Chapter 61

Your father wants to speak with you, in person. Come back home as soon as possible.

Leifang read the message once more before shutting the phone off and placing it on the little table before her. Right now she was sitting in the plane that would fly her to Hong Kong. On the morning after she had read the message for the first time she had talked with Hitomi about the mail and they had decided that it would be best if Leifang simply complied, so she had booked the first flight on Saturday.

She looked out of the window and wondered if Hitomi was still at the terminal, waiting for the plane to take off.

"I'll won't be away long." Leifang had said. "Probably stay the night and then take the next flight back. I should be back on Monday morning the latest."

"Don't worry, I'll manage without you for a couple of days." Hitomi had said. She eyed the phone in the Chinese's hand. "You gotta be ok?"

"I...Well I hope so." Leifang shook her head. "I've got some suspicions, but I can't be sure."

"Maybe your father's sick." Hitomi suggested.

Leifang chuckled. "No. He's probably going to outlive us both."

Sobering up she added under her breath. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Don't worry. It'll be fine." Hitomi said and put her arm around the Chinese's shoulder and planted a kiss on her cheek.

"Thanks Hitomi." Leifang smiled.

"Always, sweetie." Hitomi said.

When it was time for her to board the flight the younger girl had grabbed and kissed her deeply goodbye, promising her that she would come to pick her up, she just needed a heads up from Leifang.

Letting out a sigh she sank deeper into the seat. She was already missing her. Part of her just wanted to get up and walk out of the plane and into Hitomi's arms, but whatever her father wanted to talk about seemed to be important.

Hopefully they didn't just decide on the fly to get me a husband. She joked to herself, but then thought about it and realized that it might just be a possibility. Now that was a scary thought.

If it was that she might just have to come clean about her relationship with Hitomi, but without her there for support...She didn't really want to think about that.

Just then the pilot announced that they were about to take off and Leifang put on the seat-belt. As the plane started to roll off she turned back towards the window, kissed her fingertips and planted them against the window.

See you in a few days, love. She thought.

Her small fingers flew over the keys of the piano as the woman behind her walked up and down, listening to the melody that she played. She placed a hand on her shoulder when she slipped off a key with her finger. "Again." the woman said, whose slightly graying hair was kept in a tight bun.

The lady was her piano teacher and Leifang didn't like her too much since she was very strict. Stricter than her father in fact, as she had gotten to learn a few times.

What annoyed her the most was that very unique way of Tsk-ing her that the woman possessed. That alone was incentive enough for to get better so she wouldn't have to hear that anymore.

Leifang's father had arranged for her to teach his daughter as soon as he found out that Leifang had a great aptitude for playing the instrument. And while she liked playing it very much she wished he would have chosen someone different.

"No no no." the lady said when she made another mistake. "You have to play it like this."

Leifang watched as she began to play that part of the melody.

"See? And now you. Begin from there." she said and pointed at the stave. The child let out a silent sigh and started once more, finally getting it right this time.

Like on cue the door opened and someone stepped into the room. Leifang turned her head to look who it was and a smile formed on her small lips. Getting up from the stool she walked over to the person that just came in, her twin-tails dangling from side to side as she moved.

"Father!" she greeted him and Jintao knelt down so that he was on eye-level with her, giving her one of his small smiles. That he came personally was rare, since he was always busy with his business, so she treasured every time that he could manage.

"Leifang." he said and ruffled her hair a little. She groaned and took a step back. She hated it when he did that!

But Jintao only chuckled and turned to her teacher. "How is my daughter doing with her lessons?"

"She has shown much progress. Of course she still makes mistakes and needs some guidance, but she is adapting rather quickly."

When Leifang heard that she couldn't help but look a little smug, or as smug as a nine years old girl could manage.

"Is that so?" Jintao turned to her. "Well now won't that just please your mother when she hears about it. So how about we go home? I'm sure she's already preparing dinner by now."

"Yes!" Leifang said and ran to get her school bag then back towards her father, pausing only to bow before her teacher and bid her goodbye.

Together they left to drive back home.

Leifang could only gasp as the palm hit her directly in the solar plexus, making her stumble backwards and falling onto the ground. With gritted teeth she grabbed where she had been hit and tried to regain her breath, but wasn't really successful.

God, that one hurt!

She looked up to see her father standing over her, dressed in traditional martial arts clothes, his stance being flawless. He looked at her with a neutral expression on his face and his eyes were devoid of any emotion.

"Get up." he said and she followed suit. Ever since that arrogant snot had rescued her she had taken it up to herself to train and become better than him. Jintao, who himself was an eager practitioner of the art, was delighted in his daughter's interest and put it onto himself to teach her personally in the ways of Wing Chun.

