Part Two: Of Phone Calls and Wary Women
~*~*~*~*

Emily tapped her foot impatiently as she waited beside the phone. Kai had said he'd call her when he got to the hotel. He was in China, on some business trip for his grandfather. Apparently, some important contract was being disscussed, but the elder Mr. Hiwatari had been unable to attend the meeting.

Emily looked at the clock. Kai's flight should have arrived over an hour ago. He should have called. 'Stupid boy,' she thought, picking up the reciever. If he thought he could give her the slip, he had another thing coming. She dialed his cell impatiently. She waited, then hung up, frustrated. "God damn you, Kai!"

He was such an ass- only cared about himself. He didn't care how SHE felt when he said he'd call and never did. She sighed, sitting back in the armchair. She couldn't remember WHY she'd signed that goddamn contract in the first place.

She supposed she had seen Kai as a bit of a challenge- cold, detached, anti-social. She'd wanted to find out if she could find out what hid behind that front. She'd soon found out that SHE herself would never be able to pry open his shell. His secret self always remained locked away.

Time had passed. He held contempt for her now- she was just another object in his way. She knew he saw through her tiresome front of intelligence, but it was habit and she reinforced it with every chance she had.

Angrily, she picked up the receiver again. Kai wasn't going to get off so easy- not this time. The annoying ring sounded 7 times before somebody finally picked it up. "Hello?"

The voice was so harshly breathelss, she couldn't identify the speaker. Utterly confused as to why Kai should be so out of breath, or as to who else would answer Kai's phone, she spit out the only word that came to mind, what was meant to be an angry tone falling into a pitiful worried sound. "Kai?"

~*~*~*~*~*~*

On the other end of the line, Rei froze. "Who is it?" Kai hissed from the bed, wondering why Rei was sporting the deer-in-headlights look.

Rei covered the mouthpiece and whispered back, "Emily."

"Hang up!" Kai mouthed, hoping Rei knew how to read lips or faces- one of the two.Rei turned back to the phone. "Who?" he asked, trying to sound as clueless as possible.

She inquired again. "I'm sorry. You must have the wrong number-"

"Rei?! Is that you? What are you doing on Kai's phone-"

Rei hung up quickly and scrambled back to the bed. "I told you to hang up! Why didn't you listen to me?!"

Kai glared at Rei, incredulous. That had to be the stupidest thing Rei had ever done. "I thought it was rude," Rei murmured, sounding pathetic.

The raven-haired boy averted his eyes. Why hadn't he hung up? It had been so easy, but no- he had to slip up and put everything in jeopardy. If Emily ever pieced anything together- his life as he knew it would be over.

Kai sighed and slipped and arm about Rei's waist. The neko-jin [1] was prone to taking harsh words very badly. "Shh, Rei, shh. It doesn't matter. I'll tell her something. She'll believe me- she always does. Okay?"

Rei nodded and flung his arms about Kai, nuzzling the bluenette's shoulder fondly.

~*~*~*~*~*

Mariah hissed in the phone's direction impatiently. Rei was supposed to call when he got to the hotel. He was staying in Hong Kong for the weekend, visiting an ill relative. He'd left her the number of where he was staying tonight- he was supposed to call and give her the location he'd be spending tomorrow night at. Nervously, she picked up the phone and dialed the number, hastily deciphering Rei's quickly scrawled numbers.

A high, nasal voice, probably that of the recptionist, grated on her ears. "Hello, Sheridian Hotel [2], how may I help you?"

Mariah swallowed her nervousness. She hated calling public places. She always made Rei make reservations whenever they were going somewhere. "Has a Kon Rei checked in?"

There was a pause. A long, dreadful pause. Then, the grating voice came again. "I'm sorry. No Kon Rei has checked in."

Mariah hung up without even mumbling her thanks to the receptionist. What had happened to Rei? He should have checked in by now- it was nearly 4 a.m! What was keeping him? Had he gotten lost? Had he been mugged? Killed? Raped? Was he lying in some back aleey, bleeding to death? Was he in jail? In the hospital? Had he been kidnapped?

She sighed wearily and bit her lip. Hong Kong was a dangerous place and she was letting her imagination run away with her. She sighed again. She wouldn't get any rest until Rei called her and she knew for abosolute sure her beloved Rei was safe and sound.

~*End Part Two*~

[1]- Neko-jin: cat-person. I refer to Rei as this because he does look like one.
[2]- I have NO clue what hotels there are in China. In fact, I have no clue as to whether that hotel even exists. I think it's a hotel in Toronto, but I'm not sure. ^^U