Dress shopping was top of the list for the itinerary of the day, followed by unpacking her things at the apartment. As she and Okaa-san made their way to the elevator, she retrieved a list that she had stuffed into her cross-body bag.
On it were the names of dress shops to visit, all on Federov turf. Her measurements had been sent to them ahead of time, so they all had some outfits in her size. It seemed like a behemoth operation though, and she wondered how much the Federov's had paid to make those shops prepare for her.
A note had been attached to the list as well, assuring her that no expense would be spared, and signed off with a name she did not recognise.
His secretary, she guessed.
'Okaa-san, shall we go on a shopping spree?' she asked cheerfully.
The offer of unlimited expense was tempting, and Hana, as someone who loved shopping and pretty things, couldn't wait to explore the clothing styles available in New York.
Her mother shot her a wry look as they entered the lift.
'Don't go around spending his money before you're married,' she warned lightly.
'But he offered to pay!' she exclaimed, jabbing at the words on the note with some glee. 'No expense will be spared,' she said in careful English. 'It's an invitation.'
She sobered a little as she leant a shoulder against the hard, cold wall of the elevator. The situation had been so surreal the past couple of days but now as her wedding day and her moving in loomed close, she couldn't shake off the feeling that she was walking into some sort of bad dream.
She knew she had always wanted to get married, to have a family. But not to a stranger, and not in this manner.
Not in New York, not to a Russian mobster.
~
A little under an hour later, Hana found herself standing on a raised platform, stripped down to her undergarments and assisted by the store's manager into a white gown.
She had been awkward the whole time, not entirely sure what style of dress she wanted. As dress after dress was paraded before her, her enthusiasm for shopping had waned, and she wished very much to be able to return to her hotel room and bury herself under her quilt. Thankfully, the staff at the dress shop were understanding and calmly recommended several gowns that would suit her.
They were used to dealing with brides who couldn't differentiate between cuts, who changed their minds often, who threw tantrums when a dress in a certain style did not exist. Hana and her mother glanced at each other as a bride at the other corner of the shop complained loudly about a cutting not being flattering enough. She had sped up in her own decision making then.
The dressing room was spacious, consisting of a large floor-length mirror that allowed her to peek at her transformation as worker's buzzed around her. She was glad for the help, although it had been alarming at first to have these strangers surround her as she stood in her underwear.
A portable rack held dresses that she had chosen earlier, together with recommendations from the owner herself. Her measurements had changed; she had grown a little over the year, and so some alterations would have to be made.
The first dress was of a stunning white silk that shimmered under the lights of the dressing room. The gown featured a suggestive v-shaped deep between the bosom with a layer of organza that continued further up to the attached pearl collar at the neck. Seed pearls were woven into the fabric to form motifs of blooming flowers that were repeated on the short train as well.
Damp lined her hairline by the time she was done. With some help from the manager, she slipped into a pair of heels provided by the shop, patted at her flushed forehead, then declared herself ready to be shown. She looked presentable as she studied herself in the mirror, she thought. But she wanted her mother's opinion as well.
'It's pretty,' her mother said once the heavy curtains slid gracefully open. 'Do you like it?'
'It's alright,' she said with a shrug of one shoulder. 'But it's a bit exposing here, isn't it?' she added, referring to the opaque panel in the middle of her chest. She didn't want or need Leonidas to get the wrong idea.
How funny, that I'd finally be choosing a wedding gown, but it's not for the marriage I wanted.
At that moment, the doorbell jangled, signalling the entrance of a new customer. A tall stranger nodded at the greetings from the store assistants, then slowly but confidently made their way over to them. He stopped at a polite distance away, then offered her mother a smile.
'Good afternoon, Mrs Yazumi,' he said. 'I'm Valentino, but you can call me Val. I've been instructed to assist the both of you today.'
Kaede rose to her feet.
'That's nice of you. I've been told that everyone is busy today, and we will need assistance later.'
'That's usually the case,' he murmured apologetically. His smile appeared again, albeit rather awkwardly as if the action rarely occurred on his features. 'You are our guests, and Ms Yazumi will be one of the family. Mr Federov has instructed that no expense or effort will be spared for your needs.'
A slight smile tugged at her mouth as she carefully shuffled back into the dressing room. The curtains fell back into place behind her, and the manager helped to remove the large clips that had been holding the dress to herself from the back. She was sure Val had meant the older Mr Federov. She couldn't imagine the younger Mr Federov opening his coffers for anyone.
