Tempting the Billionaire Read online

  “Come sit with me and relax.”

  “I really can’t.”

  “As your mother, I’m not asking you – I’m telling you. Join me and don’t make me get your father in here.”

  “Yes ma’am,” he said heavily. His father always claimed to be in charge, but Aaron knew who truly was – his mother. That is why he had an American first name. His mother had put her foot down and they’d compromised. His middle name was Japanese, and his mother got her way. It was not the first time over the years either. She was the one that helped him get the computer when he’d argued with his father… but he’d only found that out later.

  Aaron followed his mother’s tiny form out to the private terrace that overlooked the hot springs. He could feel the peacefulness around him and wished he could find some himself. His project couldn’t wait though, but he also knew better than to argue with the woman who gave birth to him. He breathed the heavy scent of the thick salty air. Listening, he heard the faint sounds of surf nearby echoing in his ears.

  “Sit with me,” she prompted again as she got onto her knees on the zabuton, patting the pillow next to her. Aaron knelt down and took his seat, his knees almost pushing through the worn pillow. Looking down, he saw it was the one his father almost always used, and he almost got back up. She laid a hand on his forearm and stared serenely ahead.

  “Breathe and listen. The answers you need will come, Aaron, if you open your mind and let them in. Don’t fight so hard, but rather come to a happy medium. It will give you such peace, son.”

  Aaron looked ahead and saw the cherry trees were blossoming. Large branches hung over the steaming waters, making it look ethereal. Clusters of sakura flowers were thick on each limb, and he understood why people came from all over to see the blooms. They were lovely and he idly wondered what JemC was doing at this moment.

  Hearing a thump next to him, he glanced to his right and saw his father had tossed a zabuton next to him. He was kneeling down beside Aaron and his mother. His father’s hardened, weathered face, stared straight ahead just moments before he shut his eyes in meditation.

  Aaron looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. It had been a long time since the three of them had sat there simply listening to the world around them in meditation or prayer. This was something his parents did as if they were in touch with the history and environment of the area. Closing his eyes, Aaron sat back on his knees and relaxed his body, allowing his mind to wander.

  “Change is hard sometimes,” his father said quietly, breaking the stillness. Aaron’s eyes shot open as he remembered he was using his father’s zabuton pillow to sit on.

  “My apologies, father. Let me give you your zabuton.”

  “Keep it. Change is hard… but so is the floor. This zabuton is actually a bit more comfortable for my old knees.”

  Looking at him in confusion, Aaron tried to understand what he was trying to convey without actually saying it. All his life there had been hidden meanings or messages to his words when he spoke to him as a boy. His father’s eye cracked open and met Aaron’s, before he closed them again.

  “You look at me like I’ve confused you, son.”

  “I am confused. You don’t like change at all. Everything is the same here, including the zabutons. Nothing changes in our home, absolutely nothing.” Everything had been the same since he was a boy, except for the computer and phone line. The house had very few modern conveniences and he truly preferred the hotel portion due to the ‘contemporary’ kitchen that had been installed back in the late seventies. That was the most modern change that had happened to the property.

  “Listen to the world around you, Aaron,” his mother interrupted. “If you quit fighting everything you will find that we all aren’t so different. We all search for peace and tranquility in this world. A nest, if you will, my little bird. Everyone has wants and dreams – but you have to find balance too. This is where we find our balance, your father and me. You can find your balance here too in your roots. Instead of looking at your home as a prison, look at it like a haven… and allow it to become one for you.”

  “Your mother is as wise as she is beautiful,” his father said softly, facing forwards and still like a statue. “You would do well to listen to her. I certainly do.”

  Aaron closed his eyes once again, his mind racing and heart thumping at the words his parents spoke. What did it all mean? Could he have the best of both worlds, both modern and new? Were they accepting of the fact that he felt drawn to modern things, but so long as he rooted himself in tradition, it was okay?

  He felt the warmth of the sun against his skin and felt a breeze ruffle his short hair. He knew he’d disappointed his father when he’d cut off his hair. There were several things that he was certain had struck a chord in his parents – but they’d not said a word. Listening to the waves, he noticed a pattern in the sounds of the surf. The harmony of the birds singing and the distant piercing call in the background, noises that blended in his soul and mind, made him feel a comfort well up from deep inside his soul.

  The programming needed to have a way to reset just as he needed to. His system needed to have a silent reboot without shutting down in order to function like it needed to. Was there a way to create a haven inside the computer’s frame that would effectively put it at ease without taxing the hard drive or operating system?

  Aaron sat there for some time just listening and thinking. He’d found a way to find a balance in his world – and his family finally seemed to understand the need that drove him. He wasn’t even aware that his parents had gotten up and left him there to meditate. He was lost in thought, in his own private world, dreaming of a way to create a new one… artificially.

