CHAPTER 11
All throughout the week, Tsukushi seemed dazed and preoccupied. Her fingers touched her lips for the nth time within the hour as she gazed at the view from her office at the top floor of the Doumyouji Group building. There was only one thought in her mind. "Rui."
Her secretary, Nanami, who had been reading aloud the notes she made on Tsukushi's dictation a while ago suddenly stopped. "Madame, do you want me to add that to your dictation?"
Startled, Tsukushi smiled at her secretary. "No, that would be all for today. Thank you, Nanami." As the secretary exited Tsukushi's office, Doumyouji Kaede entered the room.
Wearing a black Armani ensemble, Kaede looked every bit the indomitable matriarch of the Doumyouji Group of Companies. "You haven't been yourself lately. Is there anything wrong?"
Tsukushi stood up and kissed Kaede's cheek by way of greeting. "No, Auntie. I'm fine. Just a bit preoccupied with things. How's everything in New York?" She offered Kaede a chair as she sat down behind her desk as well.
Eversince Kaede offered to adopt Tsukushi and trained her personally, their initial relationship grew from jealousy and hatred to begrudging respect and limited trust into finally true friendship and caring. After acquiring her second degree, Tsukushi underwent training at the Maple chain of boutique hotels across the world. From the lowest position, she worked her way up the ladder of success, excelling in every department where she was placed in. Kaede tutored Tsukushi herself, from working her way to the top, to acquiring social polish, to handling various business ventures and profiting marvelously in them. And from her investments alone, Makino Tsukushi has been whispered around the Asian business circle to be worth $200M, of which she had acquired in only close to two years.
Tsukushi, on the other hand, worked hard and always pushed herself to achieve perfection in everything she did. As Kaede showed her the ropes of hotel management, Tsukushi began to see the real Kaede behind her mask. Much to her disbelief, she found out that Kaede would donate huge amounts of money to various orphanages, build numerous charity hospitals, and fund numerous scholarships. The more they worked together, the more they got to know each other's characters.
"Business is doing fine in New York." Kaede paused as she picked up a picture frame of Tsukasa on Tsukushi's baronial desk and seemingly examining it. "By the way, I heard you're going to Amanpulo for the weekend."
Tsukushi looked up as she was about to call her secretary for tea, a surprised look on her face. "That's right. Hanazawa Rui invited me to his vacation house there, along with Akira's family for the weekend. But how did you know that?"
Kaede placed the frame back to its original position and smiled serenely. "From Hanazawa himself. We saw each other in New York. He asked me if I wanted to go. I told him an old woman like me wouldn't have the energy for an adventure anymore."
"Oh, Auntie! You haven't aged a bit, and I doubt you ever will. I know from fact that you've already discovered the Fountain of Youth from your archaeological digs! Please go with us. I'm sure you'll enjoy the fresh air and scenery there."
Kaede just chuckled softly. "Well, I smell a romantic escapade coming so I wouldn't want to intrude." She paused and sat down on the chair before Tsukushi's desk. "You have been grieving far too long, Tsukushi. It's time you move on." Tsukushi's gaze unconsciously settled on Tsukasa's black-and-white picture on her desk. "I have moved on, Auntie. Why do you think I work so hard?"
"Because there's nothing or no one else to occupy your life. Because you wanted to accomplish everything my son was supposed to achieve in his life. Because you want to pretend that you're doing all this for him, when in truth you simply want to be too tired come night time to feel or think of anything anymore. You're lonely, and you feel this much more around the success you have in life." Kaede's words struck a very deep chord.
She tore her gaze from the picture. "Maybe, Auntie. Is that so bad? Not being able to let go?"
Kaede smiled, wisdom and experience shining in her eyes. "Yes, my dear. It is wrong." She sighed, remembering her own lost love and Tsukasa's father. "One should always be able to get up after one's fall, however painful or humiliating as it may be. It's the very essence of life."
A moment of silence followed, each having her reverie.
"Hanazawa is a good man, Tsukushi," Kaede prodded gently, smiling again.
"I know, Auntie. He is perfect, too perfect if I may say so."
