Chapter 11

Being back in London, one day after work I went up to the penthouse and found everyone except Eisuke. I was glad that everything was back to normal. I wondered where Eisuke was.

"Boss'll be back soon." Baba said.

"Thanks."

"You always look like a puppy searching for her owner when you're looking for Eisuke, Freya." Ota said.

And the teasing beginnings, I definitely didn't miss this when everyone left.

"Funny." I said sarcastically and pouted at him.

"Maybe she's just domesticated." Kishi said.

"Hah. Very funny." Soryu said. "Sometimes she still comes dangerously close to biting the hand that feeds her."

Is that how everyone saw our relationship? I listened to their very frank opinions of me, when Baba leaned forward.

"By the way, what did you two when you left MI6 headquarters?" he asked.

"Do you guys know about the Ichinomiya Group's new business venture?" I asked.

"What, the cruise ship?" Ota asked.

"Boss was pretty excited to build that huge ship." Baba said.

"He took me to the warehouse by the harbour and showed it to me."

"It's completed?" Soryu asked.

"Yes, we went inside. I think it's almost done."

"Can't believe you're the first one he showed it to." Kishi said.

"Guess we're chopped liver." Ota said. "Whatever, it's not like I care or anything."

"So how was it?" Baba asked.

So they hadn't seen it yet? Eisuke showed me first? I felt quite important at that moment.

"It was amazing. It's basically the boat version of the Tres Spades." I said.

"Wow, so how were the beds?" Baba asked.

"Really soft."

"Oh? So you tried out the beds with Eisuke, then?" Ota said with a chuckled.

Oh, me and my big mouth. Ota and Baba laughed at me and I realised that they did that on purpose.

"Oh shut up. You guys did that on purpose. That's entrapment."

"Nah, not even close. I couldn't book 'em for that." Kishi said with a chuckle just as the door opened.

"What's all the commotion about?" Eisuke asked as he strode into the room.

"Oh, welcome back Eisuke." I said and turned to greet him.

"We were just talking about the new cruise ship." Baba said. "I can't believe you didn't show us around yet, Boss."

"I'll show it to you soon enough." Eisuke said before he walked over to me. "I need to talk to you."

"Ok, let's go upstairs-" before I could even finish my sentence, he lifted me up into his arms and slung me over to his shoulder. "Hey, let me down. I can walk you know."

"You've lost weight." He murmured into my ear as he carried me away.

"What? I have?" now that he mentions it, some of my clothes had gotten slightly looser lately. It's been so hectic lately, I hadn't really been eating much.

"I don't like it when girls get too skinny." Kishi said.

"She eats like a horse, so I'm surprised she can stay that thin." Soryu said.

"I don't eat that much."

"She lost weight because you stressed her out, Eisuke." Ota said.

Eisuke ignored all the comments from the peanut gallery as he climbed the stairs to our room. When we got upstairs, he put me down on the sofa.

"I want to talk about your parents." He said.

"Oh ok."

"I told them I'd meet with them again the last time I was at your house, remember? So I want to decide on the day to do that." he said and sat down next to me.

"Oh ok. When were you thinking?"

"We have to make sure it's a day that works for your schedule and your parents' as well. So just let me know a day that's convenient for you."

"Ok, I'll ring them and ask." I said. Since when did Eisuke let me set our schedule? Up until now, he'd just throw me onto a plane without telling me anything or take me out of the hotel and we'd go where ever he wanted to go. And he never really cared if it was convenient for me. He really has changed. "I should be able to trade my shifts next week and I'm sure my parents will be free. I'm pretty sure that weekend should work."

"I really wanted Akira to come along, but he's on a business trip right now and can't get away. He told me to tell you how sorry he is that he couldn't make it, but he'll definitely be there for the engagement ceremony."

"Oh that's ok, I understand." I said. He actually tried to get Akira to come, I couldn't believe this. It was nice to see him be serious about this "I'll call my mum right now."

"Mm. You can go ahead and tell her about my background, too."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"She should know all about me if we're going to get married." He said. "It'll be better if she knows in advance before she meets Akira."

"Ok." I took out my cell phone and call home, my mum answered right away.

"Hi Freya."

"Hi mum. I'm here with Eisuke and we're trying to plan to come see you. Are you free any time next week?" I asked.

"Hang on one second. Let's see, next week…" she then told me the days that she and dad were free. "Eisuke wanted to bring his father, but he's on a business trip right now and can't come."

"Oh that's ok. Tell him we appreciate the thought."

"Great. Also, I wanted to let you know that Eisuke's dad, Akira, is actually his adopted father and…" I explained Eisuke's family situation and mum listened patiently.

"Yes, I understand. Thanks for telling me. We're looking for to seeing you both." She said.

"Ok, I'll call you next week before we leave." I said and hung up. "She's looking forward to seeing you again." I said to Eisuke.

"Great."

"Thank you for keeping your promise so soon." I said and he squeezed my left hand.

"If you're grateful, show me with your actions instead of your words." He said and pushed me down to the sofa. He started to unbutton my blouse, his fingers stopped at my engagement ring that hung on a chain around my neck. "Work's over. Put it on."

"Ok." I took my ring off and slipped it on my finger, but it automatically twisted around. "Whoops."

"See? I knew you'd lost weight." He took my hand and touched my loose ring. "Should I get it resized?"

"No, I'm sure I'll regain the weight. I'll just put it back on the necklace." As soon as I did that, Eisuke continued to undress me.

"Don't loose any more weight without my permission." He as he removed my clothes.

"It's not like I did it on purpose." I said and removed his jacket and shirt.

Several nights later, before dinner, I decided to go to a boutique with Becca to pick out a dress to wear for when me and Eisuke see my parents.

"Why is clothes shopping so difficult?" I said.

"You make it difficult. Clothes shopping should be something to enjoy." She said.

She took me to a rack and picked out a few dresses for me to try on. She pushed me to the changing rooms and made me try on the dresses. In the end, she made me buy two dresses with some shoes to match. After, we went out for lunch.

A few days before we go back to Japan, I was thinking about what presents we should take to my parents house. We were sat in the lounge.

"We should bring them something." I said.

"Just pick some candy and tea out of the airport before we leave." Eisuke said.

"But it would be nice if we got them something a little unusual like an antique." I said.

"If you start picking out antiques now, we'll be here forever. You want to waste all the time we have left before we leave on picking out a gift?" he said.

"I won't take that much time."

"They've been to England before, so you should give them a typical souvenir they'd be familiar with." He said.

"Yeah, that's true. Cookies or tea would make the most sense. Fine, I'll just buy something at the airport."

"Yes, you should do that." he said.

A few days later, we were on a private jet going to Japan. I wanted to get some sleep on the way there, but I was too nervous and I couldn't sleep.

"You're awfully restless today." Eisuke said.

"I'm just nervous."

"Why are you nervous now? I'll distract you so that you don't even have time to be nervous." He said and slipped a hand around my waist and yanked me close to him.

"Eisuke, not now." I said but he didn't stop and started stripping me.

"You have plenty of time to get dressed again and I'll re-do your hair for you." He said. He took my necklace off and removed the ring. "Put the ring back on before we get there."

"Ok." I held up my hand and he slipped it back on, but it was still loose.

"Still loose, hm?" he said before running his hands down my body.

What the hell? I pulled him close and kissed him on the lips.