3AUTHOR'S OPENING NOTE: I feel that I was possessed by Shakespeare guys. I am brimming with all these ideas. And thanks to that, a new chapter is uploaded on the same week as the last one. Here is it… Meshiagare!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own SA…
Chapter 5: Imminent Union
In the 25 years of my existence, I heard many kinds of mysteries. However, none of those mysteries puzzled me more than what I just experienced. How on earth did we reach my freaking car, taking into account the massive amount of emotional turmoil within me? But no matter how much I want to spend all my time to demystify this mystery, the girl beside me won't allow that since she wants to get what she came here for, as soon as possible.
"Could you make it faster? I have lots of documents to take a look at." Megumi said, as she prompted me to get the paper bag double time.
"Here you go." I told her as I gave her the paper bag with as minimal skin contact as possible.
"Okay. Goodbye." She told me as she walked away without back.
I felt a stab of pain in my heart. It seems like no matter how many times I experience her indifference to me, I can never get used to it. In my efforts to stabilize the pain in my heart, I rationalized to myself that it is only natural that we go our separate ways now since she is already done with her business with me. At that thought, I realized that it is for the best since I need to control all the swirling emotions within me since I don't know what will happen if I lost control of my emotions in front of her. But it seems that the whole world is against me since a single phone call ruined it all.
My phone rang in the middle of my reverie. To my surprise, it is Megumi's grandfather. While I wonder about the reason for his call since he never called me before, I pressed the receive call icon.
"Hello, grandpa. To whom do I owe this pleasure." I greeted him.
With those words, Megumi stopped walking and looked back, staring at me while I am on the phone with her grandfather. Setting aside the happiness within in my heart as I realized that she is somewhat "staring" at me, I continued the call.
"Yahiro, my boy! The planner I commissioned for your wedding called me some time ago. She told me that she will meet you and Megumi at around 10:30 am in Monique's to decide and try out your suits for the wedding." He informed.
Seeing that it's almost 10:30 in the morning, I told him, "Yes grandpa. Megumi is with me right now. We'll be heading there now."
"It's good that you are together now. It saves both of your time." Grandpa Kirisaki remarked, as he ended the call.
"What was that about?" Megumi curiously asked me about the details of the call.
"He wants us to go to Monique's to meet the wedding planner and decide what we're going to wear in our wedding day." I informed her.
Megumi wrinkled her brows when she heard the contents of the call, looking somewhat against the idea. When I thought she was going to think of some ways to bail on it, what she said next surprised me.
"Let's get this over with." She remarked as she climbed in the backseat of my car.
I smiled self-depreciatingly. Is it really that bad to get married with me?
We wasted no time when we arrived at Monique's.
We immediately met with Evangeline Lou Blanc, our wedding planner. True to her reputation as one of the world's best wedding planner, she immediately led us to the most exquisite VVIP room at Monique's. Taking into account the prestigious reputation of Monique's in the world of fashion, especially when it comes to weddings, I could see that Evangeline really put all her effort in planning.
"Yahiro-sama, Megumi-sama, wedding ceremony happens only once in a lifetime so we should take our time in deciding what you to should wear on that important day." She excitedly told the both of us, hoping that it could motivate us in the tedious process.
Since male suits are easier to wear and to choose from, we started from trying wedding tuxedos first. After I lost count of how many suits I tried, Evangeline finally seemed enlightened.
"This type of tuxedo really suits Yahiro-sama. You look so handsome. Don't you think so Megumi-sama?" Evangeline remarked as she looked at Megumi.
"Hmm." Megumi quietly responded.
I looked at her twice when she responded since she seemed blushing like she used to when I first looked at her. But when I looked at her, she reverted back to that cold, indifferent goddess, so I dismissed what I saw as just an imagination produced by my longing to go back to the past.
Few minutes later, it was Megumi's turn to try her wedding dress. When she went to the dressing room, I tried to brace myself to appear as normal as possible when she comes out in her wedding dress. But no matter how I tried to brace myself, it was all useless when she came out. She was so beautiful in the wedding dresses that I feel my face burning up just looking at her. In fact, I need to turn my head away every time she went out of the dressing room in a different dress to appear as normal as possible. But no matter what I do, my stupid heart cannot calm down.
The whole morning seems to go on forever as I tried to reign my emotions. But the universe is still merciful because when I thought I can no longer endure, the choosing of our wedding attire ended. As she considered our preferences, the designer opted to commission Monique's top designer to make an custom-made suit and wedding dress for me and Megumi, respectively.
As we stepped out of the boutique, I was annoyed at the thought of being separated with Megumi even if it's just over three hours. I laughed at my pathetic self. If somebody would have told me before that I will be degraded into this level over a mere girl, I would have died of laughter. I was not even in this state with Akira, my first love. It is only Megumi who can make me feel this way. It is only her who can throw me to the depths of hell then take me back to heaven again…
Then, I took everything I said about the universe being merciful since at that moment, I instinctively grabbed onto her arms. Megumi curiously looked at me as a result of my action.
To hide my longing behind my actions, I forced a cough and told her shamelessly, "You haven't thanked me yet for giving you back the paper bag. Since it is now lunch and I am hungry, treat me to lunch."
