Page 9

Her Sunday was ruined, damn him to perdition! The solace she usually found in the simple routine tasks had been shattered. Her peace was shattered and nothing she did made it better.

After he left, she curled up on the sofa with a very sympathetic Brutus, pushing his head against her folded arms and wept bitterly.

She wept for the past and the girl who had spent years trying to come to grips with a broken heart.

And she wept for the woman who had tried to be whole and had not quite accomplished it.

She also wept for the woman who had sat in this very room, aching to just curl up into the arms of the very man who had destroyed her all those years ago.

Oh, she had wanted to believe him. Just brush aside what had happened, what he had done and crawl into his arms. The look of him had unnerved her.

The tall, lean frame with the play of muscles.

Even as a boy, he had been fully formed.

After an hour of curling into a fetal position, she had gently shoved Brutus away and set about cleaning the spotless house from top to bottom.

She had a maid service, and someone came in twice a week when she was at the store to do the housework, so there wasn't much to be done.

But she found something. Taking out the things from the pantry, she stacked them differently.

After that was finished, she started on the fridge and thoroughly searched through to find out what was expired or soon to be.

After that was finished, she realized she had too much time on her hands, so she went upstairs and started on her huge closet.

She loved shoes -- ever since she was in high school, she had had that weakness and blamed it on her mother.

Adelaide Priestley had a closet built for shoes and handbags alone and she had every one of them labeled.

Maxie had not gone that far, but she had more than her fair share. Whenever she started to feel guilty about having too much, she would donate some of them to charity and then turn around to replenish the closet.

It was a sickness, she decided -- one that she happily concluded she did not have a cure for. And wanted none. Yvette would simply come over whenever she had a function to attend and would raid her closet. Fortunately for her friend, they both wore the same size.

Sitting on the vanity stool in the middle of the closet, she stared at the revolving shelves.

For the first time since she could remember, it did nothing for her.

She was listless and drained. The tears had taken everything from her, and she was angry that she had allowed him once again to invade her life and take away her peace.

His apologies meant nothing to her, but what she should have done was accepted them graciously, instead of losing control and showing him that he still mattered.

And he would figure it out. Kai Tanaka was as smart as a whip.

Carelessly smart. Learning had come easy to him.

He never had to try. He conquered everything he put his mind to.

And what a damn mind! She thought resentfully as she hauled out shoes and handbags to stack them differently.

She was so taken with the task that it took a moment for her to realize that Brutus had snuck up behind her and was doing his own brand of cleaning, by dragging at the heap piled on the carpeted floor.

"No!" Blowing out a breath, she lunged to rescue a brilliant blue Michael Kors from sharp teeth. Thinking it was a game, he inched back, swinging the handle between his teeth. Shoving aside the pile next to her, she grabbed for his collar and managed to wrestle the bag away from him.

"You brute." She scolded, dissolving into laughter when he simply licked her face thoroughly.

"This does not mean you're forgiven," she warned as she pressed her face into the soft coat. "Oh Brutus, I am such a mess." She sighed. Giving him a rub, she rose and led him out of the danger zone, closing the doors with a snap.

"Okay, time to call reinforcement. As in Yvette."

Maxie dialed Yvette's number swiftly, fingers trembling slightly as she waited for her friend to pick up. The line clicked, and Yvette's cheerful voice broke through.

"Hey Maxie! What's up?" Yvette chirped, oblivious to the turmoil that had clouded Maxie's day.

"I need you," Maxie stated bluntly, her voice carrying a weight that instantly silenced Yvette. "It's been a day... and I can't face it alone."

Within moments, Yvette was on her way, her usual vibrancy tempered by the concern that Maxie's tone had evoked. When she arrived, she carried with her an arsenal of indulgence: a bottle of red wine, chilled chocolate truffles, and the kind of unwavering support only a best friend could offer.

