Life Without You

Chapter 59 - Surprise in Japan

At Osaka in Japan, Ariel accompanied Hiroshi to the office, business functions and meetings every day. She found it strange that it was more related to Fujita's other businesses than the F&B business itself, touring their factories and meeting suppliers. She also accompanied him to meet VIPs and participate in important networking sessions with some of the world's wealthiest elites.

Hinata restaurant, the first one that opened in Osaka was doing well and the sales of Fujita sauces in Japan were raking in healthy profits, but apart from overseeing their progress which did not require much of her time, Ariel wondered if she was even needed at all for this entire trip. 

From time to time, she was asked by Hiroshi for her opinion on the latest technology for their cars and ideas for their makeup line, to which she could only voice out some input despite knowing little about the products. 

Why was he doing this?

Office workers at Fujita Corporation's Japanese headquarters stared at them from time to time, just like the workers back home in the North American branch. Ariel worried if they thought they were a couple, but rumours of such had never been fully cleared till now. She greatly despised the untrue gossips that she slept her way up to the top or used her beauty to seduce the heir of the billion-dollar Fujita Corporation, despite that in truth, it was purely her hard work and not once in public had she been seen being romantic with Hiroshi, except for that disastrous "kiss". Yet, for a woman who was beautiful and successful, society would never fully attribute her success to her hard work alone, unlike how it does for men. Life was really unfair.

During their meal breaks, Ariel and Hiroshi ate alone together. They had little to talk about but Hiroshi acted like nothing was wrong. They never resumed the kind of friendly talks that they used to have, feeling more distant than ever. It felt more business-like than friends.

"You alright, Ariel? You aren't touching your food," Hiroshi noticed one day during dinner.

Ariel put down her chopsticks, "It's been two and a half weeks into the trip. May I know why do I need to come along?"

Hiroshi swallowed his food, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, most of the business dealings here are related to Fujita's other businesses than its F&B side. You know I'm not an expert in its other industries, so what's the purpose of me being here?"

"To get you prepared," replied Hiroshi.

"Prepared?" she gathered her brows.

Hiroshi looked at her, "Do you really want to always stay in the same position?"

"What do you mean?"

"Staying as a director of a restaurant chain forever is not something aspiring. I'm giving you the opportunity to grow out of that."

"But, I'm satisfied where I am," she fidgeted with her napkin.

"You should never be satisfied where you are, but strive to be ambitious. Consider yourself lucky that you've me to guide you to greater heights," Hiroshi sipped his tea.

"Well, it's not even a year that I'm in my current position," she smiled uncomfortably.

"I'm preparing you. It's not every day you've got a boss willing to show you the ropes of managing a multi-billion dollar business. Determination is the key to success."

"Yes...determination," Ariel remembered the word Hiroshi often used during their Krav Maga training.

Still, she did not fully understand what Hiroshi meant, but she trusted his judgment that if this was business-related, perhaps it had got to do with expanding Fujita's F&B side. Maybe he wanted her to witness the operations of Fujita's other businesses to get a better feel of entrepreneurship as a whole should their F&B side expand even more. However, the idea of leaving cooking behind just to reach "greater heights" was something she never wanted.