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Return to Me

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Chewing the inside of her lip, Chiyo stared up at intimidatingly stunning building. Ornate sculptures donned the entry way rimmed with intricately carved bronze – the building edifice seemingly made from marble, gleaming in the afternoon sun. Someone like him would live in a place like this. How pathetic her apartment must have seemed. It wasn't that she was poor but literally just the entry way itself looked like someone put millions into a firehose and just made it rain everywhere. She couldn't even begin to fathom what the inside must look like. Still, she needed to follow up on the tip. The bodyguard wouldn't have come to her unless there was a true threat.

Taking a steadying breath, she walked up to the intercom and looked over it. There he was. Penthouse apartment. Great. Just…just great. Luckily she wasn't the type of girl who wanted to date someone just to live a more comfortable lifestyle. She wanted to marry someone for love and Ryo didn't seem to be the type of man who even understood what love would entail. He went through women like water – obviously someone with commitment issues. Someone who probably had women falling over themselves to get in his pants. That wasn't her. But maybe…just maybe that's why he found her so appealing. In all honesty, she didn't care how much money he had to his name.

Pushing the button gently, she waited anxiously as it rung. Once, twice, three times and finally a weary, somewhat depressed voice answered the phone.

"Yes?" came the dejected sounding voice, "Can I help you?"

"Is this Ryo?" the police officer asked quietly. Silence for a moment. An awkward silence to be sure.

"Yes. Is this…is this Chiyo?" the voice stated more than asked before pausing for a moment and continuing, "What are you doing here?"

"Your bodyguard told me there was someone following you. I wanted to make sure you were alright," she answered back awkwardly, "But if this is a bad time…"

"No, no, no. Please, uh, come up. Come up. I'll buzz you in. Hold on," the voice came back – the dejected tone notably lessened as the door buzzed loudly and the sound of it unlocking followed shortly after, "Come up. Thirtieth floor. 4891."

If she had thought the outside was extravagant, it was nothing to the lobby she now stood in. It was modern with a intricate marble fountain emptying into a small koi pond against the far wall. The slate walls inside were sleek and elegant. It was minimalistic and yet utterly sophisticated. Never in a million years would she ever be able to afford somewhere like this. How much money did he have anyway?

Making her way to the elevator – adorned with jade inlay much to her annoyance, she quickly pressed the button and made her way inside only to see there were no buttons per se. Instead, there was a sleek digital pad and taking an exasperated sigh, she gently pressed her finger to it. 4891. A key pad quickly illuminated the screen and as she entered the password, the elevator quickly began its upward ascent. This was ridiculous. How on earth did someone manage to get in here with all this additional security? It had to have been an inside job or else the security measures in place were quite new.

As the door slide open, there stood a very casually dressed Ryo who looked like he'd been through hell. His hair was disheveled, it was obvious she'd woken him up from a nap and he looked mildly intoxicated.

"Is this a bad time?" Chiyo asked in an exasperated tone, "I can always come back."

"No, no. Now is fine," Ryo assured her before seemingly realizing that he must look like he'd been though hell. After the meeting that morning, he'd tried to drown his anxiety and sorrows with the help of his old reliable friend alcohol. The intercom had woken him from his liquor induced coma and, still feeling the effects, it never occurred to him that he might look like a homeless person…until now.

"Let me, uh, get cleaned up," he muttered awkwardly as he made to walk away before pausing and glancing over his shoulder, "Just…just make yourself at home. I won't be long."

Cursing himself for now giving the impression that he was an alcoholic, he made quick work of his disheveled state and made his way back out.

"Uh, sorry. Just…just so you know, that's not normal," he chuckled awkwardly as he sat down across from her, "I, uh…had a bad meeting earlier and, uh, tried to calm my nerves. So you were saying Haichi visited you?"

Grimacing at the lame ending and how he once again implied that he was an alcoholic, he played idly with his hands and chewed the inside of his cheek.

"Yes," Chiyo responded slowly as she took in his anxious pose. He had always oozed confidence until this moment and it was admittingly refreshing to see him out of sorts, "He said someone has been following you."

"Okay, it was probably nothing," Ryo laughed nervously as he waved his hand absently at nothing in particular, "Just…just I thought I saw something but it might just be paranoia."

After a tense silent moment, his eyes widened in horror and he added quickly, "Not that I'm paranoid or anything. I, uh…"

"No need to explain," Chiyo laughed at his cute display of nervousness, "If I were kidnapped and tortured, I would be overly cautious too. Especially since the guy is still out there."

"Right," Ryo chuckled awkwardly as he scratched the nape of his neck, "So, um, I…I met with the private investigator. He'll be looking into your case. I'll meet with him at the end of this week to see his progress. I'll, uh, call you afterwards."

"Could I come?" she asked quietly, "I'd like to hear it for myself."

"If you want," Ryo responded good naturedly before he furrowed his brow in confusion, "Don't you work today?"

"No I'm off the next few days actually," Chiyo sighed happily, "You know, four days on, four days off. It's quite nice. Don't mind twelve hours shifts at all."