Thus far she got the basics down, but something just didn't feel quite right with her. Like something was nagging in the back of her mind whenever they trained together.

From her father she could always feel the confidence and devotion he put into it, making him seem as if he was a much more serious inclined version of grandmaster Ip Chun himself. But her? She couldn't manage that.

Maybe with more practice...

The young Chinese went back into her starting position, ready to resume her training.

Leifang awoke when someone brushed against her shoulder as they passed by her seat. She rubbed her right eye and sat up straight.

Did she really just dream that?

God, that was nearly a lifetime ago. Her practicing piano after school and then getting picked up by her father's driver, and sometimes even by himself until she had, in a way, lost interest in the whole thing when she started to develop a serious interest in martial arts.

It had given her a chance to get to know the man that was her father.

And then, after a few training sessions, she had realized that Wing Chun would never be her style. When she told her father that she had seen the disappointment in his eyes.

From that day on they had drifted apart. In a way only their mother was what kept them together. On some days she wished she would have a father that was like Joachim. Someone you could talk to about this and that, joking around or generally being just there.

But Leifang's father was always busy and, while not a statue, wasn't the type that would smile or joke casually. Even the hugs that they shared when they saw each other after a long time felt more distant than they should between father and daughter.

Lost in her thoughts she barely realized that the pilot had just announced that they would be landing soon, and with a look out of the window she confirmed that they had reached Hong Kong.

She must have been more tired than she thought if she slept through most of the flight.

Twenty minutes later she stepped out of the plane, shouldering the little traveling bag that she had brought for her brief stay, and went through custom duty then checked in at passport control. After answering a few question she was finally good to go and left the airport.

Outside she could already see her father's personal driver waiting for her. She guessed it was a good thing she had sent a mail ahead before she entered the plane.

"Good day, miss." the driver greeted her.

"Good day. Thanks." she added as he opened the door for her to step into the car. The young man closed the door, got into the car himself and drove off towards their destination.

While driving she was pondering if she shouldn't take a few additional things from her penthouse when she would leave for Germany once more.

It would also be nice to say hello to Zhen. She thought as she watched the streets pass by.

About forty-five minutes later they pulled into the driveway of her parents' estate. Leifang didn't bother waiting for the driver and opened the door herself as soon as they stopped, walking over to the house door that, as if on cue, opened to reveal her mother standing there.

"Mother." she called out and gathered her mother in a light hug, which the woman returned with a little hesitation. That didn't escape her notice. "Is something wrong?"

The look on her mother's face caused every alarm bell in her head to go off.

"You..." the woman paused for a moment. "You better go speak with your father. He's in his study."

Leifang looked at her mother for a moment, but decided to do as she was told and walked up the stairs and down the hall to her father's study. Stopping in front of it she put a hand on the handle and took a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever may come now, then opened the door.

There he was, standing with his back to her, looking at something that looked like a sheet of paper, a document or maybe a photo. An imposing person despite his small stature.

"You wanted to talk to me?" she asked, getting right down to business. She already knew there would be no exchange of pleasantries here today.

"Ah Leifang. Good that you could come so quickly you see," he said, turning around. "I've heard some things about you."

She didn't like this one. The tone in his voice.

"Oh, and what could that be?" she said, crossing her arms on front of her chest to put it off as nothing.

Instead of saying something he threw what he held in his hand onto the table. The young woman walked over to the table and saw that it was indeed a photo. Her eyes widened for the fraction of a second at what she saw in it, but managed to keep her cool.

It was a picture of Hitomi and her. Kissing.

And from the looks it was during their dinner in Hamburg. How the hell did he get a picture of them?!

There was no freaking way, unless...

He pulled some more photos out of his center drawer. One of them pictured the two of them making out in front of their room.

"So, your new hobby involves spying on me?" Leifang said. Her voice was calm but she couldn't manage to stop the venom seeping into it. That was a new low, even for him.

"Don't go assuming things about me, young lady. Lin Wei was in Hamburg at the time to oversee a deal for me, that she saw you two was mere coincidence. She was so kind to tell me about...this." he told her.

And of course it had to be Lin Wei. Leifang couldn't stand that woman. From the very first day she had rubbed her the wrong way with everything she did. That the woman also tended to act like she didn't exist at all only added more fuel to the fire.

So she had gone out of her way to report this to her father.

That brown-nosing little... she stopped her train of thought and gritted her teeth. Could they EVER do something without being found out or seen by someone they knew?!

"Is that the only reason why I'm here?" Leifang asked. "Because I'm in a relationship?"

"Yes. And I wish for you to stop this..." he made a gesture with his hand. "This nonsense."

Leifang looked at Jintao as if he had grown a second head. "No." she said simply and shook her head.

