Behind Hazel Eyes

New Beginnings

Theme: Collide

Besides Dramatic Tony, the ex-boyfriend, her over-concerned father, Mrs. Lyman and Snowdrop - her pet Pekingese dog, only one other person knew the true nature of her trip and that was her best friend, Eden St. Claire. It was a rather fancy name and it had everything to do with the fact that Eden's mother was a well-known international fashion designer. Eden, for her part, played every bit the role of the spoiled daughter. The only child of the St. Claire's, clothes and all expense paid trips around the world were a norm in her world. Her friendship with Aurora was one that had been established since they were little girls. Although not conventional, since their breakups and arguments were legendary, they still had a bond that both knew would never be broken. Eden had once labeled them as 'The Dysfunctional Sisters' and the tabloids had run away with that nickname. It didn't matter to the girls really. It was all in good fun and as long as they didn't steal each other's boyfriends, they were as thick as thieves. They shared their secrets and swore never to hide anything from one another.

So one can only imagine the surprise and shock Eden experienced the day her cell phone rang in the middle of a full body massage by her personal masseuse, Andre, and Aurora's clear voice filled her ear.

"You'll never guess where I am, Eden!"

"Huh? Speak up, Rory! I can barely hear you!" Waving her hand impatiently for Andre to leave the room, she sat up quickly, not bothering to wrap the white towel around her self as it pooled to her slender waist. Thick black hair unraveled from the towel which had been wrapped around her head as her piercing green eyes lit up with excitement at the sound of her best friend's voice.

"I said, you'll never guess where I am! I'm about to board a commercial plane, Eden. A 'common' plane! Isn't that great?!"

Eden raised a brow, while trying hard not to gag. "Eeew! Why would you do such a thing? Where're you going to? And why aren't you using your private jet? Isn't yours ready for flying? You know daddy and mommy don't mind you using ours..."

"No, no, I don't need any of that," Aurora cut in quickly. There was the sound of a woman announcing all flights to Tokyo in the background and Eden's eyes widened in understanding.

"You're traveling to Japan?! You traitor! Why didn't you tell me anything?! Their Fall Fashion is going to be soooooo fabulous..."

"No, you don't understand...hold on..."

Eden tapped her manicured fingernails upon the bed with growing impatience. She could hear her friend giving instructions to someone in the background. After what seemed like forever, Aurora came back on with an indignant huff.

"Well, I guess their rules are different on common flights. They won't help me carry my bag! I have to chug this heavy thing back to checkout and the line here is terrible. But that's my flight being announced though. I have to get ready to leave in a bit, but I just thought I'd call you to let you know that I'm off to Japan for a three-month volunteer teacher program."

"Whoa, slow down, Rory," Eden rubbed a hand across her forehead. "You're going to Japan to become a...teacher?! What's gotten into you? I thought we had planned to grow up to become socialites and attend all the best parties..."

"There's more to life than parties," came the sudden statement that sent chills down Eden's spine. There was something definitely more adult and mature about her best friend and for a moment, a feeling of intense resentment welled up within her.

"But this is going to be a learning experience for me," Aurora continued, now back to her cheerful self. "I'm not going with much money and I changed my last name...I even cut my hair!"

Eden gasped and nearly fell off the bed. Their hair was one of the staples of their bond. With Aurora chopping hers off, it felt as if she was severing the ties between them. "Aurora," she began quietly but firmly, clutching the small phone to her ear. "Listen to me, Rory...you've just had a temporary burst of insanity, that's all. Why don't you just turn around and come back home, okay? We'll go grab some lunch at Spago's and then go shopping along the Strip. It will be fun."

"No way, Eden sweetie. I know it's hard for you to understand now, but I need the change. Maybe someday you'll be able to see what I see now. Remember that day we got so bored we didn't know what the hell to do? Well, I've decided that sitting on my butt at home isn't going to cut it. I'm going out to the world, baby!"

"But...but Japan?" Eden squeaked helplessly. There was no talking her friend out of this one it seemed. "How're you going to cope with no money and...and the language! What are you going to do?"

"I've been studying on my own besides, I'll be teaching English...hold on..."

Again, Eden had to wait for Aurora to deal with someone in the background. When she came back on, she sounded breathless. "All right, Eden. Looks like my time's up here."

"Wait...wait, Rory!" Eden cried out quickly. "Where will you be staying? I'll come visit you and maybe we can hang out, okay?"

"Sure, sure, I'd like that. I don't know where I'm going to be living yet, just the cheapest place they've got, I guess."

The cheapest place? Eden felt her breakfast rising to her throat. She could already envision cold apartments filled with bugs and vermin crawling all over the place.