"Huh," he responded at a loss of what else to say. Sensing his unease, Chiyo glanced around the apartment for a few seconds. Well if there was ever a time to clear the air, it would be now. Now was as good a time as any. Taking a deep breath, she began casually, "So this is where the magic happens is it?"

"Magic?" Ryo chuckled nervously, "I don't understand your meaning."

"You know, where you bring all those women," Chiyo stated simply as she narrowed his eyes, "From what I hear you get around quite a lot."

"From what you hear…" Ryo asked suspiciously before his eyes widened in understanding, "The bathroom. Someone told you that I get around."

"In a matter of speaking," Chiyo answered honestly before biting her lip, "I'm not that type of girl. I hope you understand that I want to keep this strictly professional."

"Please let me explain," Ryo interrupted her earnestly before groaning and running his fingers through his hair in an agitated fashion, "I…I do see many women. I do. I won't deny it. But…but its so hard to find someone worth keeping around. Its not me they're interested in. They want the fancy dinners and trips to the mall or to exotic destinations. They want money or what my money can buy them. And…and I don't have one night stands. I don't. Ask any woman I've been with. It lasts until they ask me to buy them something ridiculous and then it ends."

"Is that so?" Chiyo snorted skeptically, "You sure about that because you seem to have problems keeping your hands to yourself."

"I'm a guy," Ryo protested indignantly before blanching and quickly waving his hands in front of him, "Okay, that came out wrong. I have a problem. I'll admit that too. But…if you want to keep it professional for the moment, that's fine. Really but all I ask is that you keep an open mind. I'm not a bad man."

Rolling her eyes, Chiyo sighed heavily as she got to her feet. If that speech was supposed to impress her, it was pathetic. So he's not a womanizer but he doesn't feel bad about groping women. Right….

"No please wait," Ryo continued desperately, "Please. I didn't mean….if you aren't interested that's fine but…but…"

Swallowing thickly, he stopped himself and sighed, "I'm sorry. You aren't interested. I'll respect that and keep this professional. Forgive me."

Pausing for a moment to glance over her shoulder, Chiyo furrowed her brow as she took in his dejected looking form before rolling her eyes and moving to sit back down.

"So the meeting this morning went poorly?" she asked casually. Looking at his hands, he nodded once before slumping down into the couch.

"My father left this business empire to me," he began slowly, "We produce hundreds of shows, make movies, and has merchandise to match. Technically I'm President of the Company but its more for show than anything. I smile at press conferences, I go to meetings. That kind of thing but they never let me make any decisions."

"They don't let you?" Chiyo asked skeptically, "Like they have any say in the matter. You own the company. You probably just need to be more aggressive about being involved."

"You say that but its so much more complicated," Ryo chuckled darkly as he rubbed his hand across his face, "My uncle is very influential and thinks I'm a giant fuck up…oh pardon my language. Thinks I'm a screw up. He's tried to get me to step down so many times since my parents died. Every time I have an idea, someone else has already thought of it. It's a mess."

"So why don't you step down?" Chiyo asked quietly. Ryo sighed heavily before shrugging slightly and staring dejectedly at the ceiling, "Because I want to be involved. I want to make my father proud."

"So do it," Chiyo laughed as she gave him a reassuring smile, "Instead of drinking your problems away, buckle down and work twice as hard."

"I would but I think they're purposefully keeping information from me," Ryo admitted sadly, "Today my uncle told me about a sweepstakes. I went through all the emails I've gotten for the past year. All the memorandum. All the news flashes. Nothing."

"Do you have an office there?" Chiyo asked then as she cocked her head to the side, "Maybe you should start going in."

Furrowing his brow, Ryo had to admit he'd never thought of doing that before. Why he wasn't quite sure. That would make it appear that he was more invested and he'd be able to learn about things rather than just show up at meetings to discover someone else had already thought of it.

"I never thought of that," Ryo admitted honestly, "I've always worked from home."

"Just a thought," Chiyo giggled as she rolled her eyes before pausing and giving him a strange look, "Would you want to grab something to eat? Dutch treat of course."

"I'd pay for your lunch," Ryo said wryly as he lifted his head to look at her and arched a brow, "Its not that I mind paying for things. Its more that I hate when that's all people really want from me. I want something more than a trophy wife."

As Chiyo arched a brow at him, Ryo realized what he'd just assumed and grimaced apologetically, "Not that I, uh, think this is a date or anything. Just…just I'd pay for lunch. We're less limited on options then."

"So you think I'm poor?" Chiyo clipped back angrily, "Just who…"

"No! I wasn't saying that either," Ryo groaned as he flopped his head back down on the couch and waved one hand in frustration, "Just…whatever, dutch treat. Yay."

Realizing she might have overeacted, Chiyo sighed heavily before making a face and giggling, "Sorry. Just the way you said that last part. Kinda cute."

"Really?" Ryo gasped excitedly as his head popped back up before he gave her a flirtatious grin, "You think I'm cute. Maybe there's a chance after all."

"Keep dreaming," Chiyo chided playfully, "It'll take more than one cute thing to get me to agree to go out with you."

"Challenge accepted," Ryo snorted as he rolled his eyes before putting on a playfully serious face, "But until then, friends?"

"Friends," Chiyo agreed as she made to get up, "Now lets go eat. I'm starving."