Chapter 3
“Sunday afternoons were not meant to be spent like this,” Kimone grumbled as she put the small thread of silver thistle alongside the red one. She and Dawn and Georgia, who worked at the residence as a nurse’s aide, were decorating the huge fir tree that her mother had managed to get a neighbor to purchase from the greenhouse. The decorations had been dragged from the basement, dusted and shined off and more had been added to the already numerous decorations accumulated over the years.
A step ladder had been retrieved and the extra bright star had been put on the top; its lights twinkling merrily in the partial darkness. It was already the first week of December and Kimberley had told them firmly that if the Christmas tree was not up and decorated by the first week then it made no sense to put it up at all.
The residents were milling around admiring the team effort. They had been offered hot chocolate and oatmeal cookies. Her mother was busy elsewhere setting up a choir for the concert she was planning.
“It’s not like you have anywhere else to be is there?” Dawn looked at her quizzically as she examined the different colored bulbs on the tree and wondered if there were too many things already there. She had a tiny Santa playing a drum in her hand and was looking for a suitable spot to put it. “I, on the other hand, was invited to dinner with Gregory’s parents and I turned them down to do this, I had to reassure them it was for a worthy cause.”
“So what? Just because I don’t have a boyfriend’s parents to go to dinner with; my time is not valuable?” Kimone asked her friend, slightly peeved. She had yet to tell Dawn about going out with Peter and about him being a billionaire and seeing him at the coffee shop the mornings she had gone there. They had chatted about this and that. She told him about her plan to decorate the Christmas tree at the store on Monday and was thinking of gift-wrapping some toys to go under the tree.
“Of course it is honey,” Dawn said with a teasing grin. “But just not as valuable as those of us who have a life away from work.”
Kimone flung a piece of crepe paper at her not in the least bit offended. Georgia smiled at the friends and went to assist one of the resident’s who had started coughing.
“I don’t know how someone as young and pretty as Georgia can stand to do this every day,” Dawn commented as she watched the girl gently take the elderly woman’s arm and lead her off in the direction of the rooms. It was a pleasant enough place with cheerful colored paint and brightly painted throw rugs on the floor as if someone had strove desperately to move away from what the place really was: a home where people were sick and in need of help. Kimberley had been one of those persons who did whatever she could to make the place more accommodating but one could not escape the smell of medication and old age.
“Somebody has to do it,” Kimone murmured, staring at old Mrs. Lodge who was dozing in a chair by the fireplace with her mouth half opened. Not for the first time she realized that her mother was one of the few people who really cared and it was not for show.
“Darlings! You have done a terrific job.” Kimberley bustled out bearing a tray loaded with different types of cookies and tiny sandwiches with a young boy behind her with two cups of steaming coffee in his hands. “You deserve all you can manage to eat from this tray.” She came over to where the two girls were taking a break from decorating and were sitting on the only available sofa in the large living room. She placed the tray on the table in front of them and joined them on the faded sofa.
“It makes a big difference doesn’t it?” she asked softly as she smiled at young Benjamin and told him thanks as he placed the cups on the table.
“It sure does,” Dawn told her heartily; reaching for two sandwiches and several of the heart shaped cookies. She could not get enough of Kimberley’s baking; the woman was a whiz in the kitchen.
“Mom, these are delicious!” Kimone exclaimed always amazed at how delicate and light her mother’s baking always turned out. Whenever she tried to bake even a simple cake it turned out like rock; she certainly had not gotten the touch from her mother.
“I have placed some in a bakery box for both of you; the bigger box is for you Kim because I know you want to entertain the little ones at the store.”
Both girls mumbled thanks with their mouths full.
They sat their own strange comforting warmth of the residential home living room eating and chatting about the plans for the Christmas dinner and concert.
“You should hear Mrs. Lodge reciting a poem she wrote a few days ago. The woman has talent! Apparently she was a literature teacher some decades ago and she has a creative flair.” Kimberley said excitement in her voice. “And old Joe and Martha are going to honor us with a waltz that should be something not to be missed.”
She told them the items she had planned for the concert and the theme for the dinner would be ‘oldies but goodies’ and she had encouraged the residents to dress up as their favorite old time movie stars.
“I hope by that time you would be able to find a date dear,” Kimberley looked at her daughter quizzically. She had always encouraged Kimone that she should not let the business consumed her entire life and that she should find a life away from the stress of work.
“I strongly doubt that,” Kimone said dryly, finishing her sandwich.
They finished up and both Dawn and Kimone left together. Kimberley said she would be staying to play bridge with some of the ladies.
“I am thinking of giving in to Gregory,” Dawn commented as she negotiated the car through the Sunday evening traffic. It was getting very cold and there was also a stiff breeze accompanying the cold.
