-Levi POV-
"I'm sorry, Director, Mr. Auclair's mother is here to meet you." For a moment, I was lost for words because I'm too shocked. Mr. Auclair's mother wants to meet me. Why?
"Emm, Director, should I tell Mrs. Auclair that you're not available now?" Sophia speaks again after not getting any answer from me.
"No. Let her in. Ask the staff to guide her to my office now." I said that firmly.
"Will do, Director." After that, I hung up the phone.
Mrs. Auclair wants to see me. Why? Why is the Auclair Family coming here today? Hanabi just left, and now his mother. Is she here to scold me about Louis? Is she here to blame us for what happened to her son? No, that's not possible, right?
KNOCK! KNOCK!
The knocks on the door snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Come in." I said that, and there she is, Mr. Auclair's mother. I stand up from my chair and greet her.
"Good afternoon, Madam Auclair. Please have a seat." I offered her a seat, and she gladly did so.
"Thank you, Mr. Ackerman." She said that with a smile.
"Please, you can just call me Levi." I said that politely. It feels a bit awkward to hear her call me like that.
"Then, you can just call me Aunty Hanae." She said that in a friendly tone.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid that's not very polite of me to call you like that, Madam Auclair." I politely rejected that.
"I'm sorry to interrupt, sir, but here's the tea." Sophia came back with two cups of tea.
"Oh, thank you." Mr. Auclair's mother said it with a very bright smile. Now that I see her up close like this, Mr. Auclair really looks like her, except for the eye colour.
"Earl grey. Guess you're really Kuchel's son after all. You really look like your mother, especially your eyes." She said it, still with her sweet smile.
"You know my mother?" I ask her in a shock tone that I can't control.
"I do. Perhaps I know your mother better than your father did." She added, making me more curious. What's the relationship between her and my late mother?
"How did you know my mother? What is your relationship with my mother?" Now, the urge to know about their relationship is all over my mind.
"You could say we were best friends. Would you like to hear how we got to know each other?" She asks with a smile.
"I do." Without thinking, I answered her with an excited voice, and she just smiled.
"We first met 37 years ago when I was studying at the Royal College of Art, London."
//FLASHBACK//
-Haruka's Mother POV-
I was drawing at Hyde Park, looking for some ideas for my assignment project. Yeah, I'm a Bachelor's Degree student of arts at the Royal College of Art, London.
"Wow, that's really pretty. The prettiest drawing I've seen so far, seriously." Suddenly, a voice spoke behind me, and I looked at the back. There was a lady with long black hair, smiling at me. One word to describe her is that she's beautiful.
"What are you trying to draw? I can tell it will be something amazing just by looking at the base drawing." She said that with her bright smile. Maybe she's just a friendly type, I guess.
"Well, it's nothing special, just the scenery of the sea and the sky." I said that awkwardly.
"You know it's not just some ordinary sea scenery, right? I could tell that at least." She smiles. This girl has a great eye for art.
"Maybe you're an art student too?"I ask her out of curiosity.
"Ah, I'm not. My major is fashion design. I am a student at the Royal College of Art, by the way. But I do know a lot about art too." She said that. Her smile never leaves her lips.
"Ah, I'm a student at that college too. But I've never seen you before. Since your major is fashion design, we should be in the same faculty. Oh, have a seat." I said so, offering her to sit next to me.
"I just transferred here. My dad wanted me to enter this college. You know, he's a fashion designer himself, so here I am." Taking her seat on the grass next to me, she keeps talking.
"I'm Kuchel Laurent, btw. I was born and raised in Germany but then moved to France. My mother is German, and my father is French, so you could say I'm a mix of German and French. And you?" She asked me. She really is a friendly one, quite opposite of me, who doesn't really talk to others. But the way she's talking makes me feel comfortable with her.
"I'm Hanae. From Aussie." That's all I have to say. I don't really know how to make the conversation last. She's going to leave soon, I guess.
"Aussie? You look like you're either Japanese or Korean, so I assumed you're from Japan or Korea."She said that with a confused face.
"Ah, I'm Japanese. Fully Japanese. My full name is Tachibana Hanae. It's just that I've been living in Australia for a long time, and we're still living there. So I thought I should say Aussie instead of Japan." I tried to explain it to her in a simple way.
"Ah, I see. We're quite the same, aren't we? But from Japan to Australia It's quite far, though. If you don't mind me asking, would you tell me why?" She asks me, as if we've been friends for a very long time already. But I guess it's not a bad thing either. She seems like a good person.
"It's nothing. It's just that my father wanted to live in a country with a beautiful landscape, he said. I'm not saying Japan did not have that, but my father said, I'll understand that once I get older." Not much, but there's actually no exact reason why we moved to Australia.
"And did you understand that now?" Her question made me wonder. Did I? I'm not sure, but I think I did now.
"I'm starting to understand what he meant. After travelling around so many countries, I can say, " Without realising it, I'm getting more comfortable around her, and I told her that.
"I'm glad to hear that. I won't ask what you understand. But I think we have a lot in common. At first, I didn't really know why I took fashion design. It's just that my dad kept pushing me to take it, so I just took it. But then, for me too, I started to understand why, and when I finish my studies, I'm going to have my own brand of clothing." She said that confidently and not to forget, with a smile of hers.
"Me too. I'm going to open my own art museum galleries one day." I don't know why, but I have a feeling that this lady in front of me is trying to push me up to be the best version of myself. That made me feel like I shouldn't lose to her, and I want us to be successful people together.
Since that day, we've grown close to each other. You could say that we're best friends and have each other's backs. She would help me with my art project, and I would help her with her project from time to time too. As time flew by quickly, graduation day came.
"Hanae, congratulations on getting an award for the best student of the faculty! I'm so happy for you." After the graduation ceremony, she comes to me and hugs me. Now, she's crying because she's happy for me.
"Ugh, don't cry, you silly. You won the award, too, right? The best student in the Fashion Design programme. Congratulations." I said that with a sincere smile of mine.
"Aww, thank you, Hanae! I'm so happy!" This time, she's crying again and hugging me.
"Stop crying, seriously." I said that, but actually I was trying to control my tears from falling down.
"Emm. So, are you going back to Australia after this?" With a sad tone in her voice, Kuchel asked.
"I guess. But after I've been your tour guide for the Japan trip." My words clearly surprised her.
"Are you serious? You're not joking, right?" She asked me to confirm that.
"Of course I'm not joking around. I promised you, didn't I?"
"Yeay! A trip to Japan with Hanae!" She said that happily.
And the next day, we went on a trip to Japan for about a month. That's the last time we met, and after five years, both of us achieved our goal. Kuchel has her own fashion brand, and I have my own art museum and galleries. After that, we both got married. She's married to Karl Ackerman, and I'm married to Charlie Auclair and moving back to Japan. We still keep in touch with each other, though. Sometimes I go to France, and sometimes she's the one who comes to Japan. Just for a small catch-up. Until 24 years ago, she got into an accident and left us all.
//END OF FLASHBACK//
TO BE CONTINUED…