Chapter 10 – Setting Sights
Millerna entered Hitomi's walk-in wardrobe. She began rummaging through the racks of clothes finding an outfit to wear for their city stroll. "Hitomi, I hate to be frank, but you're life is completely messed up", she commented while tossing the pieces of clothing she disliked in a pile. "Your wardrobe says it all. It's pitiful."
"Millerna, let me just remind you that about half of my clothes where chosen by you. I am such a nice friend that I agreed that you bombard me with all those prissy clothing that you force me to wear." Hitomi smirked at Yukari, and they shared a giggle.
"Well then, I have done such a dreadful thing. Hitomi, could you call up a charity institution and tell them we've got heaps of clothes to donate?" Millerna continued discarding clothes off the racks and has already produced a big pile.
Hitomi called out to Millerna. "Get out of there right now! Leave my clothes alone! If you don't get out right at this instant, I'll be locking you inside and I'll only let you out when you finish putting everything back where you got them."
Millerna walked out, hands raised. "Fine! Fine! It's decided then that shopping will be our first agenda."
Yukari sneered at Millerna. "Shopping has always been our first agenda." She rolled her eyes and decided to move on with another topic. "Hey Hitomi, are we really going to see her today?"
"Well Dad, said so." Hitomi's face wore an incomprehensible expression. Days have passed and she's still uncertain about the recent occurrences.
"I can't believe all this." Millerna blurted out. She turned to Hitomi. "Your life got way more complicated. Life surely doesn't want to give you a rest."
Hitomi, much to her dismay, couldn't help but agree more.
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Finally arriving at the Kanzaki's residence, both Julianne and Francesca stepped out of the car gaping at the milieu of luxury. Francesca, who dwells in a house at the outskirts of the city, has never in her life set foot upon a place screaming out an overwhelming amount of riches. She has never considered of gaining acquaintance to the people living within these walls of luxury. Julianne, on the other hand, saw the outlook as a blast from the past. Since Van was by far the richest guy she ever had a relationship with, anything that signifies luxury directly diverts her thoughts to Van. She wallowed in self-pity.
Francesca was first to utter a comment. "Wow Julianne. Your real father is loaded."
Julianne however did not reply to Francesca's retort nor make any comment. She remained silent. She has never expected this to happen and she certainly was dumfounded.
The front door opened and both girls turned their heads to the door at a swift motion. A man came out of the door and walked towards the girls. "Good afternoon ladies. Mr. Kanzaki is expecting you. Please do come in." He motioned for both girls to go ahead of him to enter the manor. Once they were all inside, he closed the door. "By the way, my name is Clarence. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Clarence led the girls to the living room, waited for both girls to sit down. "I will call Mr. Kanzaki now." He turned and left.
Julianne found herself in a room where its walls are filled with an array of portraits and paintings. Not leaving her seat, she diverted her eyes examining the portraits hanging up on the walls. If the owner of this house is indeed her father, then she has just caught a glimpse of her family and relatives, her real family in blood. Her eyes feasted with the appearances of the figures pictured in the portraits. She sought tidbits of evidence that proves she is really a member of a prestigious family. A number of figures pictured in the portraits shared some of her facial features. Having found similarities, she was still uncertain on how she feels about the situation.
Glancing around, she suddenly found a sole bearer of emerald green eyes. She wondered why this is so. The eyes shone with its distinct beauty. Suddenly it had hit her. She has seen those eyes before and that face.
"It seems you've got yourself a sister." Francesca took Julianne out of her trance.
Julianne became confounded with her friend's statement. "How did you know that?"
"It's simple." Fran pointed to the portrait where Julianne saw the emerald green eyes. "That's by far the most recent portrait in this room. I'm pretty sure that that man is your real father and the teenage girl next to him is his daughter."
A man entered the living room, clearing his throat. "I believe you've got it right."
Both Julianne and Fran turned to the source of the voice. They saw the man from the portrait in flesh and blood standing only a couple of meters away. They both stood up hastily.
