Tea Date [Yumi X Lenn]

JioJio · Sep 27, 2015

She didn't mind. No, not at all. Not a single bit.

Besides, Jacob deserved to spend quality time with his daughter. That was perfectly understandable. They were supposed to go to the zoo or the aquarium or whatever. Lenn heard that those places were one of the biggest attractions on the island. How they managed to get exotic creatures at the zoo was beyond her, but whatever. The hard part was that Jacob didn't want Yumi to feel left out. After all, Yumi herself was a wrench into their plans since the two had only expected Chiru to come. Well, Yumi wasn't that big of a wrench. She was nice and everything but...

Wasn't this going to be weird? Jacob's ex- wife hanging out with someone who was currently dating her ex- husband? Wouldn't she be ...awkward about that? Yumi was a pretty uptight, dignified woman and Lenn was just... Er, she was new to all of this. So far, Lenn had done well in not freaking anyone out or having them book it off the island early, so that was a good sign. Jacob seemed to understand Lenn's weariness, but he reassured that things were going to be fine, so Lenn relented and agreed to spend the day with Yumi. Alone. His ex-wife alone. Good god, what else was that woman going to ask about? Oh hey, by the way how's the sex life? Oh, it's been good. He still does that thing--

She shook her head and waited patiently in the lobby. Nah, Yumi wouldn't go as far as making Lenn uncomfortable. As badass as Lenn naturally was, she discovered that it was possible to be shy of such personal things...Like what usually happened behind closed doors and under the sheets.

Nah, this was going to be fine. She was working herself up over nothing. They were going to be good friends! Yumi suggested a certain tea house that required some moderately fancy wear. That was fine. Lenn showed up with the most comfortable, decent outfit she could find. That name...Where have I heard it before?...

Critical · Sep 27, 2015

There had been a strange dual-personality thing going on with Jacob when he had explained the day's plans to Lenn that morning. When he spoke of Chiru and going to the Manta Carlos Aquarium with her, he had been almost desperate and pleading. Of course he loved Lenn with his all his heart and would never push her away, but he never got to spend any quality time alone with his daughter. For the obvious reasons of her living in Japan and the divorce. He wanted to give his time to Chiru, and then give her the love and attention he had been unable to shower upon in the intervening years.

When he spoke of Yumi, he seemed only shakily confident. He reassured Lenn that spending the day with her would be just fine, but the cracking in his voice showed that he was not entirely sure of that. The differences in the two women were large enough. But there was also the big-ass elephant in the room that was their relationships to Jacob himself.

No matter the nerves though, everything still went through and Jacob was able to spend the day with his daughter. That would then leave his now-girlfriend with his ex-wife. Now it was all up to Yumi and Lenn to see their day through.

Yumi, being her usual self-assured self, had made the plans for the tea house. On the outside, over the phone, she had sounded like nothing else was going on and that inviting Lenn out for tea was perfectly fine. In her mind, it had been calculated move that afforded both quality leisure time and time to examine her ex-husband's new younger girlfriend.

Her choice of venue had been one of curiosity and familiarity. The Chashitsu in downtown Manta Carlos had been a name-to-know among the upper echelons of the island, as well as its satellite locations around Japan. Named after the actual traditional building, the Chashitsu was a higher-end tea house for the modern business person. Taking elements from modern lounges and traditional Japanese culture, it aimed to give a relaxing atmosphere for intense business deals. Yumi had frequented it many times back in Hokkaido.

The lobby Lenn stood in was designed to look like a Japanese rock garden, but on the inside. It was peaceful with running water, manicured sand and even a shishi-odoshi to give the room a rhythmic beat. There were circles of comfy chairs set up for groups waiting for their room, or the rest of their party.

"Good day, Miss Lenn."

Yumi arrived through the automatic glass doors at the front wearing that looked better than the dress and sweater she wore before, but significantly more professional: a white sleeveless blouse with a black pencil skirt and heels. She looked like secretary, but walked like a CEO. She smiled at Lenn and gave her bow.

"I'm very happy that you will be joining me for tea. I hope the setting is to your liking."

