Tokyo Seduction (Book 1 Of The Gaijin Series)

Chapter 56

Mimi thought it was out of the blue and a bit strange but went along without questioning Hatori. The stress radiated off Hatori in heavy waves. Mimi didn't want to add to it by peppering him with questions and she trusted him to tell her what was going on when he was ready.

They got into the car and Hatori drove south out of Tokyo and didn't stop driving until they reached Hakone. Hatori pulled up to a beautiful ryokan building that was in the Edo period style of architecture yet it was also very modern. The main building was huge and dotted around the main building were lots of smaller houses in the same style. The only word Mimi could read off of the sign in front of the main building was Onsen: hot spring the rest were in Kanji. Mimi scrunched her forehead and continued to look around, perplexed at why Hatori had taken them to a hot springs out of the blue. His behaviour was too much and she turned to ask Hatori what on Earth was going on. Mimi opened her mouth as he parked the car, but Hatori didn't give her a chance to speak. He scrambled out of the car, turned and told her to wait shut the door.

What the hell? Mimi thought as she watched Hatori head to the main guest house. She waited for what seemed like an hour, her annoyance ramping up a notch as the minutes ticked by.

When finally Hatori came back to the car she was determined to give him a piece of her mind. But the drained expression on his face checked her.

"Come on we have a bit of a walk," he said, opening her door and helping her out.

I've come this far without an explanation, what's another few minutes.

As they walked through the main building they were greeted by the four receptionists, the manager and assistant manager. All of them bowed as they walked into the main reception area.

Then the manager said, "I will show you to your room if you will follow me. Do you have any bags?''

Hatori replied looking a little impatient."No, this was a last minute trip."

The manager smiled. "I am sure you will find everything you may need in our guest shop.'' He then led them through the main building and up some steps to the far end of the complex.

They stopped in front of one of the smaller houses and two women opened the sliding door at the front. The women were dressed in kimonos and bowed as Hatori and Mimi entered the guest house. The manager showed them into the main living room area then showed them the bedroom and the bathroom. After which, they walked back to the living room area and the two women slid open the doors that were at the other end of the living room area, revealing a private bathing pool.

"This is the room's private hot spring," The manager said. "The main hot springs are back in the main building. I will have someone bring up some food. Will you be needing anything else Kanzaki-sama?"

"No, that will be fine thank you," Hatori answered in a curt tone that left everyone in the room knowing he wanted them out.

The manager and the women bowed and then left. Mimi couldn't believe what was going on and just stared at Hatori waiting for an explanation. He dropped to his knees in front of her, wrapping his arms around her. The desperation in his face squeezed at Mimi's heart.

Worry and fear started to bubble up inside of her like toxic sludge. Her insecurities flared triggering her worst fear, that Hatori was going braking up with her. She desperately choked down those hideous thoughts and forced herself to keep the tears at bay. Through sheer force of will Mimi pulled herself together, and knelt down putting her both hands on Hatori's face. "What is it Ha?" she asked looking into his eyes. "What is the matter. Did your father say something to upset you?" Mimi searched his eyes waiting for a response then said, "Just tell me, whatever it is just tell me."

Hatori smiled warily then said, "I have to tell you something that I've been hiding from you. I honestly wanted to tell you but things have been going so well between us and I don't want that to change. And you have got to believe me when I say that I truly do love you and I never wanted to keep anything from you. I just wanted a chance at a normal life and to find someone that loved me for me."

Mimi shook her head even more confused than before. "You're really starting to worry me Hatori. Just tell me I'm sure whatever it is we can work through it."

"I haven't been honest with you about my family or my job," Hatori started then paused.

"Okay," Mimi replied and waited for more explanation.

"I come from a very wealthy family," Hatori continued.

Mimi cocked her head to the side and looked at Hatori as if to say and so what.

"You know how rich Hanabushi's family is. Well, you can quadruple that and you wouldn't even come close to what my family's worth."

Mimi's mouth dropped opened, as his words stung her.