The man smiled at their notion and walked towards them. "Good afternoon ladies. I'm Mr. Kanzaki." He extended his hand to Julianne. "I believe that you are Julianne."
Julianne was taken aback by the acknowledgement. She meekly smiled and shook Mr. Kanzaki's hand. "Yes I am, sir. How did you know?"
"You're a near splitting image of your mother."
"Oh I see." Julianne didn't know how to reply to the predicament, so instead she introduced Francesca to Mr. Kanzaki. "By the way, this is my friend Francesca. She now manages the orphanage I grew up in."
Mr. Kanzaki shook hands with Francesca and asked them both to be seated.
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Hitomi heard someone knocking at her bedroom door. She called out. "Come in." The door opened and she saw Clarence enter. "Oh, hi Clarence. What's up?"
"Good afternoon Miss Hitomi, Miss Uchida and Miss Aston. The visitors have arrived, Miss Hitomi. Your father is waiting for you in the living room."
"Thanks Clarence. I'll be down in a minute."
Clarence bowed and turned to leave the room.
Hitomi turned to her friends who were now staring at her, anticipating a reaction. "You guys have to come with me. After we meet her, we can go leave and head to the city."
"Are you sure your dad wouldn't mind, Hitomi?" Yukari asked.
"Why would he?" answered Hitomi. She looked at her friends with pleading eyes. "Please you guys. I know you guys want to meet her as well. Plus, just seeing her won't satisfy your curiosity."
"I'm with you Hitomi" said Millerna. "Let's get this done and over with." Millerna grabbed hold of Yukari's hand and started pulling her along. She called out. "C'mon Hitomi, let's not waste precious shopping time."
Hitomi smiled in delight at the thought of having moral support. She surely doesn't seem comfortable with meeting Julianne alone. She has this gut feeling that there is more to her aside from being her father's real daughter. She certainly doesn't feel any good vibes in the atmosphere. She left the room behind Millerna and Yukari, and closed the door behind her.
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"So, what do you do now?" Mr. Kanzaki asked Julianne.
"Oh…Um… I'm currently studying graphic design in a university. In between that, I sometimes help manage my father's business."
Chattering of voices was heard from the hallway approaching the living room. Mr. Kanzaki spoke out first, recognizing the voices. "My daughter Hitomi is coming to meet you." Upon seeing Hitomi and her friends enter the living room, he proclaimed, "Here she comes now with company."
Julianne and Francesca stood up to meet the newcomers whom Mr. Kanzaki introduced. Polite greetings were exchanged. As Mr. Kanzaki asked all to sit down, Hitomi informed her father that she and her friends were heading to the city.
Hitomi uttered apologies on behalf of Yukari, Millerna and herself. "We're sorry we couldn't stay and chat. It was nice meeting you." Hitomi smiled at Julianne and Francesca and turned to leave the living room after her friends.
Julianne returned the smile and watched Hitomi and her friends leave. Thoughts have clouded her mind. Seeing that Francesca initiated the conversation with her real father, she fled from reality and settled within a void where she continued to ponder with her thoughts. Hitomi Kanzaki…She's Hitomi Kanzaki, the girl betrothed to Van! How come I never thought of this from the start ever since I got hold of my real father's name? She's going to marry Van and that will make me…Van's sister- in-law. Julianne whimpered at the thought. She couldn't get herself to like it one bit.
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Inside the car, Hitomi looked out the window watching the world pass. She has finally met Julianne. She is not sure whether she is happy about having an elder sister or if she is sad. Wandering off with her thoughts, she lost the motivation to join the chit chat between her friends. Julianne…She definitely is dad's daughter. Her facial features say it all. Hitomi sighed. She grew up not knowing her real parents, and here I am, who grew up with whom I thought was my real parents. Hitomi sighed once more but deeper. We both basically grew up within a barricade of lies. Hitomi snapped out of her thoughts when Yukari nudged her arm. "What's up?"