The moment I said those words, I silently cursed myself. Wouldn't her thinking of me become lower due to my shameless actions? In spite of this, I stared at her unblinkingly, looking for anything that would give me a clue as to what she is feeling right now.
After what seems like forever of staring at her, she finally said helplessly, "Come with me."
Shocked at the discovery that acting shameless is effective in interacting with her, I added again, "I don't want to eat at a cheap restaurant. Who do you think I am? Only the finest food graces my palate."
At that remark, I noticed that she's taking deep breaths and trying hard not to snap at me. Seeing her actions, I smiled. I realized that this is the first real emotion she had shown in front of me ever since she came back.
"What are you waiting for? Follow me or I'll leave you behind." She finally told me. Then, with a smile on my face, I followed her.
In the restaurant, I relished her shocked expression as she stared at me as I ordered almost all the items in the menu of the restaurant.
"I'm surprised you did not order all the items in their menu." She sarcastically remarked.
I smirked at her and said, "I did not know that the CEO of Kirisaki Corporation is such a cheapskate that she cannot even treat her fiancée into a lunch."
"Hmph! Make sure you finish everything that you order." She responded.
Our table became so full when all the dishes we ordered arrived. I ate slowly, savoring both the dishes and our time together. Not counting my occasional shamelessness with her, the "lunch date" (well, it's just the two of us) was nearly perfect until she opened her mouth.
"Eat faster. I have an appointment after this." She informed me.
Call me childish, call me narrow-minded, or whatever term you want, but when she told me this I was so annoyed that she chose that appointment over having lunch with me. In my annoyance, I ate even slower than before and caused her to be more irritated than before. In her irritation, she called the waiter, paid the bill, and grudgingly walked away from me without even looking back. I set down my utensils as soon as she left since I lost already lost my appetite even though there are still lots of food on the table. Sighing, I went out of the restaurant.
However, I was intrigued by what I saw when I stepped out of the restaurant. Instead of calling her chauffeur (a rich girl's usual way of transport), she hailed a taxi and headed to a road opposite the Kirisaki Company.
I debated for some time whether I should follow her, but my "concern" (I'm definitely not curious… definitely not) prevailed and I ended up following her.
Following her, I figured that her destination is a famous park in the outskirts of town. I finally sighed in relief when I knew that she is not going somewhere dangerous, but this relief was short-lived. Since just as I finished sighing, I realized that this particular park is a famous dating spot for many couples. This park is teeming with a lot of cherry blossoms, making a lot of people consider it as a very romantic place.
"What's she doing in a place like this? Is she gonna meet with someone?" I anxiously asked myself.
An image of her smiling lovingly at another guy appeared in my mind. My mood further plummeted at the thought. Not liking what I was thinking and to know what she's up to since I'm concerned about her well-being (I'm definitely not jealous…definitely not), I inconspicuously followed behind her when she stepped out of the taxi.
She walked for quite a long time until she reached the part of the park where a lot people are selling souvenirs, drinks, foods, and a lot of things. I looked intently at her and where she's looking for any sign that the person she's meeting with had arrived. I sighed. It seemed that I degraded myself even worse. I now became a stalker.
After a little while, she seemed to have located what she's looking for and started walking again to that direction. I started following her again, but before I can even take five steps, a girl with a short black hair together with two of her friends interrupted me.
"What?" I asked them, not bothering to conceal my irritation.
The black-haired girl turned red at my question. Then, in an effort to help their friend, one of the girl's friends tried to smooth things out.
"There's no need to be angry gentleman. My friend here was charmed by you the first time she saw you. What do you it again? Yeah! Love at first sight! My friend fell in love with you at first sight. So seeing that you are alone at the moment, could you go out with her even just for today?" She smilingly told me, hoping that I will agree to their request.
For a moment, I was puzzled by how stupid these girls could be. Then I remembered my purpose in coming here at this park and my anger resurfaced. I am clearly here to chase my wife but these girls interrupted me. Realizing what I just said, I mentally face-palmed myself. Can I be more hopeless? There dozens of lines of girls wanting to be together with me, but the girl want is not in any of those lines.
"So what do you say?" The black-haired girl shyly asked, interrupting my thoughts in the process.
"Do you see that girl heading to the smoothie stand?" I coldly told them, while pointing at Megumi's gorgeous (like always) silhouette. Then I continued what I was saying.
"I'm going to marry that girl soon. And even if I don't marry her, there is no way that I am going out with ugly girls." I harshly rejected, and hurriedly headed to where Megumi went without looking back.
I stopped walking and just settled by covertly looking at her three stands away from her location to avoid being detected.
"Oba-san, how many minutes do I have to wait until Kaoru-kun arrived." I heard her ask the aunt selling in the smoothie stand.
"It won't be long until he returns." The aunt smilingly replied.
A shadow loomed over my heart when I heard their conversation. I unknowingly tightened my fists a I realized that Megumi indeed came here to meet someone and a guy at that. A dozen of speculations popped up in my mind. Is that guy the reason behind her cold attitude to me? If she really loves that guy, will I be able to relinquish our engagement? Confusion, pain, regret, and a lot of other emotions I could not name are overflowing within me. However, it was at this moment when a childish voice interrupted me from my inner rumblings.