Kaede smiled warmly, laying her hand on Tsukushi's. "Too perfect for you? Why don't you let him decide who's perfect for him?"
"Auntie, have you been seeing a psychiatrist," Tsukushi teased, trying to evade the question.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Tea has arrived. Tsukushi poured Kaede a cup and helped herself to a sconce, laddling it with thick cream and strawberry jam.
Kaede waited before Nanami has left the room and closed the door. "No, my sanity is still intact. Maybe you're the one who needs help." Kaede made a circling motion near her head.
Tsukushi almost choked. "Auntie!"
"Well, it's true. Look at what you've become. Do you not take pride in your accomplishments? Why, you even speak more European languages fluently than Toudou Shizuka!"
A loud ring disrupted their relaxed conversation. Kaede answered her cellular phone while Tsukushi's teeth were arrested in biting the sconce. Really? Tsukushi smiled inwardly, placing the pastry on her Limoges plate and wiping her mouth delicately.
Ending her call, Kaede placed her phone back inside her slim black alligator attaché case and stood up. "I have to go now, my dear. I have an appointment in a short while with the American ambassador." The two women kissed farewell. Tsukushi led Kaede to the door. "By the way, Toudou asked me to send you her warmest regards."
"You have been to France?" Tsukushi asked as she opened the double doors out of her office. Stepping outside of her secretary's office, they proceeded to the elevator situated infront.
Kaede pressed the elevator button. "I was in New York for the last two weeks." Preoccupied, Kaede glanced at her Cartier watch impatiently.
Tsukushi persisted. "Shizuka resides in Paris. How did you see her then?" A nagging suspicion was forming in Tsukushi's mind. The elevator chimed and opened its doors. "I saw her in New York of course." Kaede stepped inside. "Hanazawa and Toudou were dining at La Côte Basque when they saw me come in for a dinner meeting with an English count. That was when Hanazawa invited me to join you and the Mimiasaka family in Amanpulo for the weekend." The elevator doors closed. Tsukushi stood there rooted to the floor. What was Toudou Shizuka doing in New York with Rui?
All throughout the week, Tsukushi seemed dazed and preoccupied. Her fingers touched her lips for the nth time within the hour as she gazed at the view from her office at the top floor of the Doumyouji Group building. There was only one thought in her mind. "Rui."
Her secretary, Nanami, who had been reading aloud the notes she made on Tsukushi's dictation a while ago suddenly stopped. "Madame, do you want me to add that to your dictation?"
Startled, Tsukushi smiled at her secretary. "No, that would be all for today. Thank you, Nanami." As the secretary exited Tsukushi's office, Doumyouji Kaede entered the room.
Wearing a black Armani ensemble, Kaede looked every bit the indomitable matriarch of the Doumyouji Group of Companies. "You haven't been yourself lately. Is there anything wrong?"
Tsukushi stood up and kissed Kaede's cheek by way of greeting. "No, Auntie. I'm fine. Just a bit preoccupied with things. How's everything in New York?" She offered Kaede a chair as she sat down behind her desk as well.
Eversince Kaede offered to adopt Tsukushi and trained her personally, their initial relationship grew from jealousy and hatred to begrudging respect and limited trust into finally true friendship and caring. After acquiring her second degree, Tsukushi underwent training at the Maple chain of boutique hotels across the world. From the lowest position, she worked her way up the ladder of success, excelling in every department where she was placed in. Kaede tutored Tsukushi herself, from working her way to the top, to acquiring social polish, to handling various business ventures and profiting marvelously in them. And from her investments alone, Makino Tsukushi has been whispered around the Asian business circle to be worth $200M, of which she had acquired in only close to two years.
Tsukushi, on the other hand, worked hard and always pushed herself to achieve perfection in everything she did. As Kaede showed her the ropes of hotel management, Tsukushi began to see the real Kaede behind her mask. Much to her disbelief, she found out that Kaede would donate huge amounts of money to various orphanages, build numerous charity hospitals, and fund numerous scholarships. The more they worked together, the more they got to know each other's characters.