JioJio · Sep 27, 2015

This was just...too calm. It gave her the impression that she should just wait for the other shoe to drop. It was just too peaceful and she was afraid that at any moment, some samurai-ninja people were going to tear through the traditional rice-paper walls and try to cut her into pieces.

She couldn't help it. It was five years ago, but the memories stuck ever since. Maybe they weren't ninja-samurai-whatever, but still...That wasn't a fun day.

Suddenly, the air shifted and she looked towards the doors to see an extremely professional Yumi giving her usual 'greet and bow' routine. Lenn could just imagine Yumi arranging all of this to strike some kind of 'deal' with her...O-Or maybe this was some kind of interrogation--

Relax. She also refrained from heaving a sigh of relief. The red button down long-sleeve, leather pants, and heels were just enough. Sadly though, button-downs never agreed with Lenn's cleavage and a few buttons were undone just to relieve the pressure. Cleavage was never a bad thing to show off.

In truth? Lenn wasn't used to tranquility and peace, but it didn't hurt to lie about it. "Yeh, oy do! This is pretty new. Neva' been to this place before..." at least that part was the truth, but the name of the place sounded so familiar. Obviously it was Japanese...and perhaps she wasn't in this particular Chashitsu, but...

Whatever. It could wait. Right now, she focused her attention on Yumi and the host who approached and bowed to them. They were also gestured to remove their heels and put on complimentary house slippers in which Lenn awkwardly obliged. Soft..Squishy, cutsie slippers were definitely not her thing, but she assumed it was all based around tradition...And to keep the floors scratch free of course. The room they were guided into was beautiful. They were guided to sit. "So uh..Oy'm guessin' you do this on a regulah basis. Must be really noice..."

Critical · Sep 27, 2015

On the topic of cleavage, Yumi's was obviously not visible. Considering how proper she had shown herself to be normally, cleavage was usually out of the question. However, judging by the stretching of the fabric on her chest, she could have stood to let one or two buttons go. Yumi's chest rivaled Lenn's, and age had yet to lay its heavy hands on it. Similarly to Jacob, Yumi was blessed with graceful aging and she took care of herself.

"Then you are in for a treat. Chashitsu takes very good care of its guests, and only offers the finest tea and refreshments."

The arrival was the host and request to remove their heels was all familiar to Yumi. The only difference today was that the host did not immediately recognize her. Where Lenn might have had trouble with the process, Yumi was swift and elegant in removing her heels, and she was fine with the provided slippers.

"You guess right. I conduct quite a few meetings and deals in tea houses, particularly those of Chashitsu."

They were guided into a private room with tatami floors and and a low table. There were small cushions on the floor for sitting, and Yumi effortlessly took a seiza sitting position on one of them.

"But I do not plan on making a meeting of this outing. This is a time for us to get to know each other. Please, make yourself comfortable."

Not long after entering, another host entered carrying a tray. From that tray, they produced two fine ceramic cups, a hot pot of tea and few additions like honey. After the host left, Yumi began pouring tea for Lenn and herself. The movement was practiced and honed, but quiet. It was a practiced quiet as well. There was no lack of words for Yumi, but she chose not to say anything, as if to say that there was no talking unless she initiated it. It showed a command of the room.

She only started speaking again once she had her own tea.

"I've taken the liberty of arranging our refreshments ahead of time. Tea to start, of course. Then a selection of sushi. Only the freshest. Until then..."

Yumi daintily sipped her tea.

"We can get know each other a bit more, a bit better.

I feel as though our first meeting might have been a little skewed. With Chiru and Jacob, we could not spend time with just each other, as each other. I want to rectify that if possible.

So tell me a little more about yourself. What is your background before Jacob?"

JioJio · Dec 17, 2015

Unlike Yumi's display of elegance and proper sitting, Lenn sat cross-legged like one of those stereotypical ronin-samurai-people in anime who started trouble for the protagonist in an old tea shop. For all she knew, her etiquette in a place such as this was about as good as a thugs; little to none. It probably was a mistake to allow Lenn to get 'comfortable', but the deed was done. "Don' moind if oy' do," the ex-hitman happily quipped. Shortly after, another dainty host shuffled in with a tray full of...tea stuff. Lenn's gaze followed the tray as it was set between them and muttered an awkward thanks. Honestly, she wasn't much of a tea fan. Coffee was always the best way to go in her opinion. One good hot cup of joe was enough to make her day. She liked her coffee the way she liked her man; tall, dark, and strong. Jacob managed to meet all of the criteria.

