CITRUS ~ A Long Way From Home / Trust

Chapter 14

Day 1

<<Speaking English>>

It was a quiet, comfortable ride to the restaurant as Mei was gathering her thoughts. Thinking of how she would handle her interactions with Mr. Mills for the evening.

But deep down, she was nervous.

Unlike dealing with the members of the board back at the academy, this will be one of the few times she's dealt with someone in a public environment. Where it's expected to have civil conversations while talking business to gain a sense of trust and cooperation within the business world.

She continued to think of how her grandfather would handle situations that would come up, having been with him to many social meetings, even where lunch was served. But unlike those meetings, this will be a one-on-one social meetup. So this will be unfamiliar to her. She could only hope that her past experiences, along with the dinner reception the night before, will be enough to handle the evening.

That's when she realized that she was holding onto her ring on her finger, which reminded her of Yuzu. It was times like this that she could turn to her to feel her comfort. Even now, she would wish that Yuzu could be by her side.

But then she remembered that she wouldn't have gotten this far without Yuzu. And she realized that Yuzu is always with her, even in spirit. It made her feel more confident then she ever felt before, just like Himeko told her a week earlier.

It gave her a chance to smile as she look out the window of the town car and saw the lights of the city passing by, thinking that she should be at the restaurant at any moment.

- - - - - - - - - -

"Annnnnnnd... Send!" said Yuzu as she hit the return key on her laptop, sitting on the floor to do her job. All her hard work into gathering all the information from the meeting today was completed and emailed to the Tokyo office. They'll be able to make notes of the investments the firm was working on and hand them over to Mei's grandfather for his review.

She stretched her back and laid down on the floor, looking up at the ceiling as she listened to the TV play a rerun of FRIENDS. It took her a while to navigate American TV, trying to understand what she was looking at. So many channels to see before she settled on one.

"Man, what a day" she told herself out loud as she stretched some more. She closed her eyes to imagine everything that happened this afternoon. From all the talking at the meeting, her mistake of the recordings she forgot, her scolding from Mei...

'Mei...' she thought as she turned her head and looked out the window. She couldn't help missing her, wishing she could be by her side. It was the first time since they left Japan that they were separated for what could be hours. And her going out to dinner with someone that neither one of them trusted, somewhere in a foreign country they barely knew... that was enough to be worrisome.

That's when she looked at her ring on her finger, thinking of Mei as she stared at it with the indoor lighting reflecting the gold. She began to have a small grin, remembering how Mei said they could keep wearing them while their were here. And it told her that Mei would always be thinking of her while she wore it too.

Then she thought about Mills. How he was always looking at Mei since the day before. And now he asked her out to dinner, doubting it's just for business.

'Well' she thought, 'it'll be in a public place, so the guy will have to behave himself. And she can leave whenever she wants, it's not like she's being held captive or anything.'

She continued to tell herself that everything will be fine as she listened to the TV commercials.

**RIIIING**