"Business is doing fine in New York." Kaede paused as she picked up a picture frame of Tsukasa on Tsukushi's baronial desk and seemingly examining it. "By the way, I heard you're going to Amanpulo for the weekend."
Tsukushi looked up as she was about to call her secretary for tea, a surprised look on her face. "That's right. Hanazawa Rui invited me to his vacation house there, along with Akira's family for the weekend. But how did you know that?"
Kaede placed the frame back to its original position and smiled serenely. "From Hanazawa himself. We saw each other in New York. He asked me if I wanted to go. I told him an old woman like me wouldn't have the energy for an adventure anymore."
"Oh, Auntie! You haven't aged a bit, and I doubt you ever will. I know from fact that you've already discovered the Fountain of Youth from your archaeological digs! Please go with us. I'm sure you'll enjoy the fresh air and scenery there."
Kaede just chuckled softly. "Well, I smell a romantic escapade coming so I wouldn't want to intrude." She paused and sat down on the chair before Tsukushi's desk. "You have been grieving far too long, Tsukushi. It's time you move on." Tsukushi's gaze unconsciously settled on Tsukasa's black-and-white picture on her desk. "I have moved on, Auntie. Why do you think I work so hard?"
"Because there's nothing or no one else to occupy your life. Because you wanted to accomplish everything my son was supposed to achieve in his life. Because you want to pretend that you're doing all this for him, when in truth you simply want to be too tired come night time to feel or think of anything anymore. You're lonely, and you feel this much more around the success you have in life." Kaede's words struck a very deep chord.
She tore her gaze from the picture. "Maybe, Auntie. Is that so bad? Not being able to let go?"
Kaede smiled, wisdom and experience shining in her eyes. "Yes, my dear. It is wrong." She sighed, remembering her own lost love and Tsukasa's father. "One should always be able to get up after one's fall, however painful or humiliating as it may be. It's the very essence of life."
A moment of silence followed, each having her reverie.
"Hanazawa is a good man, Tsukushi," Kaede prodded gently, smiling again.
"I know, Auntie. He is perfect, too perfect if I may say so."
Kaede smiled warmly, laying her hand on Tsukushi's. "Too perfect for you? Why don't you let him decide who's perfect for him?"
"Auntie, have you been seeing a psychiatrist," Tsukushi teased, trying to evade the question.
There was a gentle knock on the door. Tea has arrived. Tsukushi poured Kaede a cup and helped herself to a sconce, laddling it with thick cream and strawberry jam.
Kaede waited before Nanami has left the room and closed the door. "No, my sanity is still intact. Maybe you're the one who needs help." Kaede made a circling motion near her head.
Tsukushi almost choked. "Auntie!"
"Well, it's true. Look at what you've become. Do you not take pride in your accomplishments? Why, you even speak more European languages fluently than Toudou Shizuka!"
A loud ring disrupted their relaxed conversation. Kaede answered her cellular phone while Tsukushi's teeth were arrested in biting the sconce. Really? Tsukushi smiled inwardly, placing the pastry on her Limoges plate and wiping her mouth delicately.
Ending her call, Kaede placed her phone back inside her slim black alligator attaché case and stood up. "I have to go now, my dear. I have an appointment in a short while with the American ambassador." The two women kissed farewell. Tsukushi led Kaede to the door. "By the way, Toudou asked me to send you her warmest regards."
"You have been to France?" Tsukushi asked as she opened the double doors out of her office. Stepping outside of her secretary's office, they proceeded to the elevator situated infront.
Kaede pressed the elevator button. "I was in New York for the last two weeks." Preoccupied, Kaede glanced at her Cartier watch impatiently.
Tsukushi persisted. "Shizuka resides in Paris. How did you see her then?" A nagging suspicion was forming in Tsukushi's mind. The elevator chimed and opened its doors. "I saw her in New York of course." Kaede stepped inside. "Hanazawa and Toudou were dining at La Côte Basque when they saw me come in for a dinner meeting with an English count. That was when Hanazawa invited me to join you and the Mimiasaka family in Amanpulo for the weekend." The elevator doors closed. Tsukushi stood there rooted to the floor. What was Toudou Shizuka doing in New York with Rui?