I could not think of the song to go with the chapter until hey, that song. Hahaha.

Anyway, I am trying to complete this to get started with peak and also my new project. I do not really know if I can even start the new project on time simply because I have bigger plans coming. Hahaha.

Enjoy!

Revisit 19: Paparazzi

Lady Gaga

“I can’t answer to that,” I told him, shaking my head.

“Why not?” he asked, stopping his steps.

“It doesn’t seem right. Not like this, not now.”

“But we have been making good progress,” he insisted. “Didn’t you miss me for the past few weeks?”

“What is there to miss?” I asked, with a pained expression on my face. “You left and only leave us messages occasionally. What is there to miss?”

“While I’m out there, working hard to protect you?” he retorted back, his voice raising. “You don’t know what I’m doing, for you, for Hiro.”

“Then tell me! I don’t know!” I cried back.

Just then, Hiro woke up. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked around. He saw tears at the corners of my eyes.

“Mama!” he cried out. “Let me down!” he struggled from Satoshi’s hold. Satoshi kneeled down on one knee to let him down and Hiro came rushing to my side.

“Doushite? Why are you always making mama cry?” asked Hiro with an angered tone.

“No, I didn’t mean to,” Satoshi defended himself.

“Mama, let’s go home,” said Hiro as he held my hand. I wiped the tears with my hands and nodded my head. The both of us walked and never looked back.

*****

“Sorry, Yoshiro. I’m not fit to conduct today’s lesson,” I said on the phone.

“Are you alright? You sound upset,” said Yoshiro.

“Nothing really. Just caught a cold.”

“Do take care. Don’t worry about the lesson. We’ll just reschedule it another day.”

“Thanks.”

I placed the phone down and stared into the ceiling. I sent Hiro to school this morning and took a day off from work. Lucky for me I only had one session with Yoshiro today.

“In the end, I just don’t know you,” I told myself.

Thinking about his promise and his words yesterday, it made me happy. At the same time, it made me afraid. I cannot say ‘yes’ so easily. I hardly knew him. I don’t even know what kind of father he would be to Hiro. I could tell Hiro was getting annoyed with him as well, although it was partially my fault.

My eyes became heavy and I fell asleep.

*****

“Mama!!” called out Hiro as he jumped onto my bed. Eh?

“Hiro, why? What?” I asked, sounding confused. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was already 2.45pm.

“Mama! You forgot to pick me up!” pouted Hiro. Oh no! What have I done?

“I’m so sorry,” I apologized as I hugged him. “But wait, how did you get home then?”

“Sorry to interrupt, but I picked him up from school for you,” said a familiar voice at my bedroom door. It was Yoshiro.

I sat up and pat my hair down. “Yoshiro, why? What are you doing here?”

“You sounded upset over the phone and I thought I had to see you somehow. I came over earlier and knocked but no one was in so I thought of going to Hiro’s school. You didn’t appear either and there was one kid, looking a bit lost.”

“Oh gosh! I am so, so sorry, Hiro,” I said as I hugged Hiro more.

“It’s ok,” Hiro said. “It’s Satoshi-jisan’s fault. He made you cry again.”

“Satoshi?” asked Yoshiro.

“It’s a long story,” I said. “Erm, would you like to have late lunch? My treat.”

*****

“Ah, Hiro-kun, hisashiburi!” called out the lady behind the counter.

“Ba-chan, ojama shimasu!” replied Hiro as he got up to sit at the counter.

We were at one of the local café nearby our apartment. I have been bringing Hiro here often because we liked the simple food served here.

“Tou-san, konnichiwa,” greeted the lady. I bowed my head slightly and smiled at her. Her eyes turned to Yoshiro and she called out ‘irashaimase’.

We sat in a cubicle behind where Hiro was sitting and ordered some pasta.

“Who is this Satoshi-san?” asked Yoshiro as he twirled his spaghetti.

“Hiro’s father,” I answered softly, making sure Hiro doesn’t hear it. Yoshiro didn’t look surprised.

“I should have known. Is he giving you a hard time?” he asked further.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a hard time,” I said. “It’s more like I’m the one being indecisive.”