At least Leonidas' secretary was a more adept conversationalist than his boss was. As store assistants fluttered around her to put her into the next gown, she heard snatches of conversation between him and her mother. He was friendly yet polite, and was recommending several cafes that they could visit for lunch. Hana was looking forward to a good meal after this.
She wondered if her husband-to-be had to try on suit after suit for the wedding.
She examined her reflection in the mirror as the assistant helped her do up the delicate pearl buttons in the back of the gown. The fabric clung to her waist before sliding off her hips and accentuating her thighs. This dress was of a creamy white lace that started off her shoulders and ended pooled about her feet in a short but manageable train.
She wouldn't have any flower girl or bridesmaid as was often present in Western weddings, and this was the prettiest and easiest gown to handle she had tried on so far.
'This one?' she asked when the curtains slid open again.
Val looked pleasantly surprised and offered her a thumbs up. Okaa-san had a hand to her mouth as she slowly nodded her head.
'Yes,' her mother said, the beginnings of a fond smile on her face. 'Get this one.'
~
'We have painted the walls, put in new lighting and ordered some furniture. It's semi-furnished at the moment but if there's anything that you'd like to purchase or change, just let me know,' Val said. 'I can arrange it for you.'
The elevator stopped at the twenty-fifth floor and its doors slid open to reveal a minimalistic lobby decked in large white tiles and a large golden lamp hanging from the ceiling. The twenty-fifth floor contained four apartments, and their doors faced each other. Hana and her mother followed him to the right with her luggages and cello in tow before stopping at a black door with a stern 25B in shiny gold hammered into the wood.
He brought out a card and a key, then instructed her on how to unlock the door. Their apartment complex also contained two swimming pools, a gym and a dance studio which residents could use. Anticipation rose in her when an electronic beep sounded, and he pushed the door open.
The first thing on her left was a kitchen outfitted in white, enclosed all around by glass doors in black steel frames. The dark parquet was cool beneath her feet and she let out an appreciative hum as Val pointed out the living room set all the way at the end of the space with large windows that allowed them a view of shiny tall buildings and a slice of harbour and red bridge.
A grey couch was already present in the living room with a white marble-topped coffee table standing on black frames. It was clear the designer had given the apartment a minimalistic taste for even the cabinet that the television sat on was of a glossy white, accompanied by an empty display shelf of black metal. The house had few decorative items; a harsh and cold cry from the warm, comfortable tones of her own home.
'If you'll come this way,' Val said, leading them through a door on the left. 'This is the master bedroom.'
A furious blush descended on her cheeks as she regarded the bed dressed in white sheets. Okaa-san had stiffened beside her as well as they stared at the particular piece of furniture in the room. The wall behind the bed was outfitted in vertical panels in a shade of navy blue that lent the room an atmosphere of maturity. She couldn't imagine sharing a bed with him in this nubile setting.
'Of course, we've ordered a bed for the guest room,' he added tactfully. 'But it hasn't arrived.'
'Right, of course,' Hana muttered good-naturedly. It meant they wouldn't have to share a bed after all.
Her mother let out a relieved sigh.
'Mr Federov took the liberty of ordering a vanity for you,' he went on.
It had been placed against the wall opposite the bed. The three-panelled mirrors were framed in dark wood and sat atop a sizeable table with two drawers. It was accompanied by a white-cushioned stool supported by four thin legs of the same wood.
'It's pretty,' she murmured as she experimentally ran her fingers over its smooth top. 'Please thank him for me.'
A floor length window displayed a similar view as in the living room but she was amazed once again by the breathtaking sight. With an anticipatory smile, as if he were introducing his own house, Val showed them the walk-in wardrobe that led into the attached bathroom. Similar panelling lined one wall in the bathroom, and then she let out a gasp at the sight of a jacuzzi tub.
'Look at that!' she gushed to her mother in Japanese. 'I want to bring that back with me.'
'We don't have space for that at home,' was her mother's simple reply.
After that, Val showed them the study, the guest bathroom, the empty guest bedroom and another smaller room meant to be a library. She barely caught a glimpse into the study and the many boxes piled on the floor before Val shut the door, and declared it to be a 'minefield of messes that would spoil their eyes'.