Honey, suga'...wot the hell? There were even things on the tray that she wasn't familiar with. Oh well. She was open to change. Maybe today's little date with Yumi would change her opinion on tea. Who knows? Maybe Sugar...Or Honey with this thing...Or that thing. Lenn was already beginning to plan out her strategy. Sadly, Yumi beat her to the punch and initiated on distributing the tea. Yumi's gracefullness was at it's all time peak as she poured the tea. For god's sake, she made tea pouring look like a sacred practice. Neither of them even spoke. For Yumi, that was probably natural and routine. Lenn however felt the need to be silent. One peep, and she was in trouble...Or at least she felt like it. Somehow, Yumi took command of the room...Which was a pretty impressive thing to do in Lenn's presence. After all, the woman had no idea who Lenn really really was and just how capable she was with her certain set of skills.

Finally, Yumi spoke and Lenn finally released her breath she wasn't even aware she was holding in. Refreshments and sushi. That sounded promising. Sort of. There was only one time she had eaten that stuff and it came from a local gas station back in the states. What was it again?...Seven-Thirteen? Seven...7-Eleven. After she recovered from several injuries during a mission, the sushi was one of the first things she snagged out of pure desperation. The rest of that memory was something she didn't want to bring up. The sushi was mostly to blame.

Lenn cradled the little tea cup in her hands, her eyes focused on the reflection off of the steamy surface as Yumi spoke. "...we could not spend time with just each other, as each other." What did that mean? Was Yumi not able to be herself around the other two? Was she just putting up some front? Naw...She shouldn't talk. Lenn was probably putting up the biggest front of them all, but at least it was for a good reason. A really good reason. Speaking of that, Yumi seemed much more interested in what Lenn was up to before meeting with Jacob. Oh haha...Yea', about that. No big deal, oy' used to pop heads fer moneh. Wot about you? You must do flowa' arrangements~. Yeah, that would turn out great.

"Ah, well..." Lenn had rehearsed this many times. She went into detail about the whole reason why she left the states and moved to the island. The whole story basically revolved around her cover story. She even listed a moderately decent college and attended marksmanship classes once her love of firearms grew. The college was nothing to really fuss over. That's what made it a relatively decent cover. It would have been stupid to mention some prestigious college. Normal people were far from perfect after all and Lenn was trying to be the most mundane person out there...Well, at least somewhat of a successful one. "--An' there ya have it. Pretty boring, roight? Ahaha," Lenn sipped her tea. Hrm, not too bad... "Wot about you? Wot do you do now?..." she felt a bit lame for asking the same thing in return. "Jus' curious..." Hopefully Yumi loved hearing her own voice tell her own incredibly long story so the refreshments could hurry the hell up and get here.

Critical · Dec 18, 2015

Saying that Yumi had "low" expectations for Lenn would have been insulting to both of them, as it colored Yumi as a snooty woman and Lenn as unkempt. No. Yumi's expectations of her ex-husband's new woman were varied but conservative, based primarily on what little she had heard of her before coming to the island and of the little time they had spent together in the last few days. She saw a young woman that was definitely different from herself, at least in terms of decorum, though that was hardly an observation unique to Lenn. She also saw genuine emotion and concern when it came to Jacob, but there was something missing too. There was a hint of something that Yumi could not make a guess at, and that was the most concerning thing to Yumi.

The direct approach to revealing that hint proved to be almost helpful. Lenn's story was a little plain, but not unexpected. Jacob had been the same way: small beginnings with a sprinkling of uniqueness. In this case, it was Lenn's fascination with guns. After the story, Yumi had to internally grapple with the desire to remember Lenn's college to do research later. Even Yumi knew that was too much, and that maybe she was just being too hard on Lenn. Maybe whatever tension she felt toward Lenn was just... typical. A current lover and ex-wife of the same man being together was bound to cause friction. Yumi hated for that to be the case, but that just might have been it.