"Chu chu, sweetie," Aurora sang over the phone, laughing softly. "I'll call you when I arrive, okay? It's going to be a looooong flight, that's for sure. So here's an over-the-phone-hug for you. I'll talk to you later!"

She hung up while Eden still held on, listening to the melancholy sound of the disconnected line. She couldn't believe it. Just last week, they had attended a family friend's party, both of them having a blast with plans for a shopping spree in Milan next week and now - from out the blue - this.

Chu, chu, my friend, she thought miserably as she lay back on the bed to stare blindly at the ceiling. Suddenly, her fabulous day of pampering didn't seem so wonderful anymore.

________________________


By the time she got off the plane (in a flight which seemed to take two days in her opinion), juggled her heavy carry-all bag while hanging on to her passport and tickets for dear life and dealing with people who shoved and collided into her all the time, Aurora was at her wits end. The flight had been terrible. She hadn't even had enough money for first class and her seat in coach had her stuck next to a woman with a baby who wouldn't stop crying. The food was tasteless and she had visited the bathroom several times just to regurgitate everything. Sleep had been fitful and now she was cranky, tired and just needed a place to rest her head and never wake up.

She stood in the middle of the long terminal, ignoring the people who walked by with no care in the world, and stared at the huge signs above her.

列車 ->

<-陸上輸送

"Oh my God! Couldn't they even translate it?!" Shaking her head in frustration, she reached into her handbag to bring out the Japanese translation book she had gotten. After much worrying of her lower lip, she was able to decipher the kanji symbols. The first one led to trains and the second to ground transportation, meaning cars, taxis and buses.

"Excuse me, ah...uuum...excuse me!" She shoved her way to the front of the line and smiled widely at the petite female behind the counter. "Uum...could you please tell me which is the best way to get to Tokyo?"

The lady, whose name was Midori according to her name tag, gave a perfunctory smile and typed into her computer. "Hmm, there are several trains going to Tokyo, miss," she said with a thick Japanese accent in her lithe voice. "You can either use the Narita Express which should be here in about 30 minutes or you can use the Keisei Express, which should be here in an hour."

"Which is the cheapest?"

"The Keisei Express. It should cost you about 1,400 yen."

ŕ,400 dollars for a simple train ride...oops!" She slapped a hand over her mouth at her blunder, remembering that she was no longer dealing with dollars but Japanese yen. Laughing with faint embarrassment, she thanked the girl and made her way out of the line, while trying to hold her head high as several other travelers snickered at her mistake.

Surprisingly, it wasn't that difficult to navigate her way to the train station. It was the heavy luggage she had that was the killer. Perhaps she should have used a taxi instead, but after asking several attendants along the way, the Keisei Express was definitely the way to go if she hoped to save some money.

"Oooh...hungry," she groaned, joining the other passengers who were waiting for the train as well. She glanced out of the large windows with a sigh, now feeling a bout of homesickness wash over her. This wasn't her first trip to Japan. She had come here with Eden about two years ago for one of Mrs. St. Claire's fashion shows. The situations were very different now. There was no private landing strip for her jet. No servants or limousines waiting to pick her up and no fancy hotel to crash in for the night. The worry and concern that she'd not be able to find a place to sleep tonight was not looking particularly good at this point.

She stared at her cell phone, fingers itching to dial the number to one of the 'friends' she had made the last time she was here. It would be so easy to fall back into her rich lifestyle once she made the call but she grit her teeth and shoved the device back into her handbag. She had made the decision to live this way and she was going to go through with it, no matter how much pain it caused. At least one thing was certain; she knew she'd have to find a place next to the school, so that daily commuting wouldn't be too much of a problem.

"Hey, hey, miss."

She sat up with a start to stare blankly at the dark-haired man smiling down at her. "Wha...what is it?" He had spoken in Japanese but she had been able to pick up his words.

"Train...you go on train?" he asked in English, pointing towards the doors where several other passengers were beginning to go through. "You sleeping just now. So I think you going on train, yes?"

"Oh, oh!" She sat up quickly, bowing her head in gratitude. Geez, she didn't even know she had dozed off that quickly. "Arigatou," she said, smiling warmly at him.

"I help you," he insisted, reaching out to carry her rather heavy suitcase.

"Oh you really don't have to," she began, knowing and hearing about strange men who went about 'helping' foreigners. Their luggage almost always got stolen in the end and Aurora couldn't afford to have hers suffer the same plight. She gave him a quick look over, noticing that he was in his thirties or early forties at least. He was wearing a simple dark blue dress-shirt and black pants and was rather small in stature. His black eyes sparkled with what seemed like genuine warmth but she wasn't going to take her chances.

