You're my Bride - 1. Chapter 1: The Proposal

Chapter 1

“I love you without knowing how, or when, or from where.” –Pablo Neruda

The phone beeped and Akihiko looked up away his computer for a moment before picking up his phone. It was a text from his father.

“Sorry. Your mother and I have to stay back to carry out company negotiations. We won't be able to come home for your break. Take care of yourself. Love Dad.”

'Its not like I expected you to come anyway,' Akihiko thought as he slammed his phone down next to the keyboard.

Akihiko Itou was the son of Yamato and Shizua Itou. The Itou family was at the helm of Itou Corporation, one of Japan's top enterprises.

It was expected that being the only son Akihiko had the best kind of life. He never had any shortage of money. He could get anything he wanted. But the thing he wanted the most couldn't be bought with money.

He knew many people. People were desperate to be his friends but he knew it was all because of his money. His parents were almost never there. Although there were always people surrounding him he was always lonely.

Akihiko wished to fall in love. He wanted to have a wife who would take care of him and love him and support him just like in all those movies and stories he had seen and read.

At present though his concern was food. He had been eating instant noodles for the past week, ever since he had decided to stay in the apartment till his parents returned. So he decided he would go out and grab a bite to it before he was back home, alone again with his books and computer.

…..................................................................................................................................................................

Hiroki rushed back into the cafe to find his backpack on the chair where he had left it. He breathed a sigh of relief as he picked up his bag, only to find it empty.

Hiroki had lost it! He had lost his mother's birthday gift!

Hiroki's father had died when he was 6 years old. His mom had worked hard to bring up his elder sister and him all alone. She had lost her job when the economy had crashed and from then onwards his elder sister had been working to support their family.

Hiroki's mother had lost confidence in herself and it seemed like she was always unhappy. Recently when they had taken their mother out she had expressed the desire to buy a diamond pendant if only she had enough money.

Hiroki's sister Ami had taken money out of her savings and borrowed some money in addition to that in order to buy the pendant for their mother's birthday. Ami had given Hiroki the responsibility of keeping the pendant with him. He feared that if he left it at home his mother would find it or it could get stolen. Hiroki had thus been carrying it around with him wherever he went.

He had come to the cafe for a snack. He had gone out for a while when his sister called him since there was no network inside the cafe. He had left his backpack on the seat and when he was back the backpack was still there but the box with the pendant was nowhere to be seen.

Hiroki quickly asked the waiter next to him about who had touched his backpack. The waiter said that no one had touched the backpack. Hiroki then asked the other waiter and then another waiter but all of them gave him the same answer.

Hiroki saw that there was nothing he could do and if he went to the police then his sister would definitely find out. Hiroki remembered the name and location of the shop so he decided he would go there and inquire about the price.

Besides there was more than a month left before his mother's birthday. He could take up a part time job and buy a new pendant for his mother and nobody would have to know about this.

The store was in a nearby area and so Hiroki quickly reached the shop. When he came out of the shop though, he did not have any clue about what to do.

Buying the pendant was impossible for him. It seemed his sister had spent most of her savings on it and he could understand why she still needed to borrow money. It was not possible for him to buy it even if he worked 10 part time jobs.

' I would have to sell my body to earn enough money to buy this pendant! Maybe I wont be able to buy it even then. What the hell will I do?' Hiroki thought.

'Its better that I tell my sister. I know she is going to be mad that I have lost a really expensive thing but I have to do it,' Hiroki thought as he walked with his head down.

Hiroki suddenly collided with someone. The man in front of him had jet black hair cut up neatly, large framed spectacles and was probably 6 feet tall! (A/N: In Japan 6ft is a really good height). He was in a button down shirt and trousers and looked like a businessman apart from the glasses which made him look like a geek.

Akihiko looked at the person who had bumped into him. His hair was chestnut brown and he was not very tall. But the thing that drew Akihiko to the boy in hoodie and jeans was his face. Akihiko wanted time to stop then and there so that he could continue to look at that beautiful face for ever.

“Would you like to buy me for tonight?” Hiroki blurted out.

The next moment when he realized what he had said, it was too late.

“Come with me,” Akihiko said holding Hiroki's hand.

"Where?” Hiroki asked alarmed.

“Home,” Akihiko replied.

The warmth in Akihiko's voice surprisingly comforted Hiroki. He realized that he had asked this person to “buy” him and this man was probably taking him home for that kind of work but something prevented him from running away and Hiroki held onto his hand and followed him.

Akihiko had always hated his money. It had always made him lonely, it had kept his parents away from him. But if his money allowed him to spend some time with this gorgeous beauty following him he was ready to give it all up.

Akihiko realized that the person following him was a guy but it did not bother him. He couldn't describe what he felt at that moment. He felt happy, excited, scared and confused all at the same time.

Hiroki was confused about what to do. He had offered himself to this man, that was true. But they were both men and he had never done it with a girl leave aside a guy, that too was true.

'How could I say that? I am not the type of person who sleeps around for money! What do I do now?' Hiroki thought.

Hiroki decided he would tell the man that it was a mistake and that he was not 'that' kind of a person.

“Excuse me mister,” Hiroki started.

“We are here,” Akihiko said.

They were standing in front of an apartment complex. From the colour and design of the building Hiroki realized it was a part of the Moon City.

