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Genzo tapped his foot impatiently as he rode the elevator to Noboru's penthouse. His instructions had been to arrive promptly at eight and by 8:10 none of his calls had been answered. Fortunately for him, he and Noboru were well known to the concierge staff and they'd let him up without hesitation. Wondering what was going on, he was about to knock when he heard the sound of screaming and growling from behind the door. Sighing in frustration, he waited for them to finish and when he heard Noboru bellow "[Ikku]!" Genzo hit redial on his cell phone.
"[Moshi moshi]," was the breathless answer. He could hear Angela gulping for air in the background.
"Noboru-donno, it's Genzo. I'm here." There was an abrupt click as Noboru hung up. Thirty seconds later, the door opened and a flushed Noboru sheepishly beckoned him inside.
"My apologies, Genzo," he said in Japanese.
"None is necessary," he replied politely, as Angela finally emerged from the bathroom. Her cheeks were flushed and she awkwardly smoothed the front of her shirt as she came out. "[Ohaiyo, Jo-Sama]," he greeted with a bow
"Morning, Genzo. And Angela is fine," she reminded him. Slipping on her shoes, she kissed Noboru ardently, unable to see Genzo's disapproving look as she did so. She could feel him growing underneath his robe while he pawed her shamelessly and was about to reach under the fabric when she heard Genzo cough loudly. Pouting, she pulled away from his reluctant arms.
"Come home for lunch," Noboru whispered in her ear, before biting it and releasing her.
"I will," she beamed. Entering the elevator, when the doors had closed, she looked shyly at Genzo. "I'm really sorry about that."
"It is none of my business," he said flatly without looking at her, before adding, "Also, one of your buttons is undone."
"What?" She looked down in horror to see that he was right. "Shit!" She was so concerned with her wardrobe malfunction that she didn't notice Genzo's look of surprise at her use of the expletive. When they got to her office, she unlocked the door and as they entered, Genzo sat in one of her waiting room chairs and pulled out a laptop from his messenger bag. "Oh, Genzo, you can come in. I'm not expecting my first patient until nine o'clock." He made no answer and merely followed her into the office. Sitting on the ledge by her window, he busied himself on his computer as she prepared for her day's appointments. It was strange to be guarded by someone who paid absolutely no attention to her. When it was 8:55 he quietly closed his laptop and walked out of the room without looking at her, resuming his seat in the waiting room chair.
Angela noticed that something was peculiar about how her therapy sessions went that morning. Though she had always been somewhat tuned in to people's emotions, today her perception of her patients' moods seemed unusually clear. When she informed one patient that she was going on vacation, though her exterior was cheerful and she said that she hoped that she would enjoy her holiday, Angela detected a surge of rage that caught her by surprise. She had been seeing this patient for a year and this was the first time she had ever experienced such a profound anger with her. Another patient who had apparently been doing well for a few months told her that things were still going well and that his mood was fine but despite the fact that his exterior looked unchanged from his previous sessions, she could feel a slight sadness and anxiety in him. When she had gently brought up that he appeared somewhat dysphoric to her, he became resistant immediately, denying that anything was wrong.
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When the last of her morning therapy patients had left, she sat down to type a few notes when she heard arguing in her waiting room. Walking to the door she recognized Ken's voice in addition to Genzo's.
"Look, man, I don't know who the hell you think you are but I know for a fact that Angela doesn't see patients at noon. Now do us both a favor and step aside."
"I am afraid that unless you have an appointment to see her I cannot let you inside."
"Alright, that is fucking it! If you don't-"
His sentence was cut off and there was a sound of scuffling. Angela threw open the door to her waiting room to see Ken hanging by his neck from Genzo's fingers.
"Genzo, you release him this instant!" she shouted.
Releasing his grip, Genzo bowed slightly in her direction and sat down as if nothing had happened. "Angela, what the hell is going on? Is this the guy who answered your phone?" An indignant Ken rubbed his neck angrily and glared at Genzo who had already returned his attention to his laptop.
"Ken, get in here," she snapped, pointing at her office door. The last thing she needed in her life was more drama. As Ken stomped into her office, she heard Genzo speaking on his cell phone in Japanese but the only word she could make out was "[kareshi]". Returning her attention to Ken, she demanded, "What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here?" he repeated in disbelief. "I call you the other day and some dude answers the phone and hangs up on me, you don't return any of my calls, not even a fucking text message to let me know you're alright. I was worried!" He paced the room irritably. "Fuckin-A, Angela!"
Though he could be a selfish jerk a lot of the time, she did feel bad for making him worry. "I'm sorry, Ken. Things have been a little crazy lately."
"Is that him out there?" he accused, pointing his finger at her door. "Is that the one who I spoke to? Are you fucking him?"
"Ken!" She threw him a warning glance and he backed off slightly under her glare.
"Are you seeing someone else? Is that it?" His tone was quieter now.
"Ken, we discussed this. It was only sex, nothing more."
"How serious is it? I went by your place and they'd said that you'd moved out. Are you staying with him?" His voice betrayed the hurt that he felt in learning that she had moved on before he had.
Before she could answer, the door opened and Noboru walked in. Approaching her, he put his hands on her waist and quietly asked, "[Daijo-ka]?"
"So that was the one I talked to," Ken spat.
Ignoring him, Noboru, looked again at her and repeated his question. "It's fine, we know each other. He was concerned about me, that's all." Looking over his shoulder at Ken, she said, "I'll call you later, okay? Now is not the time so just don't start."
"That's what you left me for?" he sneered incredulously. "I'm insulted!"
Rolling her eyes, she put her hands on her hips and looked at him acidly. "Ken, I know this is a stretch for you, but for two seconds could you TRY not to be a narcissistic ass?"
Ken stormed up to Noboru and looked down at him condescendingly. "Nice contacts, man." He'd always been far too in love with himself, which was one of the reasons Angela had finally broken up with him. Not that he didn't have reason to be. Half Japanese and half American, at 6'4'' and 220 pounds, Ken was a good-looking guy and he knew it. Towering over Noboru, he leered down at him. "I thought you didn't do short guys, Ange."
Praying that Noboru would maintain his composure and not kill him on the spot, she stepped between them and roughly shoved Ken back away from him. "Get the fuck out! I said I'll call you later, and if you don't leave right now, you can forget about ever fucking hearing from me again!" Shooting Noboru one last dirty look, Ken slunk out of her office. She was glad that he didn't have to walk past Genzo when he left.
Flinging the door open, she fumed at Genzo, "Just what the hell do you think you were doing?"
"What I was told to do," he replied calmly, not looking up from his laptop.
She was about to read him the riot act when Noboru came up behind her. "Genzo, go get something to eat. Be back in half an hour." Bowing his head, he walked out of the waiting room.
