Chapter 45 - Helping Leon

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Fujita approved Ariel's recommendation on hiring Anna to help clean her house thrice a week, and Anna couldn't be more grateful. She was even more elated that the pay was higher than what Leon offered. However, Anna hoped to continue to work for Leon on the side as and when he needed since Leon was family to her.

Anna arrived at Ariel's house in the early morning and was greeted by Andy.

"Anna!" Andy was happy to see a familiar face. "Mum says you're working for us. Is that true?"

"Yes, dear. I'm so happy to see you again," she gave him a huge bag of mixed candies. "My oh my, you've grown tall!"

Andy nodded with a smile. After exchanging a few kind words, he returned to his study room to resume his homeschool with his tutor while Anna prepared to start cleaning.

Meanwhile, Ariel was getting ready to go to work when Anna stopped her.

"What's up, Anna?"

"Can I ask your help in one more thing, dear?"

"Sure, what's that?"

"It may be too much to ask. You've helped Leon in ways he'd never imagined - saving his life, even cooking those soups for him in secret to save his liver."

"Ah..that," Ariel gave a sheepish smile.

"Oh," Anna gave a playful nudge. "I know deep inside, you still care for him. This year is the most difficult period for Leon that I've ever seen him in, especially with his debts. If you could help him, please."

"I can't help him with his debts, Anna. I don't earn millions," Ariel let out an uneasy laugh.

"No, I'm not asking you to solve his debts. I'm asking if you can give a positive boost to his reputation? People are so unfair and critical of him because of his past mistakes. Yet, he's not dated anyone since that scandal."

"He's not?" Ariel raised her eyebrows.

Anna confirmed, "No one. I've not seen him bring a single woman home, and he's not touched a single drop of alcohol. He's making an effort to change his life for the better, but the world doesn't want that. They'd rather be entertained by his downfall and his shameful past."

Ariel recalled Leon's obvious attempt to avoid Hiromi. Was he really trying? Old habits were hard to die, after all. Knowing that Leon was really single and somehow trying to turn his life around for the better made Ariel's heart glad.

"Since you two have resumed contact, please help him cos' I don't know anyone who can help him better than you. Leon's like family to me and I hate to see him suffer like this. He's helped you before, after all. Remember how he spent days with you in the hospital and had Andy taken care of?"

"I'll see what I can do," Ariel assured, although she had no idea how.

—————

"Well done, Ariel-san! I couldn't be more proud of you," Mr Fujita praised Ariel.

Hinata restaurant recently earned two Michelin stars, garnering so much publicity that Ariel had to hire more staff and the restaurant continued to be packed to the brim, with more franchises opening locally and overseas.

Ariel felt proud that her own hard work paid off. Earning a Michelin star in her lifetime was something she never imagined was possible. It meant the world to her. To celebrate their hard work, all the staff at Hinata were rewarded with a fun day at an elite sea-side country club which Mr Fujita and Hiroshi were members of, and a big celebration high-end dinner to end the day. Everyone was given extra two days to their annual leave plus an additional one month early bonus.

Like with every success, being on cloud nine did not last forever. Ariel soon found herself back on earth and back to work, with more responsibilities and little time despite being a high-income earner. Inside, her anxiety and stress continued to intensify.

During one of her Krav Maga training sessions, Ariel punched and kicked with all her might at the punching pads that Hiroshi had in his hands, dripping in sweat and feeling red hot.

"YAAA!!" she gave a final hard punch before falling onto the mat and taking in multiple deep breaths.

"I've never seen you that fierce!" Hiroshi was mind blown by her venting out with such ferocity. It was clear something was bothering her.

"You alright?" he asked.

Ariel lay flat on the ground, still inhaling with her eyes rooted at the ceiling lights, "Feeling kinda...trapped."

"Trapped?" Hiroshi raised his forehead. "What do you mean?"

Ariel sighed, "How shall I put it? Maybe I miss normal."

"Why would you want to go back to a normal life? Your recent success is well-deserved. Isn't that great?"

Ariel did not feel satisfied with his answer. She sat up and gave him a sobering look, "Yes, it's great. I don't deny how proud I am of me and my team's work. But you grew up with fame, not me. And honestly, this kind of anxiety within me, I never felt it this bad when I was working for Leon."

Hiroshi's smile faded at that name, "What are you trying to say, Ariel? Are you not happy working with Fujita?"

"Oh no, don't get me wrong," Ariel waved her hands profusely. "That's not what I mean. What I mean is that when I was working for Leon, I did not feel this anxious. Yes, the paparazzi would watch me but did not pay that much attention to me as compared to him, and compared to me now."

"But you mentioned before how he would constantly threaten to fire you, remember? Wasn't that fearful enough? Fujita does not do that to you."

