Chapter 2 – Totally Clueless

Clarence entered Hitomi's room followed by Hitomi, and placed her suitcase at the foot of a queen-sized four-poster bed with linen hanging on its sides and chocolate brown bed covers. "I'll call one of the maids to fix up your wardrobe, Miss Kanzaki."

"You don't have to Clarence. It's okay. I'll do it myself. Thank you."

"Lunch will be served in a moment. Come down when you're all settled." Clarence started walking towards the door.

"Clarence, is dad joining me for lunch?"

"Sorry, Miss Kanzaki, you're father is on a business meeting."

"Oh. Thank you, Clarence. I'll be down in a moment" Hitomi, once again disappointed, opened her suitcase and started to fix her wardrobe.

Last time I was here, dad was rarely home. Come to think of it, as years go by, I see him less and less. Good thing Yukari and Millerna were over here most of the time. But it's a different thing between having your parent inside the house and having your best friends at your side. Well I guess there is this distinct special connection between a parent and a child. I'm afraid that this connection will no longer exist in the future as it gets thinner and thinner as time pass by.

Hitomi was now settled and got out of the room. She headed for the dining hall.

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Hitomi entered the dining hall decorated by several tapestries. Looking over to the windows there is a small pond where beautiful water lilies float and a small wooden bridge running over it. Hitomi saw a single plate and a single set of cutlery on top of a 14-seater dining table. "Oh no, I don't want to eat alone."

Hitomi looked around then suddenly spotted Clarence walking alongside Van in the hallway leading into the dining hall. "Clarence! Van! It's great to see you two! Would you both please join me for lunch? Please, please, please! I really hate it when I eat alone. I've got no one to talk to."

"I'm sorry Miss Kanzaki, I already had my lunch. Thank you." Clarence turned down the offer. "I believe M- Van hasn't." Van was about to object but Clarence gave Van an encouraging look. "He can join you for lunch."

Van looked at Clarence with disbelief. He faced Hitomi and agreed in a dull manner. Clarence left to get a second plate and a set of cutlery.

"Great!" Hitomi happily headed towards her seat. Van pulled her seat for her. "Thanks, Van." She gave him a smile and thought to herself, that's really nice of him but it certainly doesn't match by the way he acts.

Van sat down across Hitomi. Clarence came back with the plate and cutlery. He was followed by maids carrying the food.

Hitomi gobbled up her food. Mmmmm. This is good. I guess I'll be missing my mum's cooking for a month. Hitomi eyed Van, whose eyes are cast down on his food that he's lazily eating. Hitomi asked, "You don't want to be here don't you? Clarence just forced you to join me."

Van, who was in deep thoughts, suddenly jerked up. "Oh….I actually haven't had lunch yet…"

Hitomi thought, there it goes again, that stutter! "Don't lie, Van. If you didn't want to join me, you should have said no."

Van didn't know how to respond. He suddenly blurted out, "Well, I'm here to set sight and acquire acquaintance to my fut- …to the people I work for." Van thought to himself, damn it, Van! That is so careless. Don't let it happen again! Please don't let her notice!

"You don't have to make it sound so serious and fancy. Well, to put it into you own terms, it would be nice to be 'acquainted' with you." Hitomi eyed him sheepishly. What a weird guy, but you could say he's quite good-looking with his dark locks of hair, chiseled face, high cheek bones, strong accentuated chin and those red eyes. Hitomi can't believe she's thinking this way.

Van looking slightly embarrassed had his eyes cast down on his food again. She didn't comment on how I suddenly changed the wording of my answer. Did she even notice? I think she did, but she chose to ignore it. I better be careful next time.

They both ate in a short moment of silence.

Hitomi feeling awkward started the conversation once again. "So….up to what extent, will our 'acquaintance' be in?" said Hitomi, giving Van a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"Oh shut up! Stop toying with the way I talk!"

Hitomi gave out a laugh. Not being able to wipe out the smile on her face she said, still giggling, "I'm sorry. It's just I haven't met a person like you! It seems that you came from a well-educated family. Let me guess. You're here for a part-time job so you can help pay fees for university. No offence or anything, but why are working as a driver? I mean, for whatever course you're doing, isn't it much better for you to gain work experience for that particular course so when you finish your degree, you'll get a higher chance of getting a career?"

This girl talks too much. I better think of something fast. Van answered Hitomi's question more confidently. "I believe so. Yes, I'm here for a part-time job but it's not for university fees. Right now, it's not my intention of gaining work experience. I'm here for family matters."

