as bad as it sounds. It was a different childhood, a sad yet unique experience. My father made me what I am today. He loved me, I suppose. No matter how busy he was, he would teach me how to play the piano every Sunday when he came for mass"
"You can play the piano?"
"I can"
Saki sat up in bed,
"I saw a piano in the ballroom the other day. Could you play something for me?"
"Now?", he looked at the clock.
Saki ignored the ticking of fifteen past one and said,
"Come on. It will cheer us both up"
With a simper on his face, Onoda-san followed Saki to the ballroom in the middle of the night.
In the quiet, Onoda-san and Saki were the only people loitering about in the mansion. Onoda-san found himself in front of the old piano and rolled up his sleeves. Saki leaned against the side of the instrument and watched him sitting before the piano. He said to her,
"I haven't played it in years"
"So now's as good a time as any, right?"
He seemed to disagree but smiled anyway and laid his exquisitely long fingers on the piano keys. Saki broke into a delighted grin as he created music.
"This is one of my most favorite songs", she told him.
"I know", he said.
Onoda-san began to sing 'Make You Feel My Love' as his fingers accompanied with an enchanting tune. And Saki felt that even the walls in the ballroom must be gladdened then. He sang with ardor and a voice which was deep and soulful. Saki had never been to a concert but she believed that nothing could compare to this. Her husband was a musician who could set her heart aflutter.
Onoda-san winked at her as he sang the line,
"You ain't seen nothing like me yet"
So that was what love in the air felt like.
Saki clapped and showered lavish compliments on him when the song ended. Onoda-san gallantly bowed like a gentleman. Saki was grinning ear to ear. She said as Onoda-san advanced towards her,
"I think you just serenaded me"
"Mission accomplished then"
His hand cupped her face and Saki lowered her eyes. He warned her,
"Don't do that"
She looked up,
"Don't do what?"
He said testily,
"That eye-lowering and blushing simultaneously thing. It reflects very badly on my self-control"
Saki looked once at his arm around her waist,
"What self-control exactly?"
Her heart pounded in her breast and sounded in her ears, as Onoda-san lifted her chin upwards and looked into her eyes. She did not bother to put up a pretense of modesty. She knew well that she wanted him to kiss her, that he would kiss her, and that it would feel amazing.
Suddenly, Onoda-san released her chin and Saki opened her eyes in disappointment. He was looking at the doors to the ballroom,
"Someone was just peeking in on us"
Saki looked at the doors too. No one other than themselves could be up at the hour.
Onoda-san said,
"Let's go back upstairs. I don't like this"