The steps from behind her told Leifang that her mother had just joined them.

"Do you have any idea what this could do to us? To our reputation?" Jintao didn't lose his calm, but she could tell he was highly irritated at the moment.

"So that's what this is about? Your damn reputation?!"

The young woman slammed her hand down next to the photo. "I won't. I love Hitomi. And for your information she makes me happy."

Something I haven't been here in ages she wanted to add but she managed to keep her mouth shut.

"Do you? Or do you just think you're in love?" he asked.

Leifang glared daggers at the man but kept herself from lashing out at him, feeling her nails bite into the palms of her hands as she clenched them. How dare him to presume that her feelings weren't true!

"You don't know anything about Hitomi and I." she all but hissed out, looking her father in the eyes but her mind was far away, going back to that night in the hospital where Hitomi had laid beaten and bruised, how she had kissed her, hoping she would wake up and smile at her saying that everything would be alright.

Her thoughts then went to christmas and the first time they made love. How it was everything that she could have wished for. She loved Hitomi, and there was nothing her father could say that could convince her heart otherwise.

"Do I?" her father asked as he picked up what she had said. "Tell me, was your 'love' the reason you wanted to study abroad as well?"

Leifang didn't answer him that, because it was true. Hitomi was the sole reason she came up with it in the first place, everything else had been seconds at the time.

"I see." he said and pulled out a form and a pen. "Then I'll make the arrangements for you to-"

She didn't let him finish and ripped the document off the table, tearing it into little pieces.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"What I should have done a long time ago!" Leifang stated and scattered the pieces defiantly, letting them fall to the floor. "I'm not going to break off my relationship or study where you want just because you're telling me to. Reputation be damned!"

She paused for a moment, then decided it was now or never anyway. Might as else go with a bang. "And I'm not going to inherit your business."

"You what?!" Now it was Jintao's turn to slam his hands on top of his desk and Leifang had to stop herself from flinching. He was definitely angry now.

"You heard me and I won't repeat myself. I'm twenty one. I'm old enough to make my own decisions regarding my future and I think I know pretty well what's in my best interest." she couldn't keep herself from shaking. Not out of fear because her father was angry, but out of her own bottled up anger. "Just make that bitch of an assistant your successor for all I care, but leave me out of it!"

"Watch your tone young lady." he said, his voice dangerously low. "You're still talking to your father."

"Do I?" she felt her teeth grit together and all the frustration that she had bottled up over the years started to surface, all these years that he looked at her with not-so-well hidden disappointment, all these years of him deciding for her what she should and shouldn't do and now him wanting to break off the relationship with the person she treasured most, all of it flowing into these next words.

"That's pretty funny because I thought you'd stopped being that a long time ago!"

The slap came out of the blue.

"Jintao!" gasped her mother, walking up behind Leifang and placing her hands on her shoulders.

Leifang held her left cheek. The stinging pain felt like nothing she ever felt before even though she had participated in countless battles and taken quite the few beatings. But this one was different, like a line had finally been crossed.

And she realized that this moment had been inevitable. All the things that happened in the past led exactly to this point. It had only been a matter of time.

Without saying another word Leifang violently shrugged her mother's hands off, turned on her heel and made for the door, pushing the older woman out of the way as she did so.

"Leifang." her mother called out to her.

"If you walk out of that door I'll no longer consider you my daughter." Jintao said without a hint of emotion in his voice.

She looked over her shoulder one last time, her eyes narrowing as she did so, then stormed out of the room. Her mother caught up with her at the front door. "Dear, please reconsider. Is she really worth all this?" she wanted to know, looking at Leifang in a way that she hadn't in so long, making a part of the young woman wanting to turn around and be engulfed in a comforting hug. But she couldn't.

"Yes she is. This and so much more."

"I-"

"No mother, don't. This has been coming for a long time. What happened between Hitomi and I was only one of many reasons. He made his choice," Leifang felt a small pang of guilt hit her as she looked her mother in the eyes and said. "I made mine...Goodbye, mother."

And with that Leifang left. Outside the driver was still waiting for her inside the car, probably to take her to the penthouse, but instead she ordered him to drive her back to the airport.

There she had the luck to get her hands on a last minute ticket to Germany and boarded the plane an hour later, sending an e-mail message to Hitomi that she would come back earlier.

Tears had stung her eyes the whole time, but it was only after the plane had taken off and she managed to lock herself into the passenger toilet that she gave herself the luxury of silently crying into her hands.

Dramatic drama is dramatic. And strangely not unlike that telenovela that Leifang watched earlier in the story. Symbolic maybe? I certainly won't tell.
But really this outcome was pretty obvious. Can't be all rainbows and sunshine.

Stay tuned for next week!