Settled in Maxie's living room, surrounded by Brutus as he wagged his tail in greeting, Yvette listened as Maxie spilled her thoughts like a torrent. At moments, she held a tissue to her friend's damp cheeks; at others, she punctuated the air with an impassioned comment about Kai Tanaka's audacity.

"Maxie, you're a fortress," Yvette said firmly, gripping her friend's hand. "Don't let anyone storm your walls unless you lower the drawbridge willingly. Not even him."

Taking a long sip of wine, Maxie nodded.

Yvette was right. She had let Kai back into her thoughts, but the reins of her life belonged to her alone.

And as the evening stretched into the night, the laughter returned, and the air seemed lighter -- Brutus wagging his approval at the warmth his two favorite humans exuded.

By the time Yvette left, Maxie felt a strange clarity. She stood at the vanity stool once more, looking at the revolving shelves. This time, she smiled. Life was a mess, but it was hers to tidy -- or leave gloriously untamed.

*****

He opted to go to his mother for supper.

Akemi Tanaka was the typical Japanese wife and mother.

She wore the traditional attire and was almost never without it.

After her husband's death, she had found herself adrift, without an anchor.

His uncles had sorted everything out. They sold the sprawling manor that had been in the family for several decades and set her up in an elegant townhouse a few miles away.

She went from completely relying on her husband to relying on the uncles and as the years progressed, on her only child.

Kai had spent his college years moving from Japan to the UK where he attended Cambridge and then Oxford.

His education was top notch and in his usual inimitable way, he had soaked up the courses.

His specialties were many and varied. He had graduated with honors in entrepreneurial skills, law and mathematics.

He had an unusually sharp mind and spoke several different languages.

He had taken the million-dollar enterprise and turned it into a multi-billion dollar one in a few years. He was ruthless in business, but completely fair in his dealings with associates, including his competitors.

Akemi dismissed the maid hovering just inside the doorway and poured the special tea herself.

It had been a good supper, even if her son had spent most of it in silence.

She had not dared intrude on what looked like very deep thoughts.

She was proud of him. So tall, strong and handsome and very smart.

He looked so much like his father. Her Fuji who had spent their time together taking care of her.

"Here you go." She handed him the delicate cup and saucer. "You look well."

"And you look lovely as usual." Kai took a sip of the tea and smiled at her over the rim of the cup.

She fiddled with the iridescent pearl necklace his father had given her ten years ago. She never went anywhere without it and still continued to wear her wedding rings.

Setting the cup and saucer aside, he stretched his legs out and studied her.

Akemi Tanaka was lovely, in a quiet, subdued way.

Her thick dark hair was scraped back at the nape of her neck and pinned in the usual severe style she favored.

She never wore makeup, except for a pale pink lipstick, the same shade she had worn ever since he could remember.

Her skin was pampered and soft, her build slight.

She was a petite woman, barely topping five feet.

And she had never worked a day in her life.

She had left from her parents' home to her husband's at the young age of twenty-one. For the first time, Kai found himself wondering if she had never wanted anything else. He also knew he could never want a partner who submitted to his every whim.

"Is something wrong?" She stared at him anxiously as she picked up her cup.

"Just thinking."

She beamed at him. "You do that a lot. Always thinking. That has been the way of it since you were a boy. You would drive your father crazy with all sorts of questions." Her almond-shaped eyes were eloquent as she stared at him. "Sometimes I wonder how I ever conceived such a smart child."

Leaning forward, he stared at her earnestly. "Are you happy?"

A startled expression came over her face. "What a question!"

"One that needs an answer." He had decided that it was time he got to the bottom of it all.

He had never thought about his parents and whether they had been in love with each other or not.

All he knew was that they had been put together by their parents as a perfect match for each other.

He had never seen them cuddle or exchange a furtive kiss.

But somehow, he had known that they were contented with each other.

Her lips parted, but no words emerged as she set her cup gently back onto its saucer.

Akemi leaned back in her chair, her delicate hands resting lightly on its arms, and considered him with an expression he could not quite place -- an amalgamation of surprise, thoughtfulness, and perhaps a trace of melancholy.