"I would never call the story of your life 'boring', Lenn. It's your own story, unique to you and informs your current self in ways that I cannot imagine. At least I know now that you have some proper training with the firearms you handle."

When asked a similar question in return, Yumi sat up a little straighter(somehow) and put her tea down so that she might retrieve a business card to hand to Lenn. It was a high quality card stock with her full name "Yumi Miki" embossed on it above the same "Miki Con".

"I am the protege of my father, Suzaku Miki, the current head and CEO of the Miki Conglomerate, a Japan-based multi-national corporation specializing in the manufacture and distribution of top model electronics, and leading the world in robotics research."

Yumi's speech sounded practiced and carried weight. It was the same introduction she had to give to rooms of powerful people in powerful suits. Her voice returned to its softer tone afterward.

"Before Jacob, I was born and raised in Gunma, Kanto. My family had already had an established there with the business so, as you can expect, I was raised in both affluence and seclusion. I am not unaware of how that makes me seem to other people.

I was expected to take over my father's position, so I was taught everything academic about the business of business and how to conduct myself in and out of boardrooms. And this was all before I even graduated high school. Suffice it to say, I was knowledgeable but naive.

That's when I met Jacob. For the life of me I don't know how he got into the same private school as me. But we met on a school outing to an aquarium. He was nice and something about him struck something in me."

Yumi took a gentle sip of her tea.

"Then he fucked me against the starfish tank."

JioJio · Dec 20, 2015

It was kind of difficult to tell what Yumi was thinking. Jacob was an open book, but her? There was absolutely nothing. Well, she took that back. Lenn suspected that Yumi was suspicious...But there wasn't anything to be suspicious of! Sort of. Not really, but Yumi just wouldn't understand. No, nobody would ever understand her-- nobody but Jacob and she was grateful that he didn't just get up from the park bench and leave. Yumi looked like she took in her story well and Lenn was hoping that she wasn't the type of person to do a full background check after they left the tea house. No big deal...S'not loike she has those kind of connections... Nah.

Then a card materialized in Yumi's hand and she presented it perfectly as if she had
done this many times. Even the card was in it's own class with it's intricate gold script. "Miki...Con..." She muttered. That company name...It sounded so familiar...

Suddenly, the room exploded into thousands of tiny pieces-- Actually, that was just her attempting to wrap her head around the whole situation. Yumi was... a part of that company? She was the god damn protege of that? The CEO was no other than her father? Lenn had heard of this company alright. In fact, she knew who exactly was up there in the chain of command by heart. There were people out there who wanted this particular company's assets. From well known criminals to even agents from other countries who would do anything to get their hands on such intel. After several months of attempts, each and every one of them failed. They were professionals; she had to give them credit for giving her such a hard time. It was times like these where she was thankful that her old self was extremely careful about anyone discovering her identity. It sure did pay off this time considering that Suzaku Miki was the very one that employed her in the first place.

This is...Serendipitous.

She didn't hide her surprise though. Being too bland about the whole situation could possibly make Yumi even more suspicious and probably offended if Lenn didn't show some kind of emotion. Still with the old ties aside, being apart of a really big company like that sounded pretty cool. She was raised in a good home, was taught a certain set of skills, and was an extremely educated woman. She had a really good life as far as Lenn was concerned. Then she mentioned how she and Jacob met. "Wow, thas' pretty amazin'," In all seriousness, "An that sounds realleh nice..." and romantic. Lenn had never been in an aquarium before. She briefly debated on asking Jacob whenever Chiru and Yumi went back home and drank her tea just as Yumi did.

"Then he fucked me against the starfish tank."

PFFFFHHH--

In mid-drink, the tea decided that it wanted completely out of this conversation and went down the wrong pipe. By the grace of god or whoever was out there watching out for her, Lenn managed not to spit her tea all over yumi and went into a fit of coughs instead. She set the tea down, cursing everything in the world and the tea for being too hot in this situation. " OH..." cough. "WELL...THAT..." The gunslinger finally managed to regain her bearings and wiped the tears from her eyes. "That's...a loveleh story...." What...What else was she supposed to say to that?! So much fer aquariums...can't eva' look at stahfishes eva' again...