“Why?”

“Because I said ‘no’ to his marriage proposal.”

*****

He wanted to chase after them but he couldn’t. He saw the anger in Hiro’s eyes. He knew that he had crossed the line.

“Argh! Satoshi! What have you done?” he asked himself as he kneeled on the ground with his head in his hands.

He asked himself, why wouldn’t she say yes. How did she see him in her eyes? Was he just a stranger to them?

He couldn’t put himself to tell them about Maya. She could be disappointed with him.  He was already disappointed of himself.

He took out his mobile from his pocket and dialed a number he wouldn’t want to call.

“Maya-chan? Come out now,” he commanded.

*****

Maya could never be happier. Finally, all her efforts paid off. He called for her himself. He must have felt her sincerity.

She found him sitting alone at the bar, with a few empty shot glasses. He was downing one after another. She put on her best smile and pulled the seat next to him.

“Ohno-san, I’m here,” she said in a sweet smile. Ohno only grunted. She ignored him and asked for a cocktail. She sat next to him quietly as he downed a few more shots.

“Maya-chan, why wouldn’t she say ‘yes’?” he asked as he stared absent-mindedly at one of the empty shot glasses.

“Say ‘yes’ to what?” she asked, entertaining him.

“To my marriage proposal,” he said before plopping his head on the bar top, snoring soundly.

Maya didn’t know how to react. In her heart, she knew this was too good to be true and now he tells her that he asked for that Tou woman’s hand. She was angry and devastated at the same time.

“Why won’t you like me?” she asked him. He was too drunk to hear her. She took out her mobile phone, wanting to end all of this.

*****

“Thank you for lunch,” said Yoshiro as we walked back to my apartment.

“I should thank you for picking up Hiro for me,” I said. “And listening to my problems.”

“It’s alright. I think of you as a friend, not my teacher. At times, you just need someone to listen to you instead.”

I nodded and smiled. He was really a good student and friend.

We stopped at the junction near my apartment.

“You should get back to work, Yoshiro,” I said.

“Will you be fine on your own?” he asked. I nodded. I tugged at Hiro’s hand. “What should you say, Hiro?”

“Thank you and see you again!” Hiro said energetically.

Just then, there were flashes coming from the direction of my apartment. I turned around to see cameras flashing and some shouting from a group of people.

“Kono onna desu ka?”

“Eh? Kono hito wa Takaneda Corp no shachou jyanai?”

As they got nearer, more questions came flooding in. I had no time to think what was going on. It sounded like buzzing. Yoshiro grab hold of my shoulders and hurried to his car. He got Hiro and me into the back passenger seats. The reporters were tapping on the windows and I can hear their questions.

“Anata to Ohno Satoshi to Takaneda shachou donna no kankei?”

“Kono kodomo ga dare no?”

I hugged Hiro close to me and tried not to look outside. Yoshiro started the engine and honked to get the reporters away. Once there was a clearance, he drove away.

This was starting to be like the nightmare I thought would happen.

*****

“It has happened!” shouted Johnny-san. “What have you been doing?” he asked manager-san, holding up some evening newspapers. Spreads across the headlines were “Ohno’s illegitimate child?” “Ohno’s unknown relationship?”

Manager-san didn’t say anything else. He hung his head low. He knew that there would be a day when all this will happen. He didn’t have any contingency plans.

“Where’s Ohno?” asked Johnny-san.

“At home,” answered manager-san in a low voice.

“Then get him here! I need to know what happened!”

“You don’t have to be harsh on manager-san,” said Ohno from the door. “I, I will take responsibility for what happened,” said Ohno.

“Do you think it’s going to be that easy?” asked Johnny-san. “Do you know who else is caught in this?” It shocked Ohno as he wasn’t really sure what Johnny-san was talking about. “Who else can there be?”

“The young Director of Takaneda Corp,” answered manager-san. “He was caught with Misheru-san and Hiro-kun this afternoon.”

“So?” questioned Ohno.

“And he was a step quicker than you. His publicist has announced that Takaneda-san is planning to propose to Misheru-san.”

“That can’t happen. I proposed to her earlier.”