  Chapter 6

  2010

  Jemma was shuffling through papers and kept glancing at her laptop to see if she’d gotten any messages from Achoo. He’d been offline for the past week and it was getting a bit annoying. Every time she turned around he was busy or unavailable to talk long. There were times where she’d been fast asleep and he would send her several messages that went unnoticed for several hours. It had to be frustrating for both of them.

  She missed her friend.

  Things were so busy and hectic at work. Jemma had done really well for herself since quitting and starting her own marketing company. She called it Temptations Marketing – building the wants and needs of the world. It was a shameless plug at her favorite cartoon as a child, but with the play on words that could drive her to the next level. That is what her team did… they created ads that made you want to click on the page to learn more about a product.

  She was extremely driven and had an uncanny knack for it. Things were going so well that they had twenty clients all vying for a new marketing platform. The work was speaking for itself, and that was saying something.

  She’d opened an office here in Bloomington, Indiana – refusing to leave her home town. That was part of the charm; she knew what worked for her and could do most everything online. She’d had her old Gateway monitor refurbished into a fish tank, unable to part with her first love and what introduced her to the world online. Her desk had several photographs of her and her parents over the years, as they had always supported her – even through her weird moments.

  In fact, all of her marketing seemed to blend the old and the new, centering around family and the ‘why’ of what we do. There was always a driving force for everything and it tended to work better when people made emotional purchases. If it was based off functionality or need-based, sure they would bite… but when it was emotional – you reached the soul.

  Which was why she’d named her company Temptations. The anime cartoon had reached her soul and sparked a fire inside of her that still burned brightly. Her old books had fallen apart over the years, so she’d taken the covers and had them framed professionally. Her VHS tapes were brittle but in plastic cases at home on her mantle. She even had her action figures still on cards and in a plastic box located in her clos
et. These were things that she’d never part with – they were essential to her and who she now was.

  The chat room where she’d met Achoo and others wasn’t frequented often at all, but she still kept in touch with her friends through social media. The internet was connecting the entire world it seemed. It was comical to see that Muddywtr was actually a fifty-two-year-old fireman in upper New York state.

  Online he’d been the leader of their chat group and quite pushy at times, now she could see why. He was the chief and others depended on his decisions to get out alive. He had no idea that he’d been playing online with teenagers at the time, making him very uncomfortable when they’d friended each other on Twitter and Facebook.

  There was a Facebook page for Tempting the Stars that garnered hundreds and hundreds of members – including seventy with the first name of Aaron. Not that she had looked… and conveniently, none were from Japan.

  She’d created a Facebook business page for her marketing business and tried her best to keep it separate from anything else. She’d once had her user ID online just in case Achoo happened to get on Facebook… but when someone had messaged her asking about her company and if she did the marketing for the show, she’d taken the user ID down immediately. Now she was only Jemma Hastings, CEO of Temptations Marketing… JemC1995 was a beloved shadow in her past, just like her bleached tips or her purple hair.

  The world was changing and Jemma was changing with it… but where was Achoo? That question would plague her for a while longer. They seemed to keep missing each other, or he was keeping strange hours. She always had her laptop with her and never seemed far from a computer… but he wasn’t online as much anymore. Sending him a message, she hoped that he understood what she couldn’t say aloud.

  Achoo, is everything alright? I keep missing you and hope you are taking care of yourself. What is your email address? Maybe if we keep missing each other online, we can communicate another way? My personal email is the same as my user name – shout when you can, friend. Don’t be a stranger – I miss chatting with you.

  Jemma’s cell phone rang and she clicked send in a hurry. Slipping her laptop in her briefcase, she smiled. She was trying a new dating system in order to try and meet someone. She was lonely and according to her parents, there was more to the world than just living online.

  They knew that her best friend lived in Japan and she chatted with him often. They also gave her the pep-talk about strangers online again and again, so she’d stopped mentioning him at home. So far, she preferred her friend online more than any stranger she’d met through the dating service, but was always up for trying one more time. Someday, something would have to change according to her mother – or Jemma would be an old maid with no grandchildren for them to enjoy.

  Today would not be that day.

  As Jemma got home that evening, she disabled her dating account in absolute disgust. Tonight’s date had been a man fifteen years older than he’d said online- with a photo of his best friend. He had four children, with four different women, and was looking for a girl who liked to have fun. He’d lied, schemed, and made her feel unclean as he’d leered at her over dinner. Jemma absolutely detested liars and cheats. Her initial thought had been to get up and leave the table, but deep in her heart she prayed that maybe there was more to him and this was all one huge misunderstanding.

  Nope.

  She was desperately looking for a friend and soulmate, someone that could share her life, but had yet to find him. It was mentally debilitating to go on date after date, failure after failure, only to make you wonder if something was wrong with you, not them. Was she so very picky? So unforgiving? Should she settle for less? Right now, all she wanted was a glass of wine to wash away her anxiety… and to chat with her friend, Achoo.