Finally, the refreshments arrived. Finally. Jesus christ this woman was so forward. Now she knew where Chiru got that kind of personality from. The host set down the refreshments and bowed before she ducked out, leaving Lenn to figure out which was what on the tray. Lenn wound up picking up a small, squishy pink bun. It got powder all over her fingers and was a little sticky too. " So...Wot made you two..." she sniffed the bun. It had a faint sweet smell. "Separate? If...You don' moind me askin'," After much contemplation, she bit into the little treat. A hint of strawberry...and some red paste in the middle. She frowned, not knowing what to make of this mystery snack.

Critical · Dec 21, 2015

Lenn's surprise was taken as the usual kind of surprise that Yumi encountered when people were told that she was next in line to run one of the biggest corporations in the world. Yumi used to experience an amount of smug satisfaction at the reaction, but her etiquette training had all but erased that from her. Now she experienced the mild pride of other people knowing how important she was, and how powerful she was going to be.

She did not, however, suspect anything even close to the fact that Lenn used to have previously dealings with Miki Con and even Suzaku himself. Suzaku and only few select other people knew of Lenn's involvement, and she was not the only one employed to such a position. Powerful people like Suzaku inevitably make enemies, either directly through their actions or indirectly through the envy they generate. He needed protection and mitigation measures like Lenn to protect himself and the company. It was still up in the air whether or not Yumi would ever learn of that particular line in the company ledger.

Yumi did have feelings about Lenn's reaction to the other thing though. While Lenn was busy coughing her lungs up in shock, Yumi cracked a bemused smile. There was no mistaking that she took some amount of pleasure in getting Lenn all flustered. The smile was quickly taken away, as it was too shameful to seem so pleased at Lenn's suffering, and she calmly passed Lenn a handkerchief.

"Yes. Lovely. Shameful too. Thrilling. A charmingly embarrassing moment on my part. I knew him for maybe less than ninety minutes before I gave him my virginity. Which sums up just about everything regarding Jacob during that period of time."

The refreshments arrived right on time, as usual. Lenn was allowed first pick, and Yumi left her to figure out what each treat was supposed to be. Again, it was amusing. Lenn was like a small child encountering new food for the first time. The tiny devilish smile was becoming harder to conceal as Yumi picked out some sushi for herself.

She did quirk an eyebrow at Lenn's next inquiry. It was a bold and probing question, and not quite tactful in any situation. But she asked it so confidently, and Yumi had to acknowledge that.

"Quite the question, Lenn. Normally it would not be for polite conversation. But considering I already dropped our 'unconventional' how-we-met moment on you, I suppose I owe it to you."

Between the way she popped the sushi into her mouth, and the way her shoulders relaxed more, it seemed Yumi was getting used to Lenn.

"Let me preface this by saying that Jacob is by no means a 'bad man'. He's always been kind and thoughtful and a loving person. However, ever since he bent me over in front of those starfish, he's been... Lets say too loving sometimes.

Not to say he cheats or sleeps around--not anymore anyway--but he has this rather annoying habit of getting close to people, women. Very close. In his efforts to help people, he often treads into flirting and intimacy territory, whether he means to or not.

At first, it was simply annoying. But it kept happening, even after Chiru was born. I would not have that. The man can give his love to whomever he wants, but I needed to not feel like he was going to start inviting random women to live with us because he wanted to take care of them or somesuch."

Yumi tried to sound objective about the separation, and she did a mostly admirable job. But there were hints of bitterness towards the end, and even she realized that.

"I apologize. I'm making him sound like more of a monster than he is. He was just frustrating. I don't know how he is now, but commitment did not seem to be his priority with me."

She needed a moment to shake the feelings from herself, with the help of tea.

"... Okay. That's that. Now, in fairness, I wish to know about how YOU and Jacob met. I must admit that your previous explanation left much to be desired. Tell me, how does a young woman like yourself fall-in with a divorced man in his forties with a daughter?"