Moon City was one of the luxury apartment projects in one of the posh areas of the city. It was a significant presence in the city skyline. It had always been Hiroki's dream to enter Moon City but he had never thought that he would enter the place as a result of the situation he was presently in.

“You live here?” Hiroki asked.

“Presently yes. My place is not too big or anything but its adequate to live in,” Akihiko replied.

“Oh! I see,” Hiroki said in awe.

Hiroki followed Akihiko inside the complex. The man at the door greeted them warmly. Hiroki looked around as they crossed the tiled lobby to reach the lift.

The lift man smiled and pressed 12 as Akihiko stepped in, followed by Hiroki.

They were on the 12^th floor in a few seconds and Hiroki stepped out still holding Akihiko's hand.

Akihiko took out his key from his trousers' right pocket and unlocked the door all the while holding onto Hiroki's hand.

“Wait, I need to tell you something,” Hiroki tried.

“Come in and we will talk,” Akihiko said pushing the door open.

There was a beautiful apartment on the other side of the door. He could see the expensive wood that covered the entrance and the marble which shone further ahead. Hiroki knew it would be best to tell the man right then that he was not ready to sell his body. He knew that entering the apartment might put him into a vulnerable position but he couldn't stop himself from looking inside.

Akihiko felt happy seeing the expression of awe on Hiroki's face. He walked inside pulling Hiroki with him and closed the door behind them.

Hiroki looked at him with fear, his apprehension evident.

“I made a mistake. I don't want to do this,” Hiroki said.

When Akihiko looked up at him, Hiroki braced himself as he felt that he was going to be beaten up. Instead Akihiko nodded and invited Hiroki to sit down.

“Okay. You look tired so just come in and sit for a while. I won't eat you up,” Akihiko assured.

“No. Seriously I am not into all this stuff. It was a horrible mistake on my part. Please just let me go home,” Hiroki pleaded.

Akihiko behaved as if Hiroki had not spoken and cast an authoritative glance in Hiroki's direction. Hiroki understood it would be better if he followed Akihiko.

Akihiko led the way and Hiroki followed him inside slowly, all the while praying to God and hoping Akihiko would not hurt him and just let him go.

They walked down the corridor silently before reaching the living room. It was a big room and had landscape paintings hanging on two of the walls, one of the walls which was facing the couch had a blue and white textured paint on it and the other wall had square sliding glass windows framed by dark red silk curtains. The floor of white tiles was covered with a green embroidered carpet. On it were three large brown couches, two facing each other and one facing the large television on the blue and white wall. Beneath the television was a glass cabinet with a home theatre system inside.

Hiroki sat down on one end of the couch nearest to him and Akihiko seated himself on the other end.

“Why did you offer to do something like selling yourself if you are not interested in doing so?” Akihiko questioned calmly.

Hiroki explained the whole incident about the pendant being lost and how he had blurted out all the wrong words in front of Akihiko.

“What is your name?” Akihiko asked.

“Please don't call the police. I am sorry to have bothered you,” Hiroki requested.

“No, I don't plan on doing that. I have a business proposition for you. But before I can tell you I think it would be better if we introduced ourselves,” Akihiko stated.

“I am Hiroki Hayashi,” Hiroki replied warily.

“I am Akihiko. I think we can skip the honorifics Hiroki,” Akihiko said.

Hiroki was a bit surprised. Not only was this man not using honorifics he was even referring to Hiroki by his first name. In addition the man had not mentioned his last name.

“What do you want?” Hiroki asked.

“Its simple. I will get you that pendant but you have to be my wife,” Akihiko replied.

“Wife? I am a guy!” Hiroki exclaimed.

“You need to take care of my house, tend to the garden, keep everything clean, cook me good food and basically take care of me. If you are nice to me for a month I will get you that pendant,” Akihiko stated.

Hiroki thought about the offer. Akihiko wanted him to be his housekeeper for a month and he would get Hiroki the pendant in return. That seemed like a great offer but it seemed too good to be true. And if he wanted a housekeeper why had he used the word 'wife'?

“But the pendant is really costly. Are you sure you are willing to pay that much to me to work for you?” Hiroki asked.

“I told you my offer. Now its your choice. And I want to tell you this from before that if you agree to my proposition then you will have to live in this house for the month,” Akihiko said.

Although Akihiko acted confident he was very nervous. He had never been so attracted to anyone before. He just wanted to spend some time with Hiroki. He worried that maybe he had not given Hiroki a good enough reason to stay. Akihiko looked intently at Hiroki trying to guess his reply.

Hiroki considered his position. He could not afford to buy the necklace himself. He had been offered a good summer job. If he started the next day he would get the pendant a week before his mother's birthday. In addition if he lived in the house he could avoid all the queries from his sister about the pendant. Plus he would get the chance to live in such a fabulous house for some time. Akihiko looked like a decent man and had not done anything bad to him, so it seemed right to accept the offer.

“Okay. Can I start from tomorrow?” Hiroki nodded.

Akihiko tried hard to stop himself from smiling as he felt incredibly happy. He composed himself before speaking.

“I suggest you get your stuff over tonight and then you can start in the morning,” Akihiko suggested.

It seemed like a good enough plan to Hiroki so he agreed to it. Akihiko followed Hiroki out of the apartment and watched him get into the elevator, hoping that Hiroki would indeed return.

Please leave a review!