Chapter 1 – Just Another Day
(see Author's Notes below)
The figures on the computer screen were starting to get blurry. Now, just a few more lines … … Come on, Tsukushi … … She mentally cheered herself on. Yes, go Tsukushi go … … Nearly there … … Almost … … Aaaaaaaah finito! In one swift movement, she pressed the save button and then flung her arms over the sides of the chair as she arched her back in a full body stretch, nearly toppling out of her chair when a shriek was emitted close to her ears.
"Tsukushi! That's the third time this week you almost broke my nose!"
"Opps, sorry Yuki!" She quickly recovered her balance and turned to grin sheepishly at her close friend and colleague who worked in the human resource department on the fourth floor. "You always have such great timing," she could not resist teasing the slender woman with short, dark hair who stood next to her table with a mock disgruntled look on her face. "Now what can our humble accounting department do for you?"
"It's lunchtime already. Or have you also forgotten how to tell the time?" Yuki retorted with a twinkle in her eyes.
"Already?" Tsukushi's surprise was genuine. "Well, that's what happens every month end. You know how much work closing the accounts involve. And I'm not even a full fledged accountant yet!"
Yuki nodded, "that's true. Does this mean that you don't have time for lunch?" She received her answer in the form of a loud rumble from Tsukushi's stomach and looked at her embarrassed friend in amusement.
"Well, a man's got to eat!" Tsukushi said a trifle defensively. "Did you bring your lunch with you? Okay, let me just get mine … … I'm starving!" She grabbed the bag containing her lunch and dragged Yuki out of her office, chattering animatedly all the way to the cafeteria.
"By the way have you heard the rumours relating to the identity of the new co-owner of our company?" Tsukushi asked Yuki. Two weeks ago, the managing director had announced that their company was in the process of merging with another huge multi-national company. The identity of the other party was kept secret in case the news was leaked out to the ruthless media.
Yuki shook her head, "it's been extremely hush hush. I don't think even Kyoko knows about it."
"Well, if the director of the human resource department has no idea, then … …" She turned and slammed head first into a black pillar that had suddenly appeared out of no where.
"LOOK … …" Yuki's warning cry came too late as the force of the collision sent Tsukushi sprawling backwards. "… … out." She concluded softly as her friend landed ungracefully on her derrière, with an astonished look on her face and an audible oooomph as the air was forced out of her lungs.
Tsukushi's first thought that the floor was really hard vanished when her eyes landed on her ruined lunch. Her lunchbox had burst open when she dropped her bag. She found herself looking a little ruefully at the previously pristine, beige carpet that was now decorated with bits of rice, chopped vegetables, egg and gravy. From her peripheral vision, she saw that a hand was extended to her palm up. An embarrassed flush coated her cheeks as she accepted the assistance offered and winced a little at the throbbing pain as she stood up.
"Thank you … …" Her voice died away as she found herself gaping at one of the most good-looking man that she had ever seen before. Dressed in an expensive and well-cut suit with dark, curly hair, bronzed skin, a chiselled jaw and aristocratic features, he could easily grace the covers of any magazine. However, a second glance revealed that his handsome features were marred by temper and arrogance.
"Watch where you're going." The biting words and the tone with which they were delivered raised Tsukushi's hackles.
"Mister, I'm not the only one at fault here! You ran into me too! And you didn't even apologise for spoiling my lunch!" His dark brows drew together in a huge frown at her audacity in upbraiding him, and glanced carelessly in the direction of her pointed finger.
"Fine, I'll compensate you for your lunch!" His lip curled contemptuously as he turned back to his little entourage. Tsukushi noticed that all of them were wearing business suits and ties. "Jack, make arrangements with the company's restaurant to put her and her friend's lunch on my account." One of the man nodded and started to head for the lifts. Tsukushi's face whitened and her hands clenched into fists at his implied insult that she was kicking up a fuss in order to get a free meal.
"How dare you," she hissed, her voice was low and trembling with fury. "You are the rudest and most arrogant bastard I have ever met. I won't eat your free lunch even if I were starving!" With that, she spun around and grabbed Yuki, dragging her down the stairway, totally unaware that his dark eyes followed her melodramatic exit.
"Mr Doumyouji?" Jack paused as he looked at the tall, dark man for further instructions.
"Do it anyway." Jack scooted away to obey his orders. "And Hanaru, go and find out everything you can about the girl." He paused, "and I mean EVERYTHING."