JioJio · Jan 5, 2016

Whoops. Seemed like Lenn unknowingly tread into delicate territory with that rather...blunt question. Now that she thought about it, questions like that probably weren't the best to talk about. Despite Lenn's unintentional rudeness, Yumi took it like a champ and washed down her discomfort with a piece of fresh sushi. Shoulders relaxed, her posture not so stiff...It was safe to say that Yumi was slowly getting used to Lenn's presence. Such subtle signs were easy to spot and that too put Lenn at ease. At least she didn't feel like she was stuck in an elaborate interrogation room.

Lenn decided to follow Yumi into the sushi selection as she delved into the sensitive subject of why the two parted ways. The California rolls were obvious. Lenn knew what those were, but one of the pieces caught her eye; one that was wrapped in seaweed. The topping over the small patch of rice were filled with orange-like pearls. Down the hatch it went and-- Ohhh...wot? The pearls burst and the rich brine spilled onto her tongue. It sure as hell wasn't what she expected, but everything seemed to come together. Not bad.

Of course, Lenn kept up with Yumi as she spoke. It sounded a lot like...what Chiru was saying at the range. Not exactly a sleaze or a bad person, but... Lenn could understand why there was that subtle hint of bitterness as the woman spoke. She couldn't blame her. From what Lenn learned about being in a relationship, it was a lot like having a partner on the job. It was trust that kept people together. Whatever happened between them, it seemed like Jacob had unknowingly broke it. The man was probably one of the most innocent people Lenn had ever met and when she defined him as innocent, it meant that Jacob had never done anything as bad as she did. Well, there was that time...But neither of them spoke about it. It wasn't his fault anyway...It was mine.

Yumi did a good job of ending the whole story without her sounding like the angry, bitter ex-wife. In fact, Lenn had to hand it to the woman for being so...calm about it. Normally people had a hell of a lot more to say about the people they used to be with in the past...Not like she had much friends with that sort of problem back in the day, but wiretaps made things interesting. "N-No, it's alroight, oy' undastand..." She let Yumi have a moment, "Prolly' shouldn't hav' asked that anywai..." which was an odd way of saying 'sorry' as she scratched the back of her head.

Suddenly it was Yumi's turn to 'retaliate' and she did so with a vengeance as she fished for further details of that blurry night. Geez, the way she put all of that... What was wrong with a divorced man in his forties who had a kid?

...

Okay. She could see that as being 'odd' to most people. Lenn looked incredibly young, but that was only because that's what her body wanted...Or so it felt like anyway. The years had gone by so fast, she didn't keep up with the times...Or her own birthday and eventually her age.

But really, what could she say? Maybe honesty was going to be the best solution. Well, at least some of it anyway.

"Ahah...Well...Honestly, all of that doesn't matta' to me. Oy' didn' even kno how old 'e wos until he told me lata'," Either that or that was his second time telling her. "Anywai...Oy' came to this oyland 'bout almos' two years ago. A week into it, oy' decoided to visit the noightclub fer some drinks an' getting to know people..." A pause. "Well, at leas' the drinks were good. Not much of a danca'. Jacob spotted me from across the room an had a sit. Ended up talkin' an' drinkin' fer hours...Wos' realleh noice. Ended up goin' to his place annnd..." she shrugged innocently, "Oy' fell asleep." she let that sink in..."Woot? I'm tellin' ya, oy' drank to much and passed out in es' bed! No funny business eoitha. HAHA!" snort. " Oy'm not tha' koind of girl unda normal circumstances, but oy' woke up an' th' bloke was fast asleep on the couch and oy' was untouched. Er...Well, oy' thought we did do something—" the color in her cheeks began to darken while she rambled. " An' oy' got all embarrassed an' legged it out of 'is apartment. Ended up forgettin' moi phone and went to pick it up woile he was workin'..."

Flustered... My god she was flustered. Her eyes darted back to the sushi platter and jesuschristsheneededtodosomething. There was a small serving of some green paste in a dish that Lenn assumed was ice cream. Why anyone would put ice cream with sushi, she didn't know, but she didn't question. Lenn grabbed up the spoon, took a generous scoop of it and shoveled it into her mouth.

