Birthday Party

"Mommy, can you please help me with my tie?"

"Can't you see that I am busy?" Hana scolds. "Why don't you ask one of the maids? And where is Yuki?"

Yuta walks away with a quivering chin. He decides to look for his nanny and ask her for help instead.

Hana looks closer at the mirror. "What is this? That is a lot of blush, I don't want to look like a freaking clown."

"I'm sorry ma'am, I will fix it right away."

"Hurry up. I still need to make sure the planner got everything I asked for."

"Right away Mrs Ichihara."

After Hana is finally satisfied with her makeup, the maids help her put her kimono on before she goes looking for the event planner. She gives more instructions and tells him to fix a few things.

'This party has to be perfect.' She heads back to her bedroom to put on her jewelry. When she enters the room, she is surprised to see Kei. He has just come out of the shower.

"Oh, you're finally back. Which one of your whores did you spend the last few days with?"

"Do you really want to do this now?"

"I thought you weren't even going to make it to your own birthday party, too busy screwing…"

Kei slams his cologne on the dresser and it shatters into pieces.

"I don't give a shit about this party." He takes a threatening step closer to her. "You know this is all so that you feel important and keep your social image. If you want, I can go back to my 'whores', and you can manage on your own." Kei glares at her. "Do you want me to do that?" He roars.

"No, I don't." Hana's voice is small and shaky.

"Good, now get the hell out of here, I need to put my clothes on."

Hana leaves the room shaking with tears in her eyes. 'What did I ever do to deserve this?'

She stops for a moment, wipes her tears, and straightens her back. 'It does not matter what he says or does to me, I have the power. I have the Ichihara name, and more importantly, I have the support of the most important person in the family.' She grins. "There is nowhere to run from me, Kei Ichihara."

She waits for her husband to finish dressing up before putting her jewelry on. Then, she walks to the hall to welcome the guests. Luckily, Kei is already standing at the entrance, so she doesn't have to look for him.

They play the happy couple for a while and welcome their guests together. Kei is a little disappointed every time it's not Sam, he even called her earlier to make sure she makes it.

'This is crazy, what was I expecting? That we could be friends again? After everything that went down between us, I'm lucky she even spares me a glance.'

After a while, the guests stop coming. Kei can't help but feel a little sad, which Hana notices.

"Daddy." Yuta hugs his dad's leg. "Uncle Ozawa wouldn't let me have a chocolate éclair."

"What are you still doing up? You need to go to bed now. Where is Yuki?"

Kei throws her a deadly look and picks Yuta up. "Surely, my son can stay up a little later for my birthday."

He walks away and Hana looks around to make sure nobody saw the scene. She plasters a smile on her face, and walks around the hall to socialize.

"Hana, the party is amazing as usual." It is one of the annoying three housewives. They are always together, gossiping and spreading rumors.

"Oh, thank you Hitomi-san. I am so happy you ladies could make it."

"We wouldn't miss it for the world." They all give each other fake smiles, but Hanna's falters when she catches a glimpse of a green silk dress at the entrance. It is Samantha.

"Excuse me ladies, I have to greet a guest."

Such obvious actions do not go by the ladies without notice.

As Hana approaches Sam, she feels an uneasiness take a hold of her. 'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to invite her.' She looks way too gorgeous.

"Samantha, so glad you could make it."

"Thank you. This is my friend, Ed." Hana bows in greeting and Ed does the same.

'Well, at least she had the decency to bring a man with her.'

"Is that for Kei?" Hana extends her hand to take the gift from her, but Sam draws it back.

"Oh, I prefer to give it to him personally."

Hana smiles, but it is more of a grimace. "Please, enjoy the party, then." She walks away pretending that she has something to take care of.

"Do You See Kei?" Sam fidgets with her dress, looking around the large group of guests. She is a bit nervous.

"No, do you want to walk around and look for him?"

"Yes, but don't you let go of me." Sam giggles. "I really shouldn't have had that fourth drink." But they both know that she wouldn't have come to the party without that fourth drink.

"Sam?" Jiro is shocked to see her. "I thought you weren't coming."

"Well, it was a last minute decision." Jiro gives her a suspicious look.

"More like a fourth drink decision." Ed jokes.

"Ah, now that makes more sense." Sam lightly hits Ed's shoulder.

"That was supposed to be our secret, traitor." He just laughs.

"Ed Clarks, pleasure to meet you." He extends his hand.

"Jiro Ichihara, the pleasure is mine." He turns to Sam and smiles. "You look beautiful, by the way.'

"Thank you, thank you." Sam answers while scanning the room for Kei.

"He is in the house, want to go see him?" Jiro points to the exit.

"Yes, I do." She beams.

The three of them walk away from the noisy hall toward the house. They find Kei with Yuta, feeding him the chocolate éclair he asked for earlier.

When Kei looks up, he forgets how to breathe. He gazes at Sam with parted lips then, he swallows hard. She looks stunning. His eyes travel down her body, noticing every curve her silk dress is accentuating. The green of the fabric is the perfect compliment to her red hair. He feels his heart skip a beat, or maybe a few.

"Wow." He hears himself utter.