“Do you even know where she is now? Do you even know who she was?” Ohno only gulped. He didn’t know where or who she was.

“We think she’s with Takaneda-san now as they were shot getting into his car. As for Misheru-san, did you know that she once worked in a well-known Marketing firm? Takaneda-san is not going to let her go so easily when she can be an asset to his growing business,” said Johnny-san.

“In the announcement, he is planning to make Hiro-kun bear his surname as well. They are planning to have a media conference tomorrow to explain it all.”

Ohno could not believe what Johnny-san and manager-san just said. This was all happening too fast. He walked out of the room, in a slight daze hearing Johnny-san’s and manager-san’s buzzing behind him. He took out his mobile and saw that he had a few messages.

From Maya: You made me do it.

From his band mates and colleagues: What happened? Are you alright?

Then he saw the one name that he wanted to hear from. From Misheru but it was a blank message. He tried calling the number but no one picked up. He left a message, asking her to call him back.

He had to find her but he had no idea where she was. He slumped against the wall, realizing how little he knew about her.

Please, please, call me back…

*****

“Mama, what just happened?” asked Hiro. I couldn’t answer him. It all happened to fast. I was still in shock.

“Hiro-kun, it’s going to be alright,” said Yoshiro as he drove. I didn’t know where we were heading.

We arrived at a mansion, which I assumed was Yoshiro’s place. We got out of the car and there was a lady named Matsushima-san who greeted us. She greeted Yoshiro as ­shachou which was CEO in Japanese. As we headed to Yoshiro’s mansion, Yoshiro spoke rapidly while Matsushima-san followed his pace and wrote down his words in her folio.

By the time we sat down on the sofa, Matsushima-san bade us goodbye to do her work. Yoshiro was taking off his jacket and tie as he slouched on a lounge chair. I took out my mobile and was wondering what to do. I need to inform the school and jie jie what had happened but my fingers would not move. Hiro was leaning against me, as we both tried to figure out what had happened.

Yoshiro’s hand grabbed my mobile and closed the lid shut. “It’s ok. I got Matsushima to contact the school,” he said with a soft voice. “I’ll get you a glass of water. Hiro-kun, would you like some juice or anything?” Hiro nodded and Yoshiro held out his hand. Hiro was hesitant but he grabbed it and went off with Yoshiro to the kitchen.

I buried my face into my hands. I wanted to cry and shout but could not. This was the same situation I expected myself to be in when I knew I was pregnant with Hiro, which was why I never told him. I wanted to ask him why he had to do this to me. Although I didn’t want to believe it but no one, other than him and Ed, knew about Hiro. My mobile was on the coffee table where Yoshiro had left it. I picked it up again and opened a new message. Before I could type anything, Yoshiro came back and I accidentally send out an empty message. I hastily placed my mobile on the coffee table and put on a smile.

“Thanks,” I said to Yoshiro as he placed the glass of water into my hands. I looked around and did not see Hiro anywhere near him.

“Oh, Hiro-kun is at the dining table having some cookies,” said Yoshiro as he noticed me looking for Hiro. “I hope you don’t mind.” I shook my head and took a sip of water.

“I hope you don’t mind but I need to ask you something,” he said as he sat himself beside me. “Who is Hiro’s father?”

I was reluctant to answer that question. I placed the glass on the coffee table and took a deep breath. “Would it make any difference? At a time like this?”

“It does,” he answered. “If he was just an ordinary man, then nothing would have happened. But he wasn’t.”

I smirked at his words. He was right. Satoshi was not any ordinary man. He was the Ohno Satoshi. The admirable leader of the popular boy band Arashi.

“Ohno Satoshi.”

“Of Arashi?” I nodded.

There was silence for a while. I reached for the glass on the coffee table and took another gulp. His elbows were perched on his thighs while his forehead was resting on the back of his overlapping hands. I could imagine what was playing in Yoshiro’s mind. How on Earth a woman from Malaysia had any connections with someone in Japan? How did she get to know him? How did she not know?

The silence was broken when he got up. He looked at me with a serious gaze before those words I did not want to hear again came out from his mouth.

“Marry me.”