About three seconds into it, she grimaced hard

"An...ggghkk...Thas'...How...We went.." Oh god this is horrible. "On oura'...firs'...date...nngh..." it wasn't the spice that was killing her. It was the disgusting bitter taste of the 'ice cream' that really got to her. Who eats this crapohmygod--

Suddenly, the doors swung open and a large man in a suit poked his head in. He practically filled the doorway with both height and mass. His black hair was slicked back and his chiseled face brightened with positive energy and hospitality. "Is everything okay in here with you la--" His beady eyes had a double take on the former mercenary who made a rather amusing face as if she had just eaten a pile of shit and only now realized it. "Ohoh! Lenn?! Is that you?!"

Lenn paused in her moment of disgust and eyes widened at the sight of the large Ryunosuke like a deer caught in headlights. Ryunosuke Kodama; a mean sonova bitch. What was he doing here?! Oh...Shit.

Critical · Jan 7, 2016

All things considered, Yumi was more or less fine with sharing her side of the story regarding the divorce. The separation itself had been subdued and without any major confrontation, which was good, and enough time had passed that most of the sting had dulled. Like Jacob, she was not one to just openly share the ordeal without inquiry, for rather obvious reasons. But when asked, she could maintain enough of her composure to give a straight-forward account from her perspective. It was a situation in which her professional business training could be applied to her personal life.

Yumi had more important things to keep her mind occupied as Lenn set about recounting her own personal story with Jacob. The sharing of stories regarding one man felt a little gossip-y for Yumi, but she would be lying if she said she was not curious. How much had Jacob changed? Did he act differently for a different woman? It was like getting a third party opinion on a product or issue.

"Hm. Not too surprising, I suppose. Jacob hasn't looked his age for over a decade now."

It was a "condition" that they both shared, and it was a double-edged sword. On one hand, it contributed to the friction in their relationship when it came to other women. On the other, since they both looked young, Yumi and Jacob were perceived as a young "power couple". It gave Yumi a little bit of an edge whenever she invited clients and business partners over to her home for meetings or dinner. The two of them were quite intimidating to the older suits.

The first parts of Lenn's story checked-out in Yumi's mind. Jacob at a nightclub was odd, but not out of the realm of impossibility. Him taking her home after a few drinks was totally expected. It was then that Yumi narrowed her eyes slightly.

"No funny business, huh? Hm."

Something about that part, fairly or otherwise, tripped a minor alarm in her head. She could see Jacob fooling around with Lenn after drinks, and she could also see him doing the noble thing too. She could also imagine Lenn covering Jacob as well. So what was the truth, and who was telling it? That was tricky to discern.

"That seems... subdued for Jacob. Perhaps my own first encounter with him has just colored my perceptions of him. I don't suppose anything else happened after you went to visit him a second tim--"

Yumi was cut short when Lenn, for whatever reason, went to take a bit of wasabi paste. She was stunned, confused and a little mortified. Was Lenn just... that kind of person? It seemed not to be so, because she immediately started making a face. Now Yumi had no idea what to think of Lenn, and she just stared confused and concerned.

"Lenn? W-What was that about? Wasabi?"

As if things could not have become weirder, they were paid a visit by the general manager of the Manta Carlos Chashitsu. Such an appearance was not uncommon, as the GM of any good Chashitsu would make sure to give every high profile guest his personal attention. But it was the fact that he knew Lenn personally that got a raised eyebrow from Yumi. Only people like Yumi would know the GMs on a personal basis, such was the nature of powerful business life. People like Lenn were simply customers, nothing more. Unless Lenn was something more.

"Ahem. Mister General Manager..."

Yumi stood up tall and straight on her feet, facing the GM. She was in business mode again.

"... Yumi Miki, a regular of this business, if not necessarily this particular establishment. First, let me say that the refreshments are exquisite as always. Secondly, I am... surprised to see that this Chashitsu has opened its doors to regular city folk... Like Lenn. How do you manage that?"

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Tea Date [Yumi X Lenn]

JioJio

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