I Will Love You Forever Pt. 2 Ch. 18

Mai replayed the conversation in her head and started to cry. What were her options other than to refuse? The only way that it would work was if Shotaro refused too but he was clear in that he was going to go through with the wedding.

As she went to her room, she wondered if Kenji had arrived yet. It was just past ten in the morning so she doubted it. She knew that he would take the extra hours and spend them with his family. Anger that he would choose to defy tradition and marry an inferior mixed with the anger that she felt at Shotaro who also was in love with an inferior. Then she was angry at Ani that her life had turned out so well in spite of the arranged marriage. Finally she was angry with her father for forcing her into a marriage that she didn't want.

With nothing left to do, Mai changed clothes and tried to rest for the night shift. Try as she might to rest, her anger wouldn't let her rest. She tried the relaxation breathing exercises that had always worked in the past, but even those failed. Part of her wanted to just let it go, to do what was required of her, but the other part of her wanted to be free and she wanted Kenji. She finally fell into a fitful sleep with her issues unresolved.

*****

Kenji walked into the conference room just after Mai did. He glanced at her and found a seat on the opposite side of the room although there were plenty of seats in the area where she sat. He sat looking straight ahead fully aware that Mai was looking at him. After the conference, Mai approached him.

"Hello Kenjiro, did you have a pleasant time with your family?"

"Yes, thank you," Kenji replied and walked away.

Mai stared after him, he had always been aloof; but he had always been pleasant. Now he was borderline rude. She wondered if things at home weren't as good as Kenji led her to believe. Throughout the shift, she tried to pair herself with Kenji whenever possible. Each time, he nodded at her curtly, performed whatever the task was and walked away.

At the end of the shift and the post shift conference, Kenji pulled her aside.

"We must talk; I will meet you in the cafeteria in twenty minutes."

Mai waited a few minutes and followed him out. She followed him to the phones. As soon as she heard the low, intimate sound of his voice, she walked away. Kenji found her sitting in a corner where they could have privacy.

"Please, let's sit at another table," he said and walked away leaving Mai no choice but to follow him. He found a table where they could talk, but still be in full view. When she was sitting, he gave her a long look as if deciding where to start. "Mai, it has come to my attention that bets were being made about us."

"Yes, I know of it but paid it no attention."

"I am also told that there are rumors circulating about us and I need to clarify something with you. First, I have spoken with the intern who started the bet and they have stopped."

"Thank you for that," Mai said wondering why he was telling her this.

"Second, I am aware that you have feelings for me. Maybe it is because I am also Japanese or maybe I have inadvertently done something that leads you to believe that I feel something other than friendship for you. If I have misled you in any way, I apologize. I love and am in love with my wife. It is as I told the intern conducting the bet, Patricia has been through hell with me and I will not do anything to dishonor her or our marriage. She and our children are my life."

Mai felt as if she had been slapped. She had either been more obvious than she realized or Kenji was more astute than she had given him credit for. She now understood why he never shared anything truly personal with her- he knew. Vera's warnings came back to her, but she hadn't believed her.

"It is inevitable that we will have to work together," Kenji continued, "I am fine with that as long as we keep it on a professional basis. That means that you cannot ask me any personal questions and I would appreciate it if you would respect my privacy and not ask others about my personal life."

"Why?" Mai countered. "Are things not as perfect as you would lead us to believe?"

"Things are few things in life that are perfect," Kenji replied with a smile thinking that Patricia and her touch was one of the few things that he considered perfect. "But I am a very private person and I strive to keep my home life separate from this one. I must go now, the evening will come quickly. Rest well."

"I warned you," Vera said as she took Kenji's vacated seat. "You're the talk of the hospital."

"You knew that this was going happen?" Mai asked.

"If you will recall, I told you that it was only a matter of time before he found out. I figured he would talk to you this morning when Neal gave me my money back."

"You took part in the bet?"

"Sure did and I didn't bet on you. Mai, I know that you see me as an inferior, but take it from someone who's been there; find someone else to lust after. Kenjiro Takeda is as steady as they come, he won't do anything to betray his wife."