"Oh yeah, Jose is your uncle. It's really nice of you to fill up for him. But you know, if you're supposed to be doing something else more important than this, I think dad would understand. He'll find someone else to fill up for Jose while he's away."

"Thanks for the offer, but right now, family matters stand as my priority." Van has been relieved by the way the conversation is going. This girl gets bearable every minute.

"I see. That's alright then."

Hitomi and Van continued having their conversation while eating the rest of their lunch.

As Hitomi finished, she looked at Van, who was now also finished, and gave him a smile. "Thanks for joining me for lunch, Van. We should do this more often. Oh I know! Why don't you join me for afternoon tea tomorrow in the verandah? My friends are coming over. It'll be nice if you guys meet."

"Pleasure is mine, Hitomi. I'll do my best to make it for afternoon tea tomorrow." Van gave Hitomi a nod then left.

Hitomi smiled in return then headed to her room.

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'Ring…..Ring……'

Van's mobile phone was ringing. He looked at the screen. It's his brother, Folken.

"Hey Folken, what's up?"

"Hey Van, did you meet her yet?"

"Yeah, picked her up this morning and got forced to eat lunch with her."

"Well, what do you think?"

"She seems nice."

"That's good. It's really great that you're going through with this. You don't have to do this you know. You can back out if you want to. We'll find another way to sort things out."

"I've made up my mind. It's okay. It's already been agreed on. I'm already here working on it to make things easier to accept for the second party. I'm not going to back out now."

"If you say so. Remember, like I told you, you can back out any time. See you at home."

"See you." Van ended the call. He got on to his car and drove off leaving the Kanzaki's residence.

While driving Van asked himself. What do I really think about Hitomi Kanzaki?

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Hitomi was watching TV when she heard someone calling her name. That voice…Oh my gosh! Dad's here! She came out of her room running. "Dad, Dad!"

"Hey honey. I missed you! Sorry I didn't pick you up myself. Work just piled up on me."

"I understand." Hitomi gave her father a faint smile.

"That's my girl." Mr. Kanzaki gave Hitomi a hug. He sensed his daughter's disappointment towards him. He whispered in her ear, "Tell you what, I'll make it up to you okay?"

"Okay."

"Goodnight honey." Mr. Kanzaki kissed Hitomi on her forehead.

"Night dad." Hitomi walked back to her room. I guess he'll be working late even here at home. I bet I won't see him for breakfast.

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Hitomi woke up. It's Sunday morning. The sun has risen bringing another day. Hitomi got out of bed and walked groggily to her ensuite bathroom to wash up.

In her pink flannelette pyjamas, she walked out of her room to the kitchen to eat breakfast. As she entered the kitchen she saw a man, wearing a black robe over his blue checkered pyjamas, drinking coffee while reading the newspaper. Surprised, Hitomi exclaimed, "Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Good morning to you too, honey. Well, as you can see I'm having breakfast. Why don't you join me, the pancakes are delightful."

Hitomi sat down next to her father in the breakfast table in disbelief. "Don't you have work, dad?"

"I decided to have a rest today."

"Seriously, dad? Are you feeling sick or something?" Hitomi held up her hand to her father's forehead, checking his temperature.

"I'm fine, dear."

"That's good." Hitomi took away her hand and started off cutting a slice off her pancakes.

"Oh yeah, Hitomi, from now on I'll be working here at home."

Hitomi's sense suddenly froze. She regained her sense after a couple of seconds and just uttered, "Mmmmhmmm…." She thought, Dad is going to be home all the time! This is great! We're finally catching up from all those years. Our connection will not fade after all! But is you think about it, why is this so sudden? It's really weird. I barely see him at all before and now he'll always be around. It feels that there's some kind of miracle that occurred.

Author's note:

Okie…I made this chapter longer….i realized the first chapter was too short….well I believe this chapter is better than the first one….really hope I keep this up!

Thanks for reviews! I never really expected some one will actually read my fic….hehehehe…thanks again!

Dancegoddess – wow…u really like my story? Actually for the first chapter, I'm trying to let the readers' imagination go into different possibilities with the plot….well since you're going crazy with yours….i think it worked! Yay! Well, I hope this chapter answered your question! I'll try my best to update frequently. Thanks for the review!

Chocolate-Covered-Coffee-Beans – did I really start it good? Wow….i thought it was really boring….hope u liked this chapter!

Chisakami Saiyuki – well there you u go! I updated! What do you think? Still think my story is promising? Hehehehee…

Take care people! Byers!

elena-maria