CHAPTER ONE: Japenese entrepreneur Ren Takanoa lands his life in quick sand due to a drug deal scandal gone wrong, and it put his only child and heiress to his fortune in danger. Will sending his beloved daughter Mimi Takanoa to a country with one of his trustworthy bodyguards protect her?
Life, life was just fantastic in every form of the word.
The ring of Ren's office phone snapped his eyes open, and they naturally travelled to the white phone holder. The red light flashed with every tune, letting him know that his secretary needed a moment of his time. Feeling optimistic about how his day was already going, Ren quickly pressed the green button and brought his mouth closer to the speaker. "Konnichiwa, Hillary. What is it?" he spoke in the best English he could for his only American secretary. "You have a call, Mr. Takanoa. He says his name is Shark," Hillary responds in her professional voice. Just the sound of the word Shark is enough to make Ren's smile disappear, and he feels a bead of sweat forming on his creased forehead. Oh, goodness.
"Okay, thank you very much, Hillary. Put me through to him please." After Ren spoke, the line went dead momentarily. In that brief time, Ren thought of creative scenarios to say as soon as he heard the familiar, deep voice on the other end. Why in the world was Shark calling him now? He didn't have to pay for another week....
"Takanoa." The manly voice grumbled with anger. Ren suddenly had the urge to pee, and he grabbed the phone and placed it to his reddening ear. "Shark," Ren stated in a forced, calm manner. "What's up, how're you doing?"
Ren stepped closer to the large windows facing out to the afternoon skyline of Tokyo, admiring the distant Mt. Fuji and praying that his conversation with Shark would be just as peaceful as the old volcano. "Good. Just trying to take care of the business that you screwed up," Shark spat with a low tone, catching Ren off guard. Screwed up? Ren Takanoa does not "screw up" under any circumstances. It's just not in his blood.
"What seems to be the problem?" Ren spoke slowly, trying to weigh out what he could've done wrong. He didn't ask for any cocaine recently, so whatever the case, it's probably a big misunderstanding.
A loud thud sounded on the other line, making Ren jump. Another thud followed quickly after, and Ren gripped the phone's base tightly. Oh, no. This can't be good. "The problem is your stupidity!" Shark yelped, his scream loud enough to make even the toughest sumo wrestler back off the mat. "The coke you sold to your last buyer was a scam - not only that, but the guy snitched to the pigs, and now they're looking for me! Takanoa, how the fucking fuck does that low-life bastard know my name?!"
Ren swallowed back the might to throw up his fear and leaned against his desk, running a free hand through his sweaty hair. "I-I don't know," Ren stammered, trying not to lose his cool mentally. Physically, he was definitely unstable at that point - his legs quivered with every ticking second, and his fingers shook beneath the phone. "That was my number one request, the simplest fucking rule, Takanoa! Don't. Mention. My. NAME!" Ren could almost feel the furious heat radiating from Shark, and he tried to remember if he did accidentally slip up and utter Shark's info to the buyer...
"Maybe one of your other sellers knew him from somewhere and said something about you from a previous exchange?" Ren suggested, biting his lip for the nth time. He really didn't like disorder, and this was not his cup of tea - being accused.
Shark laughed, a fake, dry laugh that scared Ren even more. "Other sellers? Ren, what the fuck. You're my only seller because all of the others proved untrustworthy, so I had to get rid of them. And now, I'm about to do the same to you. So help me, if the jury doesn't let me off easy for this, I'm going to slaughter your daughter right after I have my way with her. You have two choices - set things right some sort of way, or spend the last few days with your kid wisely. And if you even think about reporting me to the police, I'll just rat you out as well and you'll lose every dime you own. See you in hell, Takanoa."
The line went dead, but Ren still held the phone to his ear. His hands suddenly weren't shaky, and his figure was frozen to the ground. His eye twitched, his breathing becoming heavier by the moment.
About five minutes went by before Ren came back to the harsh reality of his life. Placing the phone back in its rightful position, Ren leaned his fifty-three year old body against his desk once again and rested his head in damp palm. He tried to stifle back a pained groan, but he couldn't hide his negative emotion for long.
How could this be happening?
The door to Ren's office slowly creaked open, and a raven haired woman casually walked into his sanctuary. Ren didn't bother rising his head to see who dared entered his office without warning, but he silently scowled at the fact that none of his secretaries informed him of incoming company. He really didn't want to fire any of them, so why weren't they following procedure?
"Still don't have time for me?" A female voice murmured with sarcasm, and Ren finally looked up from his distressed pout.
"Mimi." Ren whispered, his eyes widening at the sight of his nineteen year old child. As always, her long black hair flowed over her skinny shoulders, and a few loose strands blanketed her usual aggravated expression. Her honey brown eyes that she inherited from her deceased mother gazed emotionless at her father, ignoring the fact that he looked like he just witnessed the presence of a ghost.
The very sight of Mimi made Ren want to crumble into a million pieces. He just didn't want to think about the only thing he had left aside from his fortune slipping away from him so easily. He grapsed her arm and leaned against it, holding onto his baby girl for dear life as if Shark was on his way right now to go through with his threat. Mimi flinched and tensed up at her father's sudden contact, and a pang of sorrow overwhelmed her. Her dad was actually hugging her.