Okaa-san soon left for a Kei-Shiragata meeting, leaving her to unpack her luggage by herself in the walk-in wardrobe. Honestly, she wasn't too sure of the arrangements that she and Leonidas would make between themselves. She didn't mind taking the guest bedroom at all, if it meant as little contact with each other as possible. Besides, sharing a bed would be too intimate, wouldn't it?
Val helped her out, rolling up his sleeves and vacuuming the bedroom and then the living room. Between cleaning, he would step out of the room to answer calls. He was probably on his third phone call when Hana had finished with half of her first luggage.
'You don't have to stay if you're busy,' she offered when he entered the room again. She felt guilty allowing him to clean up a room that wasn't even his.
'It's alright,' he said cheerfully and picked up the vacuum again. 'I'm supposed to stay with you until Leon arrives.'
Until Leon arrives?!
She had just managed to hide her surprise before quickly ducking into the wardrobe again.
Of course he'll be coming, she told herself glumly. He's going to live here too. But she hadn't expected him to be here on the same day as she would. She wasn't prepared to see him again so soon after the stiff dinner. It was apparent they had nothing in common; at least nothing that they wanted to talk to each other about.
~
Leon dragged his luggage to a stop just outside the entrance to the walk-in wardrobe and allowed his jaw to fall open. Over the years, he had learnt to master his expressions, to hide his true feelings, which gave him an upper hand over his adversaries, but this took the cake.
Two luggages sat opened on the floor, piled high with items of clothing in a mad jumble. It seemed she had been trying to sort out her clothes for he spotted a pile of shorts on one shelf, shirts on another, underwear on a third and so on and so forth. She jumped from where she had been kneeling on the floor, her eyes widening in surprise at his presence.
'I didn't hear you!' she exclaimed, hastily scrambling to clear some space for him.
Val had only just stopped his vacuuming.
Maybe he should return in another hour or so, give her more time to sort out the mess she had made. With a funny little squeak, she had risen to her feet to snatch the pile of shorts and underwear on the other side of the wardrobe and dump them on another shelf.
'You can take that side,' she said, nodding her head at the shelves she had cleared.
He grunted his thanks and hauled his luggage in.
~
'Do you have any plans for dinner?'
Leon was about to answer when he realised that Val wasn't speaking to him. She was startled by the unexpected question and glanced between them, before realising that Val was speaking to her.
'I have to settle my own dinner tonight,' she said. 'My family's busy.'
Then an embarrassed laugh left her when she probably realised how lonely she had made herself out to be.
'You should take her out,' Val suggested immediately.
Leon turned to his cousin as astonishment filtered across his features. That wasn't part of the plan, was it? How could he just be so bold and suggest a thing like that?!
'I'll make a move first,' he hastily added, clapping a hand on his boss's shoulder. He retrieved his shoes from where they had been kept in a cabinet by the door, all along giving out some instructions of where he'd left this thing and that thing for them to unpack.
The door shut with a resolute thud behind him, leaving them to stand in awkward silence in the living room. Outside, the sky had turned a brilliant orange, bathing them in its glow.
'If you're busy – ' she started anxiously.
'It's fine,' he said with a distant air. She would have seen the reluctance in his face earlier, and he didn't need her to think badly of him. 'What would you like to eat?'
Her dark eyes flew to the side as she let out a sigh, her forehead creasing as she thought.
'Seafood?' she mumbled.
'Right. I'll bring you to the beach.'
~
Thoughts of standing knee-deep in sea water, desperately trying to catch fish for their dinner intensified in her mind as a stretch of sand and rolling waves came into view. By the time he stopped the car in a carpark by the beach, she had already imagined herself flailing desperately in icy water, grabbing at slippery fishes that escaped her grasp.
It didn't help that the ride had been silent and awkward to say the least. He seemed to have something on his mind as well, and his gaze kept flying to the messages in a foreign language that kept popping up on his phone. It was obvious he was needed somewhere else. What a way to feel unwanted.
She followed him down a sandy track, slipping and sliding as she hurried to catch up with his large strides. Peppy music floated in the air, blasted out by speakers coming from a whitewashed shack with fairy lights strung about its frame. The scent of fried food and salt made her stomach rumble. In the distance, she saw other beachgoers playing in the sand and the waves.
'Hey!' a podgy man called out from behind the counter. He had a baseball cap pushed down over his brows and he wore a stained apron that was tight over the expanse of his ample stomach. 'The Young Master finally comes back, huh?'
Young Master? Hana turned to Leon. Really? How obnoxious.
'Jerry.'