Yukari asked, "Do you agree about Julianne having somewhat a bad feeling around her? Well she looks and seems nice but there's something else that I can't quite put my finger to."
"Umm... I don't know…" Hitomi answered vaguely. She knew that she had just lied to her friends, because she has also had that feeling. She couldn't comprehend the reason why she has done this. Am I actually defending Julianne? Am I taking her side? Hitomi was unable to answer.
"Well Millerna and I think so. You better watch out Hitomi."
"Whatever you say." Hitomi dismissed the topic.
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Stories of the past were shared between Julianne and Mr. Kanzaki. Julianne told Mr. Kanzaki about her childhood and Mr. Kanzaki told Julianne about his late first wife, her mother.
The doorbell rang.
Shortly, Clarence entered the living room and apologized for disrupting the conversation. He walked towards Mr. Kanzaki. "Mr. Folken and Van Fanel are here, sir, asking for your presence. They are waiting at the foyer. Will you meet them, sir?"
Mr. Kanzaki answered. "Oh yes. I'll meet them here. Thank you."
Clarence bowed and left.
Julianne's eyes grew wide in disbelief. Her heart skipped a beat and then it started pounding hard. She suddenly felt queasy and butterflies started fluttering inside her stomach. Van Fanel? My Van is here?
Mr. Kanzaki noticed the sudden change of Julianne's face. "Is there something wrong, Julianne?"
Hearing her name, Julianne slightly jumped. "Oh yes. I'm alright, sir…"
"Julianne, I prefer that you don't call me 'sir'. You are my daughter so formalities don't apply-". Mr. Kanzaki was cut off as Van and Folken Fanel entered the room followed by Clarence. He stood up and met the new visitors. Greetings were exchanged. He turned to Clarence who was standing by the door. "Thank you Clarence. Would you kindly prepare afternoon tea in the verandah?"
"Yes, sir. Right away." Clarence bowed and left.
Mr. Kanzaki turned back to Van and Folken. "Before we proceed to business, I would like you to meet my recently found daughter Julianne and her friend Francesca."
Van froze when Julianne's name was mentioned. He knew that he will cross paths with her but he didn't expect it to be so soon. He didn't expect that he'd be in the same room with Julianne having only the partition of a couple of meters apart.
Julianne's heart jumped in delight upon seeing Van. She missed him terribly. She greeted Van meekly, showing no evidence of her sheer excitement. "Hi Van…"
This caused Van to snap out of his frozen state. He retorted, "Oh, hi Julianne." He wasn't able to say anything else.
Folken watched his younger sibling greet his ex-girlfriend. He thought. Van is silent. There's no physical contact between them. He is definitely holding back.
Mr. Kanzaki on the other hand was surprised to see that Van and Julianne have already met. "Such a small world this is." He chimed. Looking at Van and Julianne he said, "So how did you two meet?"
Both Van and Julianne didn't utter a word. The silence was broken by Folken who decided to answer the question for them both. "I believe, Mr. Kanzaki, that they were old acquaintances." All heads were now facing Folken.
"Oh really?" asked Mr. Kanzaki. "I suppose that you have met Julianne too?"
"Yes I have."
"It is such a small word indeed." Mr. Kanzaki looked at the grandfather clock for the time. "Oh look at the time, we better get down to business, Folken. We'll go to my study. All the files are in there." Seeing that Van was readying himself to follow, he told him, "You can stay here, Van. I'm sure that you and Julianne have some catching up to do." He turned to Julianne and Francesca. "I'm sorry I have to go for awhile. Please do stay for afternoon tea and dinner, where I will surely join you. Make yourselves at home."
As Julianne and Francesca agreed, Mr. Kanzaki and Folken left the living room. The room suddenly became silent and it held a very awkward atmosphere. Van, Julianne and Francesca just stood still either staring at each other or into space.