"Mimi! Oh, sweet Mimi," Ren whined, holding onto his confused daughter with all of his strength. "How would you like to go on a trip to America for a while? I know how much you want to study abroad in New York, and I found the perfect opportunity today. How does that sound?"
The young adult stared down at her father quizzically "Yeah, I wanted to go when I was like five. I'm not really interested in that anymore, dad. I just want to spend time with you," Mimi muttered, pushing her father off of her gently. "If you paid more attention to me, maybe you'd know that it wasn't New York I wanted to go to in the first place."
Ren straightened up awkwardly and shrugged his shoulders, his eyes warming up despite Mimi's cold response. "Regardless, I'm booking you an immediate flight there, and you should be on your way first thing tomorrow morning. As a matter of fact, it's the next thing on my list to do, and that's technically paying attention to my princess!"
Mimi sighed and rolled her eyes at her usually busy father's attempt to make her feel wanted. But she figured that it was the best she could get out of him for now. "You're going along with me and taking a few days off, right?" she asked him, crossing her arms across her flat chest. Ren cringed, and Mimi's already deepened frown got even more defined. "Wait, don't even answer that question," she muttered, turning away from Ren and walking towards the door.
"I love you, Mimi. Remember that." Ren murmured in a sincere voice, and for a moment, Mimi felt her heart constrict in her chest. She bit her lip and felt tears stabbing the back of her eyes, but she maintained herself and closed the door quietly behind her, leaving Ren all alone in his huge office once again.
Once the door shut behind Mimi's skinny silhouette, Ren reached for his phone and dialed a number with skilled fingers. The phone rang once before a Japanese voice answered in a perky attitude.
"I'd like to arrange a first-class flight to New York under the name of Ren Takanoa, and I want it done by sunset."
***
Matthew Gregory sat in the cold barstool and clasped the glass of Sprite in his hand, taking a sip every other minute. The electro music buzzed one ear and out of the other, and he wondered to himself why in the world an airport bar would be so..."clubbish." There weren't many people in the bar to begin with much to Matthew's liking - he couldn't stand crowds of people. Maybe it was just the bodyguard in him; large bodies of people meant most of the time that he had to keep his blue eyes on the lookout for danger, and that got tiring.
Speaking of looking out for danger....Matthew's thoughts trailed into a different topic - where the hell was that girl? Millie or something like that. It's Matthew's latest objective to keep watch over the daughter of Ren Takanoa, and his reward for her safety for the next few months would be a heavy cash payment of a hundred grand. Just the thought of possessing that much money made Matthew's skin crawl with anticipation, and he began to scope the bar to see if he could spot the girl's description.
To no avail, Matthew continued to lightly sip his soda and try to zone out the sound of the corny music. Hopefully Millie would show up soon so he could get the hell out of that place.
"Would you like some more Sprite, sir?" the cute bartender asked Matthew as he placed the empty glass on the counter in front of him. He shook his head, his spiked blonde hair staying perfectly still with the sudden movement. He couldn't help but notice the batting of eyelashes whenever the bartender looked at him, and he tried to hold back a chuckle. He knew he was good looking, but that didn't mean he was always interested.
As she reached over to take away the glass, she looked up and scowled. Confused and curious to see what her look meant, Matthew turned his head to the side and let his eyes search in the direction. A girl with long black hair stared at him, her mouth twitching as if she wanted to say something. She stood out amongst the few people in the room with her Oriental appearance, and Matthew knew right away that she was his target.
Matthew slapped five dollars absentmindedly on the counter and gave a random wave to the bartender before standing up and walking towards the girl slowly. He smiled at her, but she remained impassive and glared at him with her honey brown eyes. As Matthew got closer, he found himself lost in them. She has award-winning eyes, he thought to himself. If this Millie girl is that gorgeous, he may have to keep an eye out for pedophiles as well.
"Are you Matthew?" the girl asked slowly, her well-spoken English giving Matthew an invisible slap on the face. He figured that her English may have been broken and that she couldn't find the proper words to speak to him, but she had it in the bag.
Matthew nodded and extended a friendly hand out to her that she failed to take, and he coolly put it in his pocket. Well, then.
"And you must be Millie Takanoa - it's nice to finally meet you," Matthew said polietly in his deep voice, putting a strong arm around her. She crossed her arms and huffed, looking away from his Sprite-scented mouth.
"It's Mimi, not Millie," she muttered, trying to squirm out of his too-friendly gesture. Matthew sensed Mimi's annoyance, but he tried not to let it faze him. "Oh, my bad," he said with a chuckle. "I'm terrible with names."
Mimi finally managed to struggle away from him and smoothed out her letterman jacket. "Look; I'm not in New York to be friends with you. I'm here to enjoy myself, and my dad just sent me to be with you so I don't have to spend money to rent an apartment for a few months."
Before letting her snobby attitude get to him, Matthew gave her a confused look. Did her dad lie to her about her whereabouts in New York? Did she not know that she would be a drug dealer's sex slave before she got murdered by him? When those questions floated in his mind, Matthew understood from a father's point of view why Ren would give Mimi a bogus excuse like that.
