Fists and Lipsticks 2: The Silver Crescent

CHAPTER 26: Favors

CHAPTER 26: FAVORS

 Am I asking for too much?

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 I have some favors to ask of you.

Can you please turn away whenever you smile? Because whenever I take a glimpse of your happiness, I feel a little bit jealous. Just like you, I crave to be happy. But then, that would mean that I had to be with you, for you are the equivalent of all the smiles this world has to offer.

Can you also please stop looking at me as if I were the only person you see, that as if I were the only entity that exists? Because whenever I meet your eyes, I feel a little bit conscious. I drown little by little in your gaze and melt like a piece of ice cube thrown into the sea. I become too mesmerized that I end up forgetting my sorrow, my guilt, and the reasons behind these clenched fists.

The sound of your voice is enormously enthralling. I begin hearing only you and become deaf to the rest of the universe. I become unresponsive to the call of revenge, to the cries of those whom I've driven into their graves. Your presence is like an irresistible temptation, like a sweet apple – one bite equals bliss, another bite equals doom.

And can you please avoid letting even the tips of your fingers touch my skin? I burn with your warmth. You are like the bonfire lit in the middle of an icy forest. I am the frosty wind. I am afraid that my gust might extinguish your fire.

Am I asking for too much? Or am I lying too much?

Lying too much to you? Lying too much... to myself?

The past two weeks had been easier with a brilliant one like you, I must admit. I asked you to do so many things that exhaust your mind, body, and heart. Despite my successive favors, you never complained. You were so good with what you do. Your works were impressive and professional. Your opinions were smart, sensible, practical, and realistic. You were liked by my business clients, even my hotel employees and guests.

Tell me – was there something not good about you? Have you really transformed from a good-for-nothing into a man so perfect?

Tell me, Yamazaki Kosuke – Did you change for me?

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"Emergency?" I raised my eyebrow upon hearing my hotel usherette's report. I walked into the dining hall that was noticeably silent that day. Accompanying me were five bodyguards wearing dark pink suits. For some reason, Kosuke did not report to my office that morning. "I wonder why he isn't here." I muttered silently.

"He couldn't come because his pregnant wife was rushed to the hospital this morning, Lady Nu," the usherette answered.

"His pregnant wife?!"

"The hotel pianist's wife, Lady Nu," she clarified.

I mentally slapped myself. I thought she meant 'Kosuke's wife'!

Clearing my throat in an attempt to hide my awkward chuckle, I turned towards the main dining hall and spotted my special guest, Mr. Vladimir Leonns – a wealthy businessman from France who flew all the way to Japan for the planned expansion of his hotel business. The collaboration with the Leonns Business Group was a big deal for the Empire Business Group, no doubt. A good impression must be given, and so I dressed up with my best business attire that morning – red corporate suit matched with my red five-inch heels, a striped scarf, and a white winter coat on top. My hair was tightly fixed into an elegant bun. Pearl earrings dangled on my ears.

Mr. Leonns was an obese man wearing a black suit, sitting on the VIP seat while taking his early dose of café noir. A pipe was stuffed between his lips. Accompanying him were three of his brawny security personnel.