"We hurry," he said, already dragging her suitcase and forcing her to jog after him. "We miss train. Train only stop in one hour."

"Right," she grumbled, joining him on to the crowded train. She made sure she stood beside him, keeping her eyes pinned on him in case he decided to do a vanishing act. "Where does this train go to again?"

"Where you want to go?" he asked. It's a good thing he could speak English. It made things so much easier. "My name Seki Toshiro. What is yours?" He held out his hand but quickly took it back as the train seemed to 'jump' while the doors slid shut, trapping them inside the sudden claustrophobic room. Aurora had never been this close to so many people before and as she felt a rather fat guy pressing against her left, she struggled not to gag at the combined smell of sweat and stale onions on his breath.

"My name is Aurora and I'm going to..." The train shuddered again before beginning its journey and this time, she had to hang on to her new friend for safety. She was taller than him by two inches or more, but he didn't seem to mind. "I'm going to Kappabashi," she finally replied. "Where does this train stop?"

"It stop at Shinjuku," Seki replied with a wide smile. "Then take train to Ginza. Then take train to Tawaramachi Station. Then you in Kappabashi."

Good grief, Aurora thought with an inward groan. More trains to go through?

"You have place to stay?" Seki asked again, as his fingers slid into his pocket. For a second, Aurora felt panic well in her throat, but she relaxed a little when he held up a small white business card. "This my business and name. I travel all over Tokyo."

"Salesman?" she asked eyeing the words 'Seki Toshiro - Electronics Sales' with his phone number to both office and cell on it.

"Yes," he replied, colliding into her as the train seemed to make a rather sharp turn. "I have friend who live in Kappabashi. He help you find place. I call him now."

"Oh you really don't need to..."

"No problem. Just take card and tell all your friends about Seki, okay?"

It seemed like a fair enough deal and for the first time in hours, Aurora felt a warm smile on her visage. "Thank you, Seki-san. I really do appreciate all your help."

_______________________


Seki proved to be an invaluable source and he actually traveled all the way to Ginza with her, showing her some sights and explaining some things which she found confusing. It took them almost an hour for the entire trip but at the Ginza line, Seki had to stay his goodbyes.

"Seki have business to deal with here," he said with a warm smile as he got ready to step on the platform. "My friend will wait for you at station. I call him and he say is okay. You like my friend. He very nice."

"Thank you again for everything," she said, reaching out to wrap him in a hug before she could stop herself. She could feel him stiffen within her arms and she backed away quickly, blushing furiously at her daring. She had to remember she was in a different country where open affections weren't all that accepted. But if Seki's flush was any indication, she was sure that he had enjoyed it.

And then it occurred to her. She had forgotten the most important thing!

"Hey! What's his name and what does he look like?!" she yelled but the train was already moving away and she couldn't get an answer in time. Goodness! What was the use of arriving at Kappabashi and not knowing who this mysterious friend was? She might as well go back to square one and start hunting for a place on her on.

By this time, the train wasn't as full and she was able to find an empty seat. Her body was beginning to ache in places she never knew existed, but at least Seki had been nice enough to buy her a quick snack (rice cakes, which were delicious!) when they had stopped at Shinjuku. The sights and sounds of Japan were really different from home and even though it was early evening, the streets were still lit up like New York City at Christmas. There was so much to see, so many things she wished she could do, but time was of the essence and she'd have to take care of her sight seeing duties some other day. She could feel the excitement coursing through her veins and she couldn't wait till Monday when she'd take her first steps to becoming a completely independent woman.

As the train made its final stop at the station, Aurora had a bit of trouble dragging out her briefcase, overnight carry-all and handbag all at the same time. She nearly stumbled twice and felt her cheeks flood with color as the other passengers stared at her.

At least you could offer to help, she thought with a grumble as she grunted and tugged the unresisting luggage. Christ! She thought she had reduced the load back home. Why was it even heavier now?

"Move you damn thing...aaaaaaah!" The low heels she had been wearing seemed to skid off something slick on the ground. Her hands flailed in the air for a second and before she could right herself again, she felt her back slamming into another person so hard that the collision sent them sprawling to the ground in a heap. She heard a sickening thud and spun around quickly, well as quickly as she could under the circumstances and promptly began to scream as she stared at the (rather handsome) dark-haired man with something dark pooling around his head.

She hadn't even lived a full day in Japan and she was already in trouble for cracking someone's skull.

Her ear splitting scream continued as Adam Hayakawa groaned and wished she'd just shut the hell up...and get off his stomach.

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