"That's true."

"So, deal with it. Remember what I've always taught you - resilience!" he drilled like a sergeant.

Ariel was taken aback by his lack of empathy. Usually, Hiroshi was kind, gentle and understanding, but now he sounded agitated. He was still her boss and perhaps he thought she was complaining.

"Sansei, I'm sorry, I'm just feeling - "

"That's why you need to toughen up. That's why I'm here, helping you, guiding you, pushing your limits, so you can continue to bring pride to our name."

Ariel swallowed hard at the perfectionist ways demanded of her. Was he not getting it? She was not just a beacon for Fujita, she was human too!

"Let's continue the practice," he lifted up the punching pads.

"Hai..sansei," she uttered.

—————-

The last day at his penthouse felt surreal as it was bittersweet.

Less than a week after the press release of selling his penthouse, a multi-millionaire investment banker came to view the penthouse and bought the property with many of its furniture on the spot, allowing Leon to profit an additional $5 million from the sale. It sold much faster than the other two properties he was still trying to offload.

Leon took one last look at the penthouse before passing the key card to the new owner. The panoramic sea view would surely be missed.

In the meantime, he managed to find a place to rent - a townhouse that was coincidentally on the same street as Ariel's and that would make them neighbours since he would stay ten blocks down. It was not intentional (or perhaps, subconsciously it was), for the townhouse was within his means after a thorough search for suitable accommodation near downtown. Vinny tried to suggest otherwise but none of the locations she suggested fit what he was looking for. He was comfortable with the fact that the townhouse was in a wealthy residential area that was a short drive from downtown. His new abode was much smaller than his previous penthouse. Even though the fittings were posh and comfortable, they lacked the sophistication of the penthouse. Staying at street-level than many floors at the top was something he had to get used to.

Since that urgent meeting with his employees, there was no more leak to the news about his private life. For now, Leon could breathe easy.

However, as much as it felt freeing to pay off his debt and live with less stuff, Leon couldn't help feeling somewhat defeated to downgrade from his once high status. His net worth was speculated to be slashed by more than half even though he refused to verify the figures and information like this was already adding to his humiliation. Already, some of his celebrity friends stopped hanging out with him after the reported change in his net worth. Some friends they were. Another bunch of pretentious show-offs whom he knew he had to declutter out of his life.

In order to prevent another rude shock in the media, Leon decided to let Ariel know first through a WhatsApp text.

Leon: Hey Ariel, I'm gonna be your neighbour soon, just fyi

Ariel: What do you mean?

Leon: 10 blocks down from your left

Ariel: Seriously? Is that on purpose?

Leon: It's what I can afford to rent until I sort my finances out & find somewhere else to live

Ariel: Understand, sorry to hear what u're going thru

Leon bit his lower lip. Couldn't she be more compassionate than that? Show more concern, show that she missed him!

Leon: Is that all u can say?

Ariel: Well, it'll get better. On the bright side, Andy will be delighted to see u ard

Leon: Absolutely. And you? Will you be delighted to see me ard?

He waited for her reply but she never responded. She was clearly not interested. Leon facepalmed, wondering why in the world he was still trying to pursue her.

———

The news was abuzz of Leon's move to his new abode, and it set tongues wagging at the shocking fact that he was living near Ariel.

One thing Leon liked about his new townhouse was that it had land, and he could do his gardening in the backyard. He took a picture of himself in his new abode with his new garden and the crops he had planted as his backdrop, and posted it on his social media.

Within minutes, a flood of comments came pouring in, praising his gardening skills. Then, that one comment that struck him on Instagram:

@CherryBerryKiss: You garden so well, like your mum #peppermint #rosemary #kale

How did she know his mother could garden? It was something he never shared with the outside world. Even her own Instagram account was set to private that she would only allow close friends and family to follow her. Peppermint, rosemary and kale? How did @CherryBerryKiss know that thsse plants were his mother's favourite to grow?

Leon began to narrow down to one person who could be a firm possibility: Ariel Lee.

After all, she was the only other person from outside the family who knew his mother's gardening since she helped her harvest some plants when she was at their mansion.

Leon recalled how fixated Ariel was on her phone during the Yellowstone trip, although not as obsessed as Hiromi. He remembered Ariel was never into social media before she worked for Fujita, but he recalled catching a glimpse of that familiar Instagram layout on her phone.

"Sometimes, I'd rather be someone else than me. Be in another world."

He thought back on those words that Ariel said when they were at Beth's new house. Could it really be Ariel? Was this her way of escape from her stressful and oppressive life, that she wanted to be someone else? After all, she once lamented that she was not in charge of her social media accounts during a little argument she had with Hiromi when she begged her to remove the photo of them on her Instagram at Yellowstone.