"What do you know about her?" Mai asked.

"Not much," Vera replied as she took a sip of juice. "I know that she's working on her undergrad so that she can get into med school, but I told you that. Other than that, I don't know anything about her other than that her husband loves her. Mai, you need to leave him alone. There are plenty of single interns who would love to be seen with you."

Mai wasn't listening.

***

Kenji stopped by the phones to call Patricia confident that he could tell her that he had clarified things with Mai.

"Good morning Kirei, did you sleep well?"

"I did, but why aren't you in bed?" Patricia asked.

"I think that this night rotation is going to take some getting used to," Kenji replied. "I just had breakfast with Mai and explained things to her."

"And?" Patricia prompted.

"I told her in no uncertain terms that I belonged only to you and that if I did anything to mislead her, I apologized."

Patricia was silent for a moment.

"What did she say?"

"Nothing really, she didn't deny or confirm anything," Kenji replied.

"She didn't even say that you were mistaken?"

"No... Kirei... oh," Kenji said as he saw what Patricia was getting at.

"Kenji, she hasn't given up. She was probably surprised that you confronted her and that's why she didn't respond. Just watch yourself ok? Is there any way that you can get into a different group?"

"Not very easily, but I will be careful. Kirei, you have class today, would you come have lunch with me?"

"You need to sleep," Patricia replied.

"I will take a nap before my shift, will you come? Nick can pick you up here."

"Are you sure you don't want to try to sleep?"

"I am sure; I need to be with you even if it's for an hour."

"Ok then, I'll see you at eleven... Kenji I love you."

"I love you too," Kenji replied and hung up.

He went to his room, stripped, showered and changed and lay on the small bed. He closed his eyes wondering what it would take to get Mai to understand that he didn't care for her.

****

The next time that Saul saw Isadora, he made a point of speaking to her before she spoke to him. He couldn't help but notice the wary look on her face. It was as if for a moment, she thought that he was someone else.

"Hello," he said as he took the empty seat next to hers. "Is someone sitting here?"

"N...no," she replied nervously.

"Do you mind if I sit here then?"

"I... no," she stammered.

"Thanks," Saul replied and then faced forward. He now understood what he needed to do. He wouldn't be able to just ask her out, she needed to get comfortable with him before that could happen. He would start slowly and let her see that he wasn't a bad guy.

After the service, Saul bid Isadora goodnight and left with a grin on his face. She had been sneaking peeks at him throughout the service. She was finally noticing him. As he left the church followed by Joshua and Cora, he didn't notice the pair of angry eyes watching him from a corner.

****

Warden Ellis sat back in his chair and took a long drag from his Cuban cigar. He was about to begin his political career. It wasn't a major office that he was running for and he was already affiliated with the Republican Party. Now he had to begin running for public office.

It was only in the last few months that he began to relax. Soon after the deaths of Lawrence Goodman and Jacob Lincoln, he wondered if he had acted too rashly. It was the hanging of Jacob Lincoln that had him more concerned than the death of Lawrence Goodman. He realized that he had committed murder in front of hundreds of inmates and the guards. To compound things, he had let the boy go. After months of not hearing anything, he thought that he worried for nothing. The only thing that really concerned him was that the boy Saul seemed to have vanished. A few months ago, his family vanished as well and no one knew where.

For a short time his anxiety level stayed high, but as with Jacob and Saul, he decided that it was nothing to worry about. So what they moved, he thought. They didn't know anything and no one would believe the boy if he decided to say anything. The same applied to the inmates: who would believe them? They were nothing but criminals who were always claiming that they had been wrongly treated by him or someone else in the prison system. Armed with this belief, Ellis totally relaxed and began to plot his political career.

The phone on his desk jingled several times before he answered it. He knew who it was; it was his wife of one year Hazel. Like starting small in the political arena was necessary, so was Hazel. He hadn't been married and didn't want to be; but his advisors encouraged it.

"It will help with the votes," they said. "And whoever she is, make sure that she has money and is young enough to give you a baby or two."