  “Mother, please don’t ever do this again,” Aaron bit out tightly, causing his father to frown deeply at him. He knew that he had a tone to his voice, but his parents weren’t listening to him- at all. “I’m sorry, but this is humiliating to be set up on blind dates by your parents all of the time.”

  “You never come out of your room unless it’s to eat something,” she protested vehemently. “Your father and I want grandchildren someday – and you need to meet a nice girl with traditional values to ground you.”

  “Ground me?” Aaron gaped in shock. “Mother, Father – you know that I want to make you both happy, but setting me up with ‘good traditional girls’ isn’t going to do that. When I am ready for a relationship, I will let you know. I will even bring her here so you can meet her.”

  “Do you promise?” she preened immediately, clasping her hands happily on her chest. His father simply stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. He hated that smug, judgmental stance sometimes.

  “Of course, I promise!”

  “Don’t raise your voice at your mother, Aaron.”

  “My apologies Father… Mother, I’m sorry I raised my voice.” He felt instantly chagrinned at the disappointment on her face. His parents had a way of making him feel so defensive about what he truly wanted. He felt like he was in the wrong or that he was a young boy again… instead of the man he was becoming.

  “We just want what’s best for you, Aaron.”

  “I know that. I really do. You’ve both given me space to work on my business and my projects. You’ve never questioned what I am doing when I order in wires, discs, and drives. You support me and love me unconditionally – and I appreciate it… but I will find my own girlfriend when I am ready.”

  “We could have a nice dinner event and bring your father’s friends over – several of them have daughters that could…”

  “Mother… no.”

  Aaron could see the slump in her posture. Both his parents were getting older and the next step, according to them, was for him to marry and have children. He was surprised they weren’t bringing up the hotel again, and was sure that would be next on their list soon.

  He didn’t have the heart to tell them that A. I. was finally taking off and he would be moving his business to an office building in Kyoto. He needed more staff to keep up with the demands, and had perfected a system that finally listened… even if he didn’t, according to his parents.

  Chapter 7

  November 2013

  Jemma was heading back home to Bloomington from a marketing conference in Chicago. Her business was finally starting to take off and she was hitting her stride. The conference had been more successful than she’d ever imagined, signing two more companies to represent. This brought her total client count up to twenty-seven, which was a healthy, stout number for her since she started with only one. Having that many clients would eat up the remainder of her free time and she would have to start looking at bringing on someone to help her out. There was a girl there that she’d exchanged business cards with that seemed extremely sharp; perhaps she would reach out to her?

  It was nearing Thanksgiving and she was glad to be heading home for the holiday. Even though most places were closed for the holiday, since her mother was cooking, Jemma figured she would use the day to get some work finished before showing up to eat. She would thaw out a mincemeat pie and cook it so that way she participated and brought something to the table. That was one thing her mother always said – bring something that adds to the moment, even if its food. She’d stopped going to the gym to keep the weight off, instead investing in a treadmill, so that way she could keep the bloat off her tummy that came with over-eating when she had dinner over at her parents’ house.

  Glancing up at traffic changing lanes ahead of her, she thought of Achoo and wondered what he was up to. It had been about a week since they last chatted and she knew he was super frustrated with his parents setting him up on dates. She would be too! He was a grown man and simply needed to get out and meet someone- she’d told him as much too. It was the same talk she got from her parents. Those who can’t do- teach! she thought wryly and honked at the car that cut her off.

  It was bitterly cold ou
tside and she was heartily sick of scraping her windshield already. Her little Jetta had over 200,000 miles on it and kept puttering along like a champ. Jemma simply ignored the check engine light that was always on because she needed exhaust work. Someday when she wasn’t paying student loans or trying to scrape together money for business suits, maybe she’d get that fixed.

  Glancing up, she saw the car in front came to an immediate stop, slamming on his brakes. Jemma mashed on her brakes, feeling the anti-lock brakes pulsate under her foot as the car rushed to stop. The mist was freezing on the car and there was slush on the pavement, causing her to slide right into the other car. Everything happened so fast. She saw the airbag open in slow motion as it burst from the steering wheel, and then everything sped up in a rush. She didn’t remember hitting the airbag, nor the pop that must have sounded. Her seatbelt yanked her back into the driver’s seat as she sat there stunned and in shock. The entire contents of her purse lay all over the passenger side floorboard – including her cell phone.

  Was anything broken? she thought in a daze, and heard someone knocking on her window. Looking over, she saw a tall man standing there and a woman pulling on the handle. Was it even safe to open the door? Her parents had always cautioned her about strangers but right now- she needed them.

  “Help me,” she said, and her voice sounded odd.

  “Unlock the door, lady.”

  “I’m trying,” she mumbled and her body ached to reach for the little button in the door. She was at least two hours from home and didn’t have time for this. Were her business cards still in the case or among the fast food wrappers on the floor? Jemma heard glass breaking and saw the ambulance driver’s face.

  “Miss, are you alright?”

  “Head hurts.”