“You make it sound like a death sentence,” Kimone pulled her coat closer to her as she felt a sudden draft. She had not dressed warm enough because earlier today the weather had seemed mild.
“It’s not like that,” Dawn said with a sigh. “But considering what I went through you can’t blame me for being cautious. You are right, I cannot judge him because of what happened to me in the past, he deserves a chance.”
“I am not one to give relationship advice, I have never been in one,” Kimone said wryly sending her friend a smile. “But I think Gregory is a nice guy.”
“I think so too.” Dawn agreed. “That’s why I have finally said yes to an engagement ring.”
“Honey that’s great!” Kimone gave her hand a squeeze, genuinely happy for her.
*****
Kimone spent the rest of the evening preparing for the next day. She had added a reading corner in the little store and had decided to include a bedtime story reading so that the children could read to the dolls and enhance their own vocabulary. She had yet to decide whether or not she should take to money from her mother even though she had told her yet again that it was there for her whenever she needed it. The lease would not be up for another four weeks so she still had time to make up her mind. She had so many plans for the little store that sometimes she felt the ideas bursting out of her head.
With a sigh, she turned her mind to what her mother had said and what Dawn had told her about getting engaged. She had often told herself that she did not have time to form a relationship and she would be short changing any man she entered into a relationship with; but the truth was she needed something special, she never want to settle. She wanted something her mother'd had with her father and she did not believe in accepting second best. She had been approached several times even when she had been in college but they had appeared to be immature and without goals. When she had left college she had started working on her ideas for the store and had brushed away the ones that had come her way without the slightest interest. She always told herself that she was not going to be with a man just because society dictated that she had to have one. She was going to be with one because she had fallen in love and she wanted to be with him.
*****
“I thought you were supposed to be helping me,” Kimone commented as she placed a glass angel on a branch of the tree. It was after six on Monday and she had closed the store to decorate her Christmas tree and had been surprised this morning at the coffee shop when Peter had told her he wanted to see what her store was about. He had taken off his obviously expensive coat and jacket and hung them on the coat hanger just inside the door.
“I am,” he told her with a boyish grin; handing her a green bulb with gold glitters. “You are doing so well by yourself that I am afraid I would just mess up things, not having decorated a Christmas tree before.”
“Never?” Kimone looked at him in pretend shock. “How did you survive so long without doing so?”
“Christmas in my home was a big deal,” he told her, ignoring her teasing. “I used to wake up in the middle of the night and go look out for Santa. It’s a big deal in Japan because the children are taught to believe in the tradition of Santa giving presents and not the parents, as it is in this country so I was always thinking that Santa must love me very much to give me so many gifts.” His smile was relaxed and charming and not for the first time did Kimone notice how extremely attractive he was. His dark hair had fallen onto his forehead again and she felt the urge to fix it but it made him look boyishly handsome.
“I got all the presents I wanted as well because I made a list.” Kimone said with a laugh. She was busy tying red and green bows on some sections of the tree and had stopped to scoop her untidy hair, securing it on top of her head with a piece of string. She had worn black wool pants and a white sweater and only a pair of gold earrings decorated her lobes. Peter thought she looked like a beautiful teenager. “Mom would strike the pretty expensive things off the list and told me that Santa had other children to think about; not just me.”
“Practical woman,” Peter murmured, watching as she used her teeth to bite off a piece of thread to tie a candy cane on the tree.
He enjoyed watching her and he had told her he wanted to see what her store looked like, not telling her that he had been trying to find a way to talk to her but this was the only thing he could come up with. He had been going to the coffee shop in the mornings and delighted to see that she was there most times. They would spend the few minutes talking about everything else except what he wanted to say to her. She had finally told him about the lease and about her mother offering to help but she was still hesitating.
She had finished dealing with the tree and had fixed cups of hot chocolate with some of the delicious pastries her mother had prepared. They were sitting around the small oak table when he spoke up. “I have a proposition to make.” He told her, pushing aside his half empty cup and folding his hands on the table. “I want you to think about it very carefully before answering.”
“Sounds mysterious,” Kimone said lightly, wondering what he was going to say to her.
“I am going to suggest something that is going to benefit both of us.” He continued, his liquid dark eyes holding hers.
“I am listening.”
“I am extremely wealthy as you know and I want to settle down, also I want to help you with this place and buy the store for you with money left to do whatever additions you might want to make. The title will be in your name only so whatever happens, the store will always be yours. I am therefore asking you to marry me.”
There was silence for a little while as Kimone tried to process what he had just said to her. A marriage of convenience? But as much as she did not want to think about that aspect of it, what had attracted her was the part where he told her about buying the store for her, the store would be hers for her to do whatever she chose.
