OVER…OR NOT?

Chapter 4

Silence is Golden

The illusion of a perfect long distant relationship almost ended when Domyouji sent Makino a gold plated note on her twentieth birthday:

Give me another three years.

Silence is Golden.

Makino tried calling him the moment she received the 'present' but was not able to get to him. His mobile phone was always off and she knew she wouldn't be able to get pass his secretary who was doing the call filtering for Kadae.

She had been dying to see him and wanted to know why she needed to wait for another three years? What was the problem? But nobody could provide her with a proper answer, not even the one who made the request.

- - - - -

"He is receiving his punishment for breaking the pact with his mother."

Makino finally received a valid reason from Rui three months after receiving the note and immediately she understood why Domyouji had written 'Silence is Golden' – during this round, they were not even allowed any contact via any methods of telecommunication.

Makino missed him a lot especially when she was fully aware that their 'next times' would be three full years later. She thought of Domyouji constantly, everyday in fact, wondering how he was doing in New York. She wondered if he was coping with days without hearing her voice or seeing her face via internet video conferencing.

Nevertheless, sometimes she would get to see him appearing on the local newspaper whenever his company was having any breakthrough event pertaining to him. That was her only comfort but still she felt it was all very peculiar and far removed from what she knew, not something she could easily relate to. She wanted so badly to be able to relate to Domyouji's new life.

- - - - -

Soon Makino began to have a life that excluded Domyouji totally when she started working as a part time clerk in a big insurance company, where she met all kinds of people. Her world was no longer filled with only Domyouji Tsukasa or Hanazawa Rui. She was meeting grumpy old managers and young suave executives and people who wanted insurance for all sorts of things – from buildings to life to limbs and stamp collections.

It was a brand new world for Makino Tsukushi.

There was a group of girls working there who were constantly planning all sorts of exotic activities and trying to get her to join in.

"Come with us, Tsukushi." They would urge, "We're going to wall-climbing this weekend." Or they might say, "We are going to spend the night watching stars at Atami, do you want to join us?"

To her surprise, she found herself joining them quite frequently, even if she knew nothing about wall-climbing or star watching. In fact, the only star watching experience she had had was with Domyouji.

To her great surprise, she even found herself enjoying herself with the company of her new found friends. "Let's plan a trip to New York, how does that sound?" One of the girls suggested out during one of their routine gathering and of course, the decision was unanimous, especially Makino.

To be continued...