She could hear the deadpan in his voice.
'Who's this pretty lady?' Jerry asked with a wiggle of his eyebrows.
The both of them stopped short. She wasn't sure what he would say. Fright picked up in her chest as she ran through the possible options in her mind. There was nothing to their relationship at the moment; just words with no substance until the marriage contract was signed and the vows said.
Anxious seconds ticked by as Leon struggled to find something to say.
'She's – '
She swallowed hard, wincing a little on his behalf.
'She's my wife? Fiancee?' he finally said, his features crumpling in all sorts of discomfort.
Jerry's eyes immediately shifted to her stomach, as if expecting to see a bump under the sweater she wore.
'Not that way,' he snapped with annoyance in his tone before rapidly delivering his order to the man.
~
He could tell she was uncomfortable by the whole happening with Jerry. What had she expected anyway? The announcement of his marriage had come as a shock to the bratva, with some of his Captains even inquiring if they were of sound mind. Oh, they were very sound alright.
But for the sake of their families and their respective mobs, they would have to bear with each other, address each other as husband and wife. He didn't like it either.
Their orders soon arrived and they carried their trays to a makeshift table on the beach. This would be a quiet meal again, he could tell, what with how she kept her eyes on her fish fillet burger and silently worked on it. He didn't realise how hungry he was until he took the first bite of his burger. He was fine with silent meals; most of the time he ate alone.
'Do you come here often?' she asked abruptly in an attempt to break the silence.
'No.' Good job, he thought with a hint of sarcasm. She was probably trying to find out more about his and Jerry's friendship but he lacked the energy to explain how the food shop owner was a dealer for him. Sometimes he found that he'd rather be alone at the end of a long day, and having someone sit with him at dinner was, well, merely someone sitting with him.
'Val is your secretary, right?' she tried again.
She was kicking up the sand under their table and he could feel tufts of it hit his shoes. He didn't dare to glance down at how they were being soiled, as he recalled how perceptive she was of his every reaction.
'Yeah. He's my cousin too,' he said instead.
Her eyes widened in surprise.
'Your cousin! I didn't know.'
Of course she wouldn't have known.
'You could have been marrying him instead of me,' he added, though he didn't quite know why he'd said that.
Maybe he wanted her to stop talking to him, to stop trying to get to know him, to stop kicking up the sand onto his shoes. Val's photograph had been included in the mix sent to the Yazumi's, together with that of his other cousins and sons of his father's associates who were of age.
Unfortunately, you chose the very first person recommended to you.
~
He was one tough nut to crack. Either that, or he was too tired or didn't want to speak to her. He consumed his food quickly and mechanically, as if he had better places to be. Naturally, he would have. She knew precious little about him, but enough to understand that his father had made him head of the New York faction of the Federov mafia. It must mean a lot of pressure on a man so young.
Still, if they were going to live together for a year, she expected their meal-times to at least be comfortable. She didn't need much from him, and she had decided that a mutual friendship could be forged. However, she had to get over his piercing gaze, and he had to, well, speak.
'How should I address you?' she blurted.
She didn't want to tell him that she found it difficult to pronounce his name. English wasn't her first-language, and she often injected accented speech into her words that could confuse an English speaker. Even the first letter of his name was hard for her, for there was no L and R distinction in her native tongue.
He seemed to be amused by her question, for she was met by one raised brow.
'Leon,' he said simply.
'Leon,' she echoed under her breath, consciously trying to pronounce the L as clear as she could.
~
Silence had elapsed once more and they were both thrown into their own individual bubbles. She was a slower eater than he was and so he leant back in the plastic chair as she finished up her burger, taking what chance he had to unwind. The cool breeze caressed his skin and ruffled his hair, and the combined sounds of the crash of waves, the laughter of children and the bright music flowed in through one ear and out the other.
It lulled him into a state of peace, and she had stopped with her questioning too. Maybe dining with her hadn't been a bad idea after all, for it was according him some rest.
Then a harsh vibration from his phone caused him to jolt upright. She stared wordlessly at him as he listened intently to the other person on the line. The news wasn't good. A frown crossed his brow, and he gave her a glance to see her shrinking back in her seat.
'I'll be there soon,' he said finally and ended the call.
'What happened?' she ventured to ask.
He met her inquisitive gaze, one side of his mouth tightened in annoyance.
'A murder.'
~
A/N: I have published the concept board for Leon and Hana's apartment on my Instagram!
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