A mobile phone rang.
Francesca jerked up as she realized that is was her mobile phone ringing. Having to take the call she excused herself and left the room, leaving Van and Julianne alone.
Julianne getting fed up of the awkward silence, she attempted to start a conversation. "So… I haven't seen you for a long time. How are you now?"
"I'm fine. How about you?"
"I'm alright, I guess."
"That's good."
"Yeah…" Julianne didn't like how the conversation was going. In the past, oh, how she wished to see him again. And now it actually came true! She could take a step forward, nearing her desired happy ending, which is to be with Van. She suddenly flung her arms around Van's neck in a swift motion. She murmured. "I missed you so much Van…" She nuzzled at the crook of his neck.
Van was taken aback. Having Julianne close, took him back to the past. He reminisced the times when he and Julianne were still together, which certainly put a smile on his face. Within their relationship the bad occurrences was outweighed by the great and happy moments. Although he refused to think he had missed Julianne too, one part of him that still clings to the past wanted to return the affection to Julianne. But the other part of him reminded him of his obligation towards his family. He has regarded his family as his current priority. That other part also showed him a mental image of Hitomi.
Julianne desperately wanted Van to hug her back, to hold her firmly in his arms like he used to in the past. She sought the warmth of his embrace, but she never got it.
Van merely placed his hands on her hips, somewhat giving a hint that Van will soon push Julianne away. However, Van did no such thing. Inside his head he said, I missed you too, Julianne. He couldn't get himself to say that to her, for he believes it would only bring renewed pains. Having Julianne's arms still clinging on to his neck, he waited for her to let go. He couldn't get himself to push her away.
Finally convinced that Van will not return the affection, Julianne pulled herself away from Van looking disheartened. "Things will never go back as they were before, will it?" She asked with a meek voice.
"I don't think so." Van answered in sympathy
"If you were to decide, will you let it?"
The question struck Van hard. He couldn't muster up an answer. Within his thoughts, he kept repeating. I don't know. I don't know. I don't know…
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A/N: Another chapter done! REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY that this took so long! This took me so long to write since school is just a hassle right now and I'm struggling to get everything finished…
Newayz…I hope this chapter is ok. Thanks so much for the reviews! Although I would be so glad if I get more! Well if I do get more, I'm sure it will motivate me to update! PLEASE REVIEW!
Review replies:
Inda – yup…poor van…he'll be facing such hard decisions, now that Julianne just popped out of nowhere and of course making things complicated once again… hope you like this update: )
Kathya – yeah…making things complicated is my specialty! LOL! well since life itself is complicated, I guess I got it off that. To tell you the truth, when I introduced Julianne…I thought she'll only be a cameo…after many chapter written, I just randomly came up with the idea and I decided it'll be one of my final twists… yup : ) what will happen to Hitomi now, you ask? Well you'll find out in the next chapter! Hope you like this update: )
Chocolate-Covered-Coffee-Beans – yup: ) it is my biggest twist and one of my final twists! How will Van and Hitomi's relationship survive this? The next chapter will be dealing with that… kinda… : ) well, since everyone wants Van and Hitomi to end up together (who doesn't want that?..hehehehe), I'll make sure that Julianne won't completely ruin things…but I assure you that she will ruin things… yup: ) hope you like this update!
tigger093061 – like I said to Chocolate-Covered-Coffee-Beans, Hitomi and Van will end up together… but the big question is how? Yup: ) I've got another twist cumin up in the next chapter! woohoo! Hope you like my update: )
pbee – Yay! New reviewer! Thanks so much for reading my fic and reviewing it! i'm really happy that you like my story and the twist! Yay! I assure you that Hitomi will definitely get hurt… but how? That will be on the next chapter! hope u like this update: )
f-zelda – really sori that I can't answer your questions! I'm like tempted to blurt it out but I will surely spoil and ruin it for you! Hope you like this update: )
Take care people!
elena-maria