Several months later, he wooed, courted and then married Hazel Covington the daughter of the very wealthy Jaspar and Millicent Covington of Charleston, South Carolina. It was her father that was funding his political career because of two reasons, one he believed in his politics and two; it kept Hazel from becoming a spinster.

Hazel was plain to look at, quiet; but people liked her. That was something that pleased his advisors greatly. They then advised him to "knock her up" as soon as possible. Ellis had grimaced at that. He didn't enjoy sex which was part of the reason that he hadn't married. When he first saw Hazel, he breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't look as if she would enjoy sex any more than he did. He had been wrong.

Hazel came to the marriage with all kinds of ideas and a very healthy sexual appetite. It was primarily because of that appetite that she was now expecting their first child. Ellis had hoped that the pregnancy would buy him a few months peace, but it did the opposite. Most nights he did as she wished so that she would leave him alone.

The phone rang once more before he answered it.

"Hello sweetheart," he said with forced cheerfulness. "Are you alright? Tonight? I don't know honey. I'm working on my speech.... Well, since they're on the way, I can't very well not come home now can I? I'll be there within the hour."

Ellis hung up with a grimace. Even though Jaspar Covington was footing the bill, he didn't like him. His father in law was already trying to run things and he hadn't even won his first election yet. What he needed to do he realized, was to find alternate funding but that wouldn't happen until after he was better known.

The other thing that would help is if he had his cousin Will on his side. That wasn't about to happen so he pushed the thought away. He stood up and sighed. For now, like it or not; he was in bed with Jaspar Covington.

He stood up and got ready to leave dreading the evening ahead of him. Then he hoped that his in laws stayed late and would have to spend the night. As eager as Hazel was about sex, she refrained from it when there were house guests- especially if those house guests were her parents. He knew what he had to do in order to get them to stay. All he had to do was bring up his political plans. He left whistling at his free night of pleasuring Hazel until she screamed like a banshee. He wondered if he could somehow get his in laws to stay for more than one night.

*****

The weeks before Christmas passed quickly. Kenji soon acclimated to the night shift and found that he actually preferred it. For two weeks after Kenji talked to her Mai had kept her distance. Kenji spoke to her politely, but engaged her in no conversation unless it was about a patient or a discussion during conference. To further make his point, he only had breakfast with her if there were other interns at the table with them and even then; his conversations with her were limited.

Mai was miserable. Not only was Kenji politely ignoring her, her father really was going to stay in California. Shotaro applied to UCLA and to her disappointment was hired pending the completion of his residency. Ani was beyond excited; she had started planning the wedding. Mai talked to Shotaro once more before he left for Boston.

"Shotaro please! You do not want this anymore than I do. If we both refuse, there will be no choice but to cancel the wedding."

"I will not do that, we have a duty to our families and what we want is secondary. We will marry as planned."

"You are willing to just walk away from the woman that makes you smile?" Mai asked grasping for straws. "What about her? Is she not worth fighting for?"

For just a second, she thought that she had him; but then the resolute look returned.

"Begin to plan for our wedding, I will return as soon as I have taken care of things in Boston."

"Shotaro..."

"Enough... this conversation is over and we will not discuss it again."

He then walked away without looking back. Later, when she had time to think about it; Mai understood something. She understood how Kenji and Patricia had come to be together. He had been brave enough to do what Shotaro wasn't. He simply walked away from what was expected of him and followed his heart. He loved the black woman enough to defy tradition and his family. She also realized that while Shotaro loved the woman in the letter, he would do as he was told even if it hurt the woman and him.

Mai had laid awake long after she and Shotaro talked weighing her options. If she had someone like Kenji, she could and would walk away. Kenji, she knew would never be accepted by her family. He would be seen as a rebel and the fear would be that she would also go against tradition. Her father already thought that-that was why he warned her away from Kenjiro.

"How much longer is this rotation?" he would ask. "You are not spending time with him are you?"

Each time she would say no and try to change the subject. She would catch Ani looking at her with a warning in her eyes, but Mai would look away. As she lay in bed, she wondered if she could convince her father to let her get an apartment. She felt a flicker of hope as she listed the reasons why having her own apartment would be beneficial.