“No pretty Asian girls available?” she said the first thing that came to her mind.
“You’re stereotyping,” he told her, his heart pounding inside his chest; at least she did not look repulsed by his offer so maybe there was a chance. “You don’t have to answer me without giving it careful consideration and now that I have said it, I want us to talk about anything else.”
“Okay,” she agreed, grateful that she did not have to give her answer now because if she had it would probably be no, even though she could not stop thinking about the store being hers. Did she want it bad enough to get married to a man she barely knew? Albeit an extremely attractive and very wealthy man.
He told her about his business and how much he enjoyed the wheeling and dealing of it and even though he had had to get used to being an employer to several thousand men and women; he tried his best to treat them fairly.
“I can hardly manage to deal with one person working for me let alone thousands,” Kimone said with a tinkling laugh that had him staring at her lips.
“It gets easier as time passes.” He felt his hands clenched as he realized he wanted so much to kiss her and make love to her that it was like a physical pain inside him.
He had to leave. He had to do so now before he revealed his inner feelings and spooked her, before she had time to think about what he had said to her. It was almost seven thirty and he knew he had to offer to take her home, even though it was going to be torture for him.
He took her home and let her off at her apartment and watched as she went inside and secured the door. She never once mentioned what he had proposed and he did not dare bring it up fearing she was going to say no, so he had to sit there beside her in the car and make light casual conversation when all he wanted to do was to pull her close to him.
*****
The house had belonged to his parents and it was the house he had grown up in and lived all his life. It had four bedrooms and the only thing he had changed was the bedroom he had taken as his own after his parents’ had died. He had settled on black and red colors and had changed the bed and bought a massive king sized one with a carved headboard. He did not spend a lot of time at home because his company took a lot of his time and when he was not at the office he was either traveling or in meetings somewhere. For the first time and he realized that it had happened since he had met her; he was lonely and the house was too empty. He could just hear her tinkling laughter ringing inside and her petite frame filling each room with her presence; wherever Kimone went, he was sure she drew attention without attempting to do so.
He took up the picture of his parents’ that was very prominent on the mantel and looked at the two people smiling at him. He looked like his father, Yoshi and Miku Makeida who had been the best parents a boy could ever hope for. He took after his father but had inherited his petite mother’s inner grace and determination. She had always told him never to settle for anything less than love and never allow anyone to make him choose because he was forced to do so. He smiled as he thought what she would have said about Kimone and wished with all his heart that she was here so that she could give her very good advice.
He put away the framed photo and wandered inside the large ultra modern bathroom. He had gutted one of the bedrooms and extended the small bathroom that was there before and remodeled the room, turning it into one of those that could appear in a house magazine. He had chosen stark colors, black, red and white and the room was striking with the colors vying against each other. He had found the claw footed tub in a small store that sold antique furnishings and had bought it and had it restored; it now shone with creamy elegance.
With a deep sigh he shed his clothes and realized that as much as the temperature was freezing cold, he could do well with a cold shower.
*****
Kimone made tea. That’s what she did when she had a situation or something bothering her, she made tea. She did not drink all of it because she was not a tea person but she found that making tea put her problems into perspective; so she was making tea and thinking.
She had wanted to say something to him when he was taking her home but she had not known what to say. She had never thought of marriage and when she did, it had to do with love and all the works, not the clinical and cold arrangement he had told her while they were in the store. He was handsome enough and certainly had more money than she had ever seen in her lifetime, to find a woman easily so why her? After they had gone to the burger place and he had told her who he really was she had gone home and Googled him and had been quite staggered at the amount of holdings his company had. He was a freaking billionaire. So it begged the question, why would he want to marry her?
She was thrilled at the idea of owning her own store and that kept ringing inside her head but getting married to achieve what she wanted had never entered her mind, she was not that type of person.
He was very wealthy; not just ordinary have a couple of thousand dollars in the bank but out of her league wealthy and even though she had been brought up not to believe in one person being better than another, she knew the difference having money and not having money meant. With a contemplative sip of her lemon tea she wandered into the tiny living room and switched on the television, mindlessly changing the channel until she found something she half wanted to watch. She was not into watching T.V. but now and then she would watch a romantic comedy or something about businesses or even the home and garden channel.
He had proposed to her. A business proposal nonetheless but the first proposal she had ever received, she thought wryly. She was lousy at dating and trying to respond when guys talked to her about anything romantic; she would end up asking them about their goals and dreams and the moment would be lost. She was more of a friend type than a girlfriend type. In college she had talked with a lot of guys and even though they had the intention of talking to her about a relationship they would end up being her friend, coming to her for advice or just to chat. She had no idea how to talk to a man romantically because she had never done so.
She had gotten a proposal of marriage and she had no idea how to answer.