"Megumi-neechan, what are you doing here?" A little boy of about nine years old approached Megumi.
"I have a surprisingly for you Kaoru-kun!" Megumi dotingly answered the boy.
Immediately, the shadow looming in my heart disappeared when I heard the content of their dialogue. Relief washed over me as soon as I knew that Megumi is not meeting with some other guy from nowhere.
"What is it neechan?" the boy asked excitedly.
Megumi sighed, seemingly helpless to the little boy's cute appearance. Then the next thing Yahiro saw was Megumi handing a familiar blue paper bag to the boy.
"This is for you! Look inside!" Megumi urged the little twerp (yeah, I called him twerp! Bite me!)
The little twerp looked inside and he was so delighted with what he saw that he ran to Megumi and hugged her waist. That little twerp! He's becoming more and more of a twerp!
"Arigatou, Megumi-neechan! I always wanted to have a paintball gun ever since I saw it on TV but we do not have enough money to buy it!" The little twerp told Megumi.
'It's no biggie." Megumi told the him while she pats his head.
It seemed that the twerp noticed my hostility that is directed to him. When they separated from their hug, he looked into my direction and our eyes met.
"Oneechan, look at that guy. He's glaring at us." The little twerp told Megumi.
What a nerve! This guy has a lot of nerve to snitch me, Yahiro Saiga, the CEO of Saiga Group.
Megumi was alerted by what the little twerp told him and looked at the place where he's pointing, which is unfortunately the place where I'm standing. As our eyes met, it was then when I knew that I am in big. Whatever! Since the cat is out of the bag, why not approach them so that I could be near her.
"Hey! What a coincidence!" I said as normally as I can when I reached the place beside her.
"You were following me?!" She protested.
"Did you not hear it when I said coincidence?" I countered.
Somewhat confused, the little twerp asked, "Megumi-neechan, do you know this guy?"
Not waiting for Megumi to answer him since she might deny that she knows me, I answered, "Of course she knows me. I'm her boyfriend."
"Who said that you my…" Megumi started to retort but before she could finish speaking, I shamelessly interrupted her.
"If not boyfriend, what am I to you then? Don't tell me you already think of me as husband? My, my, my, I never know that Megumi is so eager for our wedding."
Megumi glared at me when I finished what I'm saying. Then realizing it's no use, she told the little twerp, "Kaoru-kun, this is Yahiro Saiga. You should say hi."
The little twerp turned to me and said, "When you first said that you are Megumi-neechan's boyfriend, I thought you were lying. But seeing that she acknowledged you, then I guess what you're saying is true. And now that I look closely, you look good together.
I coughed to hide the blush that is threatening to appear in my face when I heard what he said. Maybe the little twerp is not so bad after all. I was so happy with what he said, that I, the great Yahiro Saiga, even volunteered to help him with his paintball gun.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" He cautiously asked while he handed me the freaking gun.
"Of course, leave it all to…" I smugly declared, but before I can even finish what I'm trying to say, I accidentally pressed the trigger and all of a sudden, lots of yellow paint squirted into my face.
Great! Just great! Now I look like such a yellow mess in front of Megumi. I wanted to curse then and there, but a familiar laughter, like the ringing of bells, entered my ears…
I looked at the source of the laughter only to see not a person but the goddess of the angels. The wind flows between the strands of her hair as sweet laughter escapes from her lips. The image is so warm that you cannot help but wonder where did all her coldness went. She is so mesmerizingly beautiful that I could not help but stare and be drawn in. In that moment, it seems like time stopped and only the two of us remained in this world while anything else disappeared…
It was already night when I returned home.
My body felt heavy and tired that I cannot help but go directly to bed. Apparently, it took a lot of my strength and energy to play with the little twerp. However, thinking of all the fun things I did today, especially witnessing Megumi's laughter, I feel that it is all worth it.
Lying in bed, I thought about a lot of things. During the day, while together with her, I realized that she is not really cold. In fact, she still possessed the warmth that she had many years ago. Will he help a poor kid if she does not have any warmth? And I refuse that someone so cold could smile as warmly as she did. It is just that due to circumstances, she had built a wall (a very thick one at that) around her heart. My heart feels constricted and guilty as I think that I am the reason why she had built such a wall around her heart.
All of sudden, memories of frequently she used to smile and how sweetly she used to sing resurfaced in my mind. Unknowingly, tears started to flow from my eyes. I think that I never hated myself as much as I had in that moment because if not for me, she still would be smiling…she still would be singing…
I wiped those tears and made up my resolve. I want to see her smile again. I want to hear her sing again.
I swear to myself that I will breakthrough that wall even if it's the last thing I do.
That is what I think….
However, months passed. It is already the eve before our wedding day and there is no sign of breaking through that wall.
AUTHOR'S CLOSING NOTE: Oh boy! My hands and brain are tired from writing that chapter! I did not expect it to be that long. Anyways, thank you for reading guys and don't forget to tell me what you about this chapter by writing a review! See you on the next chapter!