"Yes, sir." A small, dangerous smile appeared on Tsukasa's lips as he headed for the lifts with the rest of his men, his mind on the feisty young girl who had the temerity to yell at him and insult him in front of everyone. She would soon learn her place … …
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"The nerve of that asshole!" Tsukushi was still fuming as she jabbed furiously at a piece of chicken meat with her chopsticks.
"Calm down, Tsukushi. The poor chicken is already dead." Yuki tried to soothe her angry friend. "And you shouldn't be so rash, you know."
"But he blamed the entire incident on me and then accused me of being a freeloader! The arrogant, presumptuous moron!"
"Even so, you shouldn't have lost your temper. He's probably a customer and can lodge a complaint against you. You can't afford to loose this job." Yuki said patiently and watched Tsukushi deflate.
"Yes, you're right as usual," she said with a sigh. "It's just that I can't stand rich idiots like him who think they can do anything just because they have the money … …"
"At least he was nice enough to help you up." Tsukushi snorted.
"And … … you have to admit he was rather cute … …"
"YUKI!"
"It's true … …" She laughed at the exaggerated betrayed look on Tsukushi's face. "Anyway, how's Souta?"
"He's doing very well in school," Tsukushi's face lit up immediately. "His homeroon teacher even informed me that he has a high chance of winning a scholarship for his high school education."
"That's great!"
"Yeah, the only thing is he's still quite sickly and falls ill rather frequently … …" The two friends chatted on and soon forgot about the unpleasant incident.
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Cutting a striking figure in a dark blue shirt with a cream coloured knit vest, cream coloured trousers and a matching tie, Rui turned several female heads as he stepped into the hotel lobby. Used to the attention, he calmly glanced at the gold watch adorning his left wrist. It was 1.45pm, he had 15 minutes to spare. He strolled into the restaurant, smiled charmingly at the female concierge and enquired if his companion had arrived. Receiving a negative reply, he situated himself at a spot where he could observe unobtrusively all the patrons entering the restaurant.
He did a quick mental recap on the information that Shizuka had faxed to him. It was one of the most common case, a loveless marriage between the children of two business tycoons to formalise a business arrangement. The husband had been constantly unfaithful and the wife had been relatively indifferent. However, their only son had recently gone abroad to further his studies, leaving his mother alone at home.
Don't come on too strongly, Shizuka had written in her analysis, the client probably just wants a distraction from the boredom and loneliness. She's the typical obedient daughter, faithful wife and good mother in the eyes of society. She has always followed the rules strictly, until now. Also, you are only a few years older than her son. Give her time to get use to dating a younger man and get over the guilt. Do not underestimate her intelligence, she graduated with an economics degree.
A wry smile twisted his lips. Shizuka often prided herself as somewhat of a psychologist, adding her little write-ups and comments to the other information and facts about their more important customers. However, he had to admit that she was right most of the time. He was just recalling the client's hobbies and interests when he spotted her. Her dress was simple but elegant and her hair was swept up in a neat chignon. Her figure was still rather good and she looked younger than her age, appearing to be in her late thirties or early forties. He waited for a couple of minutes before slipping into his Ray persona and making his way to the private dining room.
"May I know if this seat is taken?" Her head jerked up at the sound of his voice. Ray smiled boyishly at her, turning on his charm. The lady stared at him for a long moment as her cheeks turned a dull red and quickly shook her head. He observed that she was no beauty but her features were pleasant. As he took the seat opposite her, Ray made a gesture to the waiter who swiftly brought them two menus.
"What would you like to drink, sir and madam?"
"Any preferences?" Ray deferred to her politely but she left the choice to him. He selected a couple of wines and obtained her approval after they both sampled his choices. She was staring at the menu, but her nervousness was betrayed by the way the menu shook in her hands. Taking over, Ray ordered a light but delicious meal for her, keeping her preferences in mind. When the waiter left the room, he started to make conversation, keeping it light and slowly drawing her out with consummate skill. With the help of the excellent wine which he encouraged her to partake, he had her laughing as they talked about books, travelling and gardening by the time the meal had arrived. By the end of the meal, they were on first names basis and she had accepted his suggestion for an evening at the opera.
"I look forward to our next meeting," Ray smiled as he walked her out to her car and opened the door for her. "I'm sure you'll like the opera."
"Yes, it does sound like fun. I've never been to one before," she paused after getting into the car, her uncertainty with regards to how such meetings should end and her reluctance to leave evident on her face. "Thank you again, I haven't enjoyed myself so much in ages."
