The door of the diner quietly closed on Yuan's moment in time. The gentle cowbell hanging from the hook on the top of the door chimed quietly.
Atleast that's how it sounded in Yuan's mind. The other diners looked towards where the women had come from only moments before. For their entertainment everything had happened so quickly and so loudly. The old man sitting across the bar looked over at the young man and slowly sipped his coffee. He raised it towards Yuan who now noticed the other patron's gaze upon him.
"It's alright young man, it happens to the best of us"
Feeling rather exposed Yuan cleared his throat and gathered his tab and approached the counter to pay for his meal. The waitress did not look him in the eye; she just took the bill and charged his credit card without a word. He collected his coat and left out into the night. He was at a loss.. there were so many plans racing through his mind. He could not involve her in what he was going to do. All he wanted to do was protect her from what may come and all she wanted to do was fight with him. The rain felt like her anger bearing down on him once again. Intense and relentless but painfully beautiful. Yaounde was truly breathtaking the way her long black hair fell down her back like an obsidian waterfall, her eyes shown like amber water lillies in a crystal pond. However when they were angered those beautiful flowers caught on fire with the passion of her soul. Her hair would whip up all around her neck like a black shroud ready to encompass you with its depth. When she was angry she really was a fearsome creature to behold. But even still Yuan loved her with every fiber of his being.
"Oh nice, she's pissed at me and all I can think about is how beautiful she is"
He put his hand upon his forehead and looked up into the night, rain falling down into his face. The raindrops pressing down into his cheeks and eyes as if he were standing in his shower at home. It was in this moment that he realized he did not have an umbrella and he was soaked to the bone. He really was far too distracted to think anymore tonight he needed to get home before sickness set in. He walked quickly towards the side of the road to hail a taxi.
Shortly a taxi came around the corner and pulled up for him to get inside.
"Pretty late to be out for a stroll with no umbrella eh? Where ya headed young sir?"
Said the taxi driver as he was plugging in his timer. Yuan looked into the rearview mirror at his state and shook his head to get some of the rain off of his face.
"Take me to The Villa Fontaine Hotel in Hatchobori"
"Alright sounds good to me sir"
The taxi driver plugged in the address and off they went. As Yuan looked out the window the rain plastering against the window changed colors as the lights from the Tokyo night life danced across the water. Unfortunately it seemed due to the torrential downpour there wasn't much happening unless the patrons had their umbrellas. The taxi driver stopped at the traffic light and looked through the rearview mirror at his charge. The young man looked like he had been having a pretty rough night. He reached into his glove compartment and pulled out his plastic bag full of hand towels.
"Young sir, take this; clean up a little if you wish"
Yuan looked at the white hand towel being handed to him over the seat by the taxi driver.
"You want to atleast get a little of the water off of you before we reach our destination, very easy to get sick being as soaked as you are."
Yuan smiled at the taxi driver's concern for his well being. If only his father cared about him as much as random stranger's did perhaps things would have turned out differently.
" Thank you for your concern I do appreciate it"
The taxi driver nodded and continued driving.
---
The Villa Fontaine Hotel Tokyo- Hatchobori
They finally arrived at the Villa Fontaine Hotel.
Yuan stepped out of the taxi cab, paid his fare and walked through the silver doors into the lobby. The outside of the hotel wasn't much to look at. It was just another tall building in Tokyo that served its purpose. However just as everything else in this world; nothing is what it seems. On the inside the hotel was splendid, marble and steel countertops and tables, sculptures and crystal lighting. It cast beautiful rainbows and rays across the walls giving a heavenly glow about the space. Two very lovely young ladies in white and green service uniforms waited patiently for their guest to make his way towards them. Their smiles slowly faded as they noticed his forlorn demeanor and soaked business suit. His shoes squished from being waterlogged as he crossed the foyer. The concierge approached him and informed Yuan that she would bring a warm bathrobe and some warmed bone broth to his room in the penthouse.
He smiled at them all; nodded his head and walked towards the elevator to head up to his suite.
---
Yuan's Penthouse
"Ding!, 50th floor"
The elevator door opened up to a long hallway with a red oak door at the end. A security officer waited in the hallway guarding the floor for safety. When Yuan stepped out into the hallway the security officer looked over and saw him standing there in his wet, waterlogged state.
"Sir, let's get you inside and into more comfortable attire, I will alert the staff and arrange for a doctor to come attend you."
Brutus had been a security officer for 3 years now keeping an eye on Young Sir Yuan. He was still not comfortable with calling him Yuan. Even if Yuan insisted upon it. So he stopped going on about it and let Brutus be. He cared about Young Sir and looked after him as though he were a younger brother. He knew quietly that the family was not very fair towards Young Sir so Yuan's staff tried their best to treat him as well as a family should. Even if they upheld normal respect protocols. Yuan smiled at Brutus and nodded and walked into the penthouse.
Yuan was so exhausted he didn't want to argue with anyone anymore. He just wanted to take a hot bath and soak his cold body until his soup arrived. He slumped off his wet clothing into a pile on the dress table in the bathroom. The bathwater was warm and inviting and the steam started enveloping the bathroom like a sauna.
" How could I have been so stupid to think she would just go along with it quietly and not fight me about it."
Yuan thought to himself while he was in the steamy bathwater going over what the next course of action should be. But first, bath time.