As for her profile picture and name, Cherry blossom trees were common in Japan and since she was working for a Japanese company, it shouldn't be a surprise she chose a cherry blossom tree.

The more Leon pondered on these things, the more he suspected it was Ariel's way to create a secret Instagram account and play an alter ego where she could be free and in control. If that was the case, Leon was more than happy to play along. This would take flirting to another level. But first, he had to make sure it was her.

Normally, he never replied to any of his fans' direct messages on Instagram. He would read some of them, but the list of unread messages were too many and he had his fair share of hate mail too. His PR team would help read them, delete the toxic mails and look out for any important feedback and messages from his fans. Leon checked if @CherryBerryKiss had sent any message to him, and he was surprised that she did not.

Taking a deep breath, he decided to make the first move and direct message @CherryBerryKiss. This would be his first to direct message a fan.

Leon: Do I know u?

As soon as he sent his first message, he was surprised at how fast she responded as if she'd been expecting it.

@CherryBerryKiss: Maybe

Leon: Who are you? What's your real name?

@CherryBerryKiss: You'll find out.

Leon: What's your intention?

@CherryBerryKiss: To be free, with u

Leon felt blood rush to his cheeks. If his suspicion was right that this was Ariel, then she was showing that she still desired him.

Leon: Why hide behind your alter-ego?

@CherryBerryKiss: Why hide behind yours? You can't fool me. I know every part of you to know what's real what's fake

He got confused. Did she not mistook Brent for him at the park? But understandably, in the heat of the moment, she was too angry to notice it when she stood up for Andy being wronged. How it made his skin tingle when she mentioned knowing full well his physical features. This was obvious since they stayed together under the same roof for almost a year.

Leon: Why couldn't u tell me direct that u wanted me? 

@CherryBerryKiss: How could I? It's so hard. I rather u make the 1st move & am glad u did!

What kind of game was this? Flirting with him as @CherryBerryKiss but acting aloof as Ariel Lee? Maybe because she was still scared of Hiroshi...yes, Hiroshi! He was the wedge between them! That explained why she had an alter-ego. Hiroshi may be spying on her private phone conversations so she did not respond to his last message on WhatsApp - it's gotta be!

Leon was liking this game very much. If she wanted to play pretend, so be it, he'll lead her on. His heart raced with each message she sent.

Leon: Do u want me, Miss Beautiful?

@CherryBerryKiss: Yes

She acknowledged her nickname. It was indeed Ariel!

Leon: You know we'll be seeing each other more often

@CherryBerryKiss: Really? Looking forward to it

Leon: Can't wait to see you again

@CherryBerryKiss: ❤️Let me know when ❤️

Leon felt like his heart was about to explode, especially with the heart emojis that she typed in. He was over the moon that Ariel still had feelings for him.

————-

Ariel stared at herself up-close in the mirror, angling her face left and right to eye on the minute imperfections on her skin. It was not that she was vain, but recent unflattering up-close pictures of her with minimal makeup revealed faint under-eye circles and uneven skin tone, further embarrassing her before the world. The bouts of anxiety and stress had caused a few breakouts too.

The store-bought beauty creams that she had been using for years were not working anymore. So, Ariel browsed online for alternatives and chanced upon a good review on a serum and moisturiser from Leon's skincare line that could tackle her skin problems. Unfortunately, there were other negative reviews that were posted after his scandal, many of them were ad hominem. No wonder his sales dipped!

Ariel remembered Anna's words, ".. please help him once more.."

"If you say so," she responded to the memory.

Buying the skincare online won't make much of a difference in helping him out, so Ariel knew she had to try another way. She went directly to the mall with her bodyguards, and into a posh cosmetics department store that was now the only distributing physical chain for Leon's skincare.

For the first time, she hoped the paparazzi were following her, and they did! Ariel pretended to ignore their presence from a distance, making sure as always that her smile and fashion were in her signature Fujita finest. She acted as normally as she could, browsing multiple brands and trying out samples before "stumbling" onto Leon's skincare counter.

"How may I help you?" asked a female staff.

"Can you show me how this serum and moisturiser works?" Ariel asked.

"Sure," the lady was delighted to demonstrate the range for her, applying them on her hand and corners of her eyes. Ariel was impressed that it felt silky and hydrating without any irritation. Because his skincare contained extracts from the deep sea, no wonder his stuff was so expensive, even after a discount!

For the first time, she could afford the hefty price tag. She bought the recommended products and made sure the logo of the skincare line visible on the front of the white bag, and she walked out as if nothing, while the photographers clicked away non-stop from afar.

In return for helping him out, Ariel hoped his products would help her skin return to its former glory.

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