Chapter 30 - Toughen Up

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Ariel refused to step out of her house. Even though it was workday, the sheer embarrassment and horror at the circulation of the photos of that so-called kiss with Hiroshi made it so hard that she wished she'd rather fall into a deep, dark hole straightaway.

All the curtains in the house were drawn to avoid the gaze of those sneaky photographers outside her house. How could one innocent date out turn out so disastrous? Those photos gave birth to new rumours and gossips, and her social media were flooded with unwanted assumptions, accusations and even words of congrats.

She could not help herself wondering what the world was thinking until she read them. Angry and upset by the lies, Ariel wished she could reply and address the rumours, but she knew she could not since her company had taken full control of her narrative after the park incident and her social media was fully in the hands of their PR team. She cried for hours under her blanket.

Hiroshi had rung a few times on her phone but she avoided him.

Then it went silent before it rang again.

"Shut up!" Ariel intended to switch it off until she realised Mr Ken Fujita's name was flashing on the screen. She knew she had no right to refuse the big boss even though she felt scared because he was Hiroshi's father, and she was sure he needed to know how his son was dragged into this.

Quickly wiping away her tears and neatening her hair, she accepted the video call.

"H-hello, Fujita-san?" Ariel tried to sound calm. She could see in the background, an embarrassed and guilty-looking Hiroshi.

"Ariel-san, why are you not at work?" Mr Fujita interrogated.

"すみませぬ (Sumimasen i.e I'm sorry), Fujita-san!" she bowed apologetically, "I'm scared and ashamed to come out of my house right now. I can explain."

"Yes, we all know what happened," Mr Fujita glanced at his son who lowered his head. "This is not the first screw-up, Ariel-san." He reminded her what happened at the park.

"お父さん, (Otousan i.e father), like I said it's not her fault. It's mine," said Hiroshi. "I'm truly sorry, my fault. This should never have happened." He gave an apologetic bow to both his dad and Ariel.

"How on earth can both of you be this careless," Mr Fujita shook his head.

"I'll get our PR team to release a statement saying that -"

But Hiroshi was stopped by his father's raised hand.

"Just let it slide."

"B-but, Fujita-san, I really need the PR to help counter these falsehoods," begged Ariel.

"Well, Ariel-san. You can't lock yourself up forever just because of a few photos. That's the media. They'll always report unfair things. You need to keep your head up high and treat it like any normal day. They'll think that you don't care about what they say about you and in time, they'll forget about it and move on."

"I understand, Fujita-san. But I'm still scared. The photographers are still outside."

"They'll always be because you are our celebrity. Don't mix personal matters with business. Our bodyguards will protect you so don't fear."

Ariel felt dejected.

"Besides," continued Mr Fujita, "If I keep allowing you to hide every time the gossip mill churns out something uneasy about you, do you think that's fair to us? Do you think that reflects the ethos of Fujita? What kind of example are you showing to the rest of the Fujita employees? That they can use any petty reason not to come to work? "

"Definitely not. Sumimasen!" Ariel bowed again, almost to the brink of tears. "I'll return to work right away."

"Good. Remember, keep your head up high and carry our name with pride no matter what," Mr Fujita ended the call.

He leaned back against his chair with his hands resting on his stomach and looked at Hiroshi, whose head hung low. Suddenly, his solemn expression broke into a laugh.

Hiroshi lifted up his head, surprised by his father's reaction.

"Hiroshi, you like her, huh?" Mr Fujita beamed.

"Yes, very much," Hiroshi's face reddened.

"I like her too. She's a great catch."

"Really?" Hiroshi's face brightened at his father's approval.

"Does she like you?"

"I don't think so.."

"Then why did you both kissed?" Mr Fujita was intrigued.

"Like I said, I was the one who kissed her by surprise. She did not ask for it."

"Well, does it matter? If you want to pursue her, go ahead. I'm pretty supportive of it."

Hiroshi was taken aback. His previous girlfriends never got a nod of approval from his father. However, it seemed that Mr Fujita did not mind the news reporting on his and Ariel's supposed kiss.

"That's good to know," smiled Hiroshi. "But even then, you know it's not her fault. You didn't need to be hard on her."

"Hard?" Mr Fujita frowned. "I think I'm fair. She knew what to expect." He took a pen and began signing some documents.

"But it's not easy for Ariel to be in the media spotlight every day, even on her off-days."

"I know you care for her, Hiroshi. But business is business. She's our spokeswoman. Issuing every media statement to address every little thing she does is time-consuming. Besides, she needs to learn to toughen up and not take the media personally. She needs to get used to it. Just like you had to get used to it when I first became famous."