Shotaro had been gone for about a week and she was home for three days. They were sitting on the patio drinking tea when she broached the subject.

"Father, I was thinking that maybe I should get my own apartment."

Three pairs of eyes looked at her and waited for her to continue.

"I know that Ani and Jiro welcome all of us, but with the baby coming; they will need more space. If I moved to my own apartment, that would free an additional room for them to use as the nursery. It would also save time and gasoline. Once the baby is here, Ani won't be able to take me to the hospital or pick me up."

Ani wasn't buying it, but said nothing.

"No," her father said.

"The agreement was that on your off days you would stay here."

"I understand, but father that was before you decided to move here," Mai replied. "I will come one evening a week for dinner..."

"The answer is still no, "her father said cutting her off. If the issue is getting you to and back from the hospital, then I am sure that between Jiro and me we can take care of that."

"But father, surely you can see that the house will be crowded," Mai said.

"Yes I can see that," her father replied. "That is why I am purchasing a bigger home. Jiro and Ani will sell this one and will put the proceeds in a fund for the baby's future. As I said, I already have a buyer for my home in Boston and the proceeds from that will go toward the purchase of the new home. I expect that the money will be in my account sometime within the next month."

Mai couldn't speak because she was so angry. It galled her that Jiro and Ani had been in on the decision, but no one had bothered to ask her. Something inside of her broke. She was tired of people telling her what she could and couldn't do. In a rare moment of rebellion, she spoke up.

"Father, I must respectfully disagree with you. I am no longer a child, but an adult. As such I should be able to make my own decisions as to where I live and with who I associate with."

Ani and Jiro stared at Mai opened mouthed and waited for their father, Eisuke's response.

"I knew that it was a mistake to allow you to come here," he said after several minutes had passed. In a short time you have already become rude and you question the wisdom of your elders. I have to wonder how much of this has to do with the intern Takeda..."

"He..."

"Silence! I am speaking and you will listen!" Eisuke said his tone cold. "Next you will tell me that you will not marry Shotaro. Has this Takeda been filling your head with ideas of forgetting your familial obligations? Is that what this is about?"

"No, but father since you mention Shotaro; I do not want to marry him. Nor does he want to marry me. He is in love with another..."

"That doesn't matter," Eisuke interrupted. "He is doing the right thing by honoring his obligations as you should be instead of arguing about what you should be able to do."

"What if I refuse?" Mai asked. "What if I refuse to live in the same house with you and refuse to marry Shotaro?"

"Mai, who is it that pays for your education? Who is it that pays all of your expenses so that you can concentrate on your studies?" Eisuke asked in a deceptively soft voice. "Go ahead and refuse. Once you stop honoring your obligations, you will be on your own. You will not be permitted to stay here nor will Ani and Jiro offer you any financial assistance. I know that you are close to your cousin in Boston- I will alert her family as well. You will not only be penniless, you will also be without a family and a home."

"That... That is blackmail!" Mai exclaimed as tears of anger, disappointment and frustration ran down her cheeks.

"You may call it what you want," her father replied, "just as you may decide to do as you wish. I am tired, goodnight."

Mai speechlessly watched her father walk away. Jiro followed on his heels to give the sisters time to talk.

"Your fascination with this intern has already brought you trouble," Ani said softly. "It wasn't until you met him that you grew dissatisfied with Shotaro."

"I was always dissatisfied with Shotaro," Mai replied. "I just never said anything."

"Why now? You and Shotaro have been betrothed for years" Ani challenged. "I maintain that it has everything to do with Kenjiro Takeda. Had you not met him, would you have said anything?"

When Mai didn't reply, Ani pressed on.

"Mai, no good can come of defying father. He will disown you if you continue as you have been. If he disowns you I won't go against him and neither will anyone else. Also no good can come of coveting this intern. You will find yourself in disgrace and alone."

"Ani, this is wrong and you know it!" Mai said with a sob. "This isn't Japan!"