"You know what?" Matthew began, standing up straight and mimicking Mimi's bratty pose. "You're totally and absolutely right. We don't have to be friends, but you will respect me. You're living with me, so you need to treat me with some dignity. I'm a trained bodyguard, and don't think just because you're a girl I won't body slam you into this floor. Just be nice, alright? It's not that difficult."
Mimi didn't respond with words - instead, she silently looked up at Matthew and blew out an exasperated breath through pursed lips. No one ever talked down to her like that, not even Ren. Matthew knew this as well, judging by the phone call Ren had with him the previous night about his daughter's attitude. It may be alright with Ren to be talked to by some kid, but it wasn't going to slide with him. No way in fucking hell.
A minute passed before Mimi finally broke the infuriated ice between them, and she threw her shoulders back as she spoke. "I'm sorry, okay? It's been a long flight here, and all I want to do is sleep." She clapped her hands together and looked away dreamily, examining the colorful photographs and the walls of the bar. "My whole life I've wanted to come to America and just enjoy myself with my dad, but he's just so damn busy every waking moment of the day, and the absence of a parental figure really makes a girl sour." With that being said, Mimi glanced up at Matthew's intense gaze and sighed. "Can we please just start over and go to your place?"
 | ||||||
***
"That's wonderful to hear that you got off the plane safely," Ren Takanoa spoke in Japanese to Mimi, the morning sunlight of Tokyo beaming into his bedroom windows. "How do you like New York so far? Is the food there any good? Do you miss Ryoko's cooking?" he asked, referring to their personal maid and chef.
Mimi laughed lightly at her father's interest of what was happening miles away from him. It seemed that the distance between them made him care more about her doings. "Dad, I've only been in New York for an hour, I haven't eaten anything yet. But I'm pretty sure nothing could compare to Ryoko's cooking. Tell her I said hi by the way," she said softly, watching herself talk in the mirror of Matthew's too-big bedroom.
"What time is it there?" Ren asked, his soothing voice making Mimi feel a wave of homesick emotion. "It's only 8:30 at night here, but I feel so tired," she said, twirling with a lock of black hair. She knew it was 10:30 in the morning over in Tokyo, and she could almost taste Ryoko's famous eggs and sausages. Her stomach grumbled, and she realized that she was in desperate need of food.
"You need to get to bed right now, young lady," Ren joked to Mimi, and her laugh made him beam with happiness that was immediately shot down by the thought of her reasoning in New York in the first place. He needed to make sure that Mimi was in Matthew Gregory's sight at all times - even if it meant her having to shower with him.
"I'm not a little girl anymore," Mimi murmured softly, and the thought made her sad. She always wanted to be his little girl no matter what age, and she knew he felt the same.
"I don't care how old you are Mimi, you need your rest. I love you sweet angel; I'll talk to you later. Be safe for me, okay?" Ren said, and Mimi hung up without saying a word to her father. She closed her eyes and put her cell phone in her pocket, fighting back tears of how kind Ren acted towards her.
"I love you too," she whispered to herself, walking to the bed and sitting on the edge to replay the conversation in her mind.
Mimi's mental replay of the phone call is interrupted by the door to the bedroom opening, and Matthew emerges in nothing but gray sweats and a smirk hot enough to bring all the boys and girls to the yard. She couldn't help but let her feminine mind take over and scan Matthew's ripped chest - for what it's worth, American guys are definitely sexy.
"Waiting in bed for me already, I see," Matthew joked in a seductive tone, and Mimi's breath hitched in her throat. Mimi scowled at his attempt to "seduce" her and blew out her tongue at him like a child. "You wish, pretty boy," she grumbled.
The door opened once again, and a beautiful girl with long red locks of hair looked shocked. Her surprise is immediately replaced with anger as she takes in the scene in front of her. Firm hands on nice hips and a scary frown on surgical lips, she gives Matthew daggers with her blue eyes.
"Would you like to explain to me what the HELL another girl is doing in your bedroom while you're HALF-NAKED?!" She exclaims in a high, but intimidating voice. She has a strong Irish accent, and her already natural red cheeks flare up with every syllable. This woman was undoubtedly Matthew's girlfriend.
Mimi, seeing this as her chance to give Matthew payback for acting so cocky moments ago, stands up from the bed and places a hand on her hip, throwing her head back. "Well, you could say that he was about to have his way with an innocent nineteen year old girl like me," Mimi murmured like an angel, trying to sound as Japanese as possible to make it look like she was some foreign exchange student Matthew found around the block. The woman seemed to believe Mimi, because she nearly ripped out her hair and made Matthew eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
"AND she's younger than you? You sick motherfucker!" the woman squeals, trying to leave the room. Matthew wails his arms in the air helplessly, blocking the door from her.
"No, Taryn! This is the girl I was telling you about, the one that I have to watch over while she's here for some months!" Matthew cried, trying to calm down the woman. She began to let a string of swears emerge from her mouth in a different language, and Mimi felt Matthew's angry stare on her.
***
End of Chapter One
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