Hiroshi felt triggered inside, "Did you really think I liked it then? Even now?"

Mr Fujita put down his pen and faced his son, "If I did not work hard and bring Fujita Corporation to where it is today, you won't be where you are now."

"It's not about money, Otousan," Hiroshi swiped his hand across, "It was fame that I did not handle well. Yes, you sent me and my sister to the best schools, the best life, the best opportunities that more than half the world can never afford. But you worked very long hours. When I was 16 and お母さん (Okaasan ie. mother) passed away, I remembered how big the news was of her death in Japan that you wouldn't allow me and Hiromi to cry for our mother in public except in private, for fear that we would show ourselves 'weak' before the world. You were harder on me than on Hiromi, because I'm your firstborn son. And because Okaasan's death affected Hiromi more than it did me, I obeyed and followed your demands on how I should act and behave, and tried to live up to your expectations. You berated me when I failed at times, even though my actions were not newsworthy. I did all that you asked me to. But have you any idea what that burden feels, to carry perfection on your shoulders all the time?!" Hiroshi gave an almost retort as emotions welled within him.

"It's to uphold the honour of our Fujita name. Don't forget, you're the next CEO on this seat!" Mr Fujita got crossed. Hiroshi averted his eyes from him.

"Don't be fooled thinking that earning lots of money is all I care about," Mr Fujita gave a deep sigh, reverting back into his calm demeanor. "I did what I could to raise you and your sister. Your mother wanted me to-" He choked at the remembrance of his wife's last words. He held up a picture of his beautiful late wife smiling in her kimono and stared at it. "She wanted me to promise that I'll always protect and care for you both no matter what, and perhaps I overdid that by spoiling both of you. It's not easy as a single parent. I still regret for not spending enough time with you and Hiromi when you both were young, cos' I was too busy focusing on giving all of you the good, abundant life that I never had growing up. Now, having you work with me by my side is kind of my way of compensating for that time lost. But of course, you're an adult now and free to live your own life. So is Hiromi, although nothing I say to her now can crack through her stubborn head. Unlike you, she's too spoilt and shows no interest in taking over Fujita Corporation, except to oversee its cosmetics line. You and Hiromi are the only ones I have of what's left of your mother."

Hiroshi replied not a word, his eyes downcast.

"As for Ariel-san," Mr Fujita put the picture down on his desk. "I'm not trying to "perfect" her like I did with you. But business is business. She's our employee and we pay her to carry our image professionally at all times, no matter the challenge. She'll have hiccups along the way but she'll toughen up under our guidance. As long as you support her, she'll do well and in time, upholding the name of Fujita will come naturally to her. Already, the sale of our sauces with her as our spokesperson has increased more than that of Leon Waltz. Give her time to trust you again. And I'm sure she will."

He gave a tight squeeze on Hiroshi's shoulder, making him feel encouraged for the day.

-----

"Ariel, your boyfriend's here," joked Han as he saw Hiroshi entering the restaurant.

"Not funny," Ariel sulked. Hong even gave her a playful wink before she mouthed some words of warning, to which he laughed off and resumed his work.

"Ariel-san," Hiroshi greeted her.

"Hiroshi-san," she gave a half-hearted smile. Noticing that some of the staff were staring at them, she gestured him into the small office at the back of the restaurant where they could talk privately.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Not good," she felt awkward to look him in the eye.

"I'm sorry," Hiroshi pursed his lips. "Do you still hate me?"

"Hate you? No! Hate's such a strong word," Ariel reassured.

How could she ever hate Hiroshi? Her close friend, mentor, teacher and boss. He may have kissed her without consent but even that was not enough to make her hate him, unlike someone who did much worse to her where the "H" word would be far more appropriate.

Hiroshi smiled with relief, "Well, I hope to make it up to you and I promise, I'll not hurt you again. Once again, I'm so sorry." Deep down, he still hoped that Ariel would open up to him and he had to make sure not to scare her away again. "So erm....can I still teach you Krav Maga?"

"Of course, we can continue after a month. Just let me get over this phase," Ariel's lips tightened in a firm line.

"A month?" Hiroshi raised his eyebrows. "That's long, but no worries. I'll respect that you need your time. I'll see you at your house after a month then." He headed back to the main office with a broad smile.

After he was gone, Ariel took an ice-pack out from the mini-fridge in her office and placed it on her headache spot.

----

Leon stared at the woman in the same yellow floral dress who kept reappearing in his dreams. She leaned against the railing on the bridge at the park, flashing that radiant smile as the strands of hazelnut coloured hair blew across her face.

"Do you love me?" he asked her.

She giggled at his question without saying a word.

"Come back to me, please," Leon begged.