"The pleasure was all mine," with one smooth movement, Ray expertly removed her hand from the door and pressed a kiss on her fingers before placing her hand gently on the steering wheel, allowing his hand to linger on hers for the briefest moment. "Drive safely," he told her gently before straightening and closing the door for her. When she looked back again, he was gone … …
As soon as he got into his silver Chevrolet Convertible, Ray pulled out his handphone and pressed his speed dial. He only had to wait for a couple of seconds.
"Renaissance Escorts, how can I help you?"
"Hi Janice, it's Ray here."
"Hey, how's it going Ray? Shizuka's been waiting for your call. Hang on, I'll put you through."
"Shizuka." She answered the call almost immediately.
"Ray reporting to the base, madam," he replied in a mocking tone, teasing her for her no-nonsense business like manner.
"You made an impression on her," it was more of a statement than a question.
"She was practically sitting on the edge of her chair the entire meal, ready to flee from me at the least provocation," he contradicted.
"Ray," Shizuka said calmly, "I know your capabilities too well. She'd have been melting like goo by the end of lunch. Did she ask to see you again?"
"Yes," he said quietly. "Dinner and opera."
"Great, I'll check our bookings and wait for her to contact us. Good job, Ray, you haven't let us down. Now go and get ready to spend a wild night in town with Ms Fuyo. Remember you're picking her up at her apartment at seven pm. She likes sunflowers." There was a click as she hung up.
"Why can't she say goodbye like a normal person? And she should know that I always remember my own clients' likes and dislikes." Ray grumbled as he flipped the mouthpiece shut and lightly tossed his phone onto the empty seat next to him. He sighed as he stretched and leaned his head against the headrest for a moment, feeling drained.
First meetings are always the hardest, he reminded himself. The people who complained about the difficulties faced with selling used cars and the pains of going for job interviews had obviously never been employees of an escort service or, more crudely, gigolos. It was extremely difficult to try to establish a connection and to promote oneself to a client within two hours, especially when in most cases the clients were wealthy married women who would be feeling embarrassed, shy, awkward and having serious doubts the entire "transaction". Rumi had seemed to be alright once the ice was broken. However, one would never really know. Well, time to get ready for the next appointment. Rui sat up, revved up his car engine and smoothly drove out of the carpark.
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For the purposes of this story, a gigolo is different from a male prostitute and is defined as:
1. A man who has a continuing sexual relationship with and receives financial support from a woman.
2. A man who is hired as an escort or a dancing partner for a woman.
Contrast this with the definition of a prostitute:
1. to offer indiscriminately for sexual intercourse especially for money
2. to devote to corrupt or unworthy purposes : DEBASE prostitute one's talents
Nancy: Thanks for your kind words – I certainly hope that this new story will meet your expectations! I have to admit that it's going to be really OOC and quite different from HYD with a more mature theme, so I'm actually kind of testing waters here too!
Lian: Good to see you again! How are things back home? This time I have to admit that the plot doesn't weight so heavily on Rui alone – not for what I have in mind at least. Admittedly, if I think of something better things may change. Thanks for dropping me a comment !!!
lovedoves: Hi there! No, the plot will be quite different from a reversed "Pretty Woman". I guess the common theme would probably be prostitution?
Zen Nat: Thanks for leaving such a long comment! Rui was indeed acting quite OOC so I'm quite surprised that you managed to guess that it was Rui. I had thought that it would seem more Soujirou or Akira! Good on ya! Indeed you seem to have completely caught onto the many subtleties that I have tried to incorporate in the prologue. Well done … … :) With regards to more details, they will be provided as the story unfolds. Hope you like this style ;) … …
Piglet: Really good to see you again! I certainly hope that this isn't too OOC? Yes, the liking for older woman and apparent one-night stands is indeed Akira's style. I have to admit that I did think of placing Akira or Soujirou in Rui's role, then I decided that Rui's character would be too bland. Thanks so much for your encouraging comments !!!
Kensingtonkid: So glad to see your name too! One of my most loyal reviewers … … thank you so much! You've definitely got the plot right. Rui at the moment is a gigolo which you have rightly distinguished from a prostitute. Shizuka is one of the managers of the escort agency. Thanks sooooooooooooo much as always for your encouraging comments! I really hope you like this story :).
.:: Stacey ::. (perfectionisimpossiblehotmail.com): Another old reviewer! Welcome! I hope Rui's image is not too hard for you to take. I have to admit I don't think it will get better for a looooooong long time! Thanks for your well wishes and for reading and commenting as well !!!!
getsu yuri: Thanks for your comments! Totally understand – sometimes too much angst can be too depressing and there are times when I just want to relax with a sweet romance too !