“He’s such an asshole. And just so…wrong for you. The stalking, the harassment. And why show up now? He didn’t do a thing to get in touch for two years!”
I shrug, feigning nonchalance. “I don’t know. But he said he couldn’t stay in Japan for long, so he’s going to leave.”
Then remembering what he asked me to give up, I laugh dryly.
“What?”
“He asked me to quit my job. No, he actually told me to quit my job and move back to the States with him.”
Bennie’s eyes bug out. “Is he out of his freakin’ mind?”
“Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too.”
“Wait.” He puts his head closer to mine conspiratorially. “Do you think he knows? About”—he lowers his voice—“you know.”
My heart seems to skip a beat, but I shake my head firmly. “No. No way. He didn’t say anything about it. Besides, how could he know? He probably left Charlottesville after his surgery, and even if he didn’t, he doesn’t know Darcy and Ray. I doubt he made the connection.”
Bennie thinks it over. “You’re right. It’s not like anyone looks that closely at random people’s kids.” He puts an elbow on the back of the sofa. “So did you confront him about what his brother said?”
Bennie’s fists are tight. He’s still angry about the way I was treated by Lucas’s family, especially his oldest brother. Elliot wasn’t so bad. He merely stood there while Blake ripped into me.
“I did, but apparently Blake has denied everything, and Lucas believes his brother.”
“What a lying piece of shit. So he is close enough to believe his brother after all.”
When I asked Lucas about his family when we were dating, he told me they weren’t that close and that he avoided talking to them. Now I know the truth. And it hurts like hell. “Well, it doesn’t matter.” Maybe if I fake nonchalance long enough it’ll become real. “I always suspected he wasn’t being honest about everything. Now I know, so I can move on.”
“Girl, you’ve already moved on. You’re here, away from him, and you’re figuring out your life.”
“Right.” I flash a quick smile for Bennie’s benefit. But if I have indeed moved on, why did I hesitate when Darcy asked me to come to the States for the holidays…and why am I considering moving farther and farther from home?
Since I don’t have an answer to either question, I go wipe the makeup off my face, change into pajamas and rejoin Bennie in the living room to watch some silly TV personalities making fools of themselves. I’m tired, but I can’t seem to shut off my brain. When I finally go lie down on my futon, I toss and turn, obsessing about Lucas’s wicked mouth and his outlandish demand that I move back home with him.
Chapter Thirteen
Ava
“Ohayo gozaimasu!” I say, as I walk into the teachers’ office the next morning.
Sato-sensei repeats my greeting with a small incline of her head from her desk. She’s a petite Japanese language teacher. Though she’s in her mid-thirties and has two children, you’d never know it from her smooth golden skin and the twinkle in her dark eyes. She’s in a conservative black dress and a white sweater. Once every few months she’ll get a wild hair and wear something dark blue.
“You’re a little early,” she says.
I’m twenty-five minutes early. I didn’t sleep much last night, but I couldn’t brin
g myself to linger in bed once the raucous neighborhood crows woke me up before six. “I wanted to review a few things before class.”
“Ah. As it happens, Kouchou-sensei mentioned that she would like to see you…”
I smile, despite a bit of apprehension slithering up my spine. Kouchou literally means “school principal,” and everyone calls the old bat by her title rather than her name, Yukiko Tanaka. Older than a T-rex’s femur, she’s as cold as her namesake—snow—and doesn’t like foreigners that much, although she recognizes the necessity of having them in her school to teach English.
Sato-sensei would never presume to give me a direct order, but the implication is clear: I need to go and see the dragon-lady before doing anything else.
A young secretary guarding the Kouchou’s inner sanctum smiles nervously when I walk in. This is not a good omen. Yamamoto-san’s expression determines what’s waiting for you in Kouchou-sensei’s office, and that smile means, “I’m so glad it’s you, not me.”
“Good morning, Ava-sensei. Please go in. Kouchou-sensei wanted to see you.”
“Yes, I heard. Thank you.”