The woman shook her head with a smile. From behind her, a pair of arms snaked across her waist. Popping his face from behind her head, it was the face of Hiroshi! He swiped her hair from behind, cupped her face towards his and planted a kiss on her lips. Leon's eyes darkened at that deep passionate kiss they were doing.

"No, no, no! You get away from her, get away!!" he tried to separate them but somehow, the couple kept on kissing, unfazed by his attempts. They felt like heavy stones that refuse to budge.

Suddenly, Leon felt someone grabbing his shoulder.

"You don't want her, you want them," said a familiar, snaky voice.

He turned around and widened his eyes to see that the person who said it was none other than himself, in his Leon Waltz public brand persona in his signature fashion wear. He had strong alcoholic breath, yellowish jaundice skin and rotting, long black fingernails. Surrounding this Leon were ladies whom he used to sleep with, and they put their arms on him. These ladies looked grotesque with luminous cat eyes, smeared pitch-black mascara and long black fingernail claws. The lower parts of their bodies were pure skeletons while their upper parts were covered with grey, rotten flesh that wrapped tightly around their skeletal frames. Only their faces were full-fleshed. Stretching out their arms with their opened claws, they tried to seduce him with sirenic voices.

Horror-struck, Leon tried to break free from their clutches, "No, I don't want y'all. Let go! Get away!" But his hands could not tear them away from him. He tried to pull away from the grip of the other Leon but he was strong and he could feel his sharp fingernails digging deeper into his flesh. Leon screamed as he literally felt each of these monsters tearing bits and pieces of flesh from his body, yet the kissing couple ignored his cries. "Help....HELP!!"

"Leon, you alright?"

Leon's eyes suddenly opened at the sound of Ron's voice. He was breathing so hard that Ron noticed his chest going up and down rapidly.

"Seems like a bad dream."

"A hellish nightmare more like it," Leon squeezed shut his eyes. He was relieved that it was all a dream, but it was a very disturbing one. It was sure to affect him the next few days.

"Here's some water for you," Ron poured him a glass and passed it to him. Leon gobbled it in a flash.

"Slowly now, slowly," Ron rubbed his back.

Leon had fallen asleep on the couch after having a heart-to-heart talk with Ron at his home, which was a tiny house on wheels that was parked on the rehab's massive garden compound. It was rare for Ron to invite a rehab patient into his humble abode. He made an exception for Leon, not because he was famous, but because he wanted to show him the meaning of contentment with the little that he had. Ron also hoped that being away from the main rehab compound would make Leon feel more at ease in letting out his feelings.

Ron initially found it hard to believe when Leon first revealed his real identity. He could not see through Leon's natural disguise and Leon could not sing to prove it due to vocal cord damage. In order to determine that he was not dealing with a lunatic, Ron had Leon accompany him to see the head of the rehab, who affirmed Leon's real identity. Ron was shocked for words, even more so when Leon revealed how he hid his whereabouts from the media with his doppelgänger, Brent Bay's help.

Seeing Leon growing more unsettled after seeing the news on Ariel and Hiroshi, Ron agreed to Leon's plea for a heart-to-heart talk. Leon did not want to talk to a therapist but a friend, and he had trusted Ron enough to see him as one.

"Care to share what you dreamt of?" asked Ron.

Leon swallowed another glass of water, "I saw Ariel and Hiroshi kissing. I tried to stop them but I couldn't. Then I saw me, another me who looks sickly and scary. He was surrounded by these ladies whom I used to be acquainted with and they looked like monsters. They don't look human. I felt them tearing me into bits, but Ariel and Hiroshi ignored my cries and they kept kissing. I can still feel those monsters tearing me apart, literally."

"It's your body's reaction to trauma."

"Oh, it's very traumatic. I don't think I can eat tonight."

"Well," Ron adjusted his glasses. "it's just tabloids and you should avoid it, which is something I'm sure you do most times if the news were about you. But if the truth is that she is with him, it really is time for you to let go."

"How do I let go? I tried and I tried and I tried, oscillating between loving her and despising her. But I can't seem to get her off my head. She's even harder to tackle than alcoholism."

"That's an honest observation," Ron nodded. "Do you hate her?"

"Hate? Hate is such a strong word!"

"Good that it's not hate. Hate is not worth an entire life."

Ron poured another glass of water for Leon before continuing.

"It'll take time to heal, although those who gave us a positive impact in our lives are even harder to forget. Busying yourself with healthy activities and positive thoughts can help. So, why not help me harvest some of the veggies in my backyard? You may not have the appetite, but you'll surely need to eat in order to get your body strong again. Don't let that nightmare win over you. Come, shall we?"

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