New Beginnings: Stories from Beauville

Chapter 12-3

Hae-in

“Mr. Wook.” I look up to see Vivian staring at me from the office doorway. She looks hesitant.

“Yes, what can I do for you?”

With a bright smile on her face, I watch as she walks in and takes a seat across from me at the table. “You know India and Anna?”

Hearing India’s name makes me smile. “Yes, I worked with Anna in the past during a photoshoot. As for Ms. Danvers, I’m in the process of what I hope is something new.”

Clearly, this isn’t something Vivian wants to hear, and I can tell right away from her facial expression. “I’d be careful of those two. They are bound to cause you trouble. And trouble for the hotel as well.”

This has me folding my arms across my chest. “I don’t see how. Seeing as I’ve seen the proposal. I even shared it with my uncle and we both agree the business relationship will be lucrative.”

“Well, know that I warned you.”

I sit forward. I don’t care for Vivian. I even warned my uncle about her. A snake comes to mind when I have to speak to her over the phone. Venomous at that. She’s canny and very unpredictable. Her last visit to Korea, she attempted to hit on not only me but my brother Kai as well. If it were any other type of situation, I may have fooled around with her for a spell, but she’s married. And carrying on in the way she was is shameful. I’m about to say something to her when my brother interrupts by clearing his throat.

“What are you doing here?” I ask. I didn’t think he’d be here so soon. Did he call me from the plane?

“I told you, I was coming to the States.”

Right. India. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something is weird about the amount of attention he’s trying to give her.

“Your room may not be ready yet.”

“It’s ready.”

“I see.”

Vivian takes the moment to interrupt our conversation. “Kai, it’s good to see you again.” She stands to give Kai a hug, and like he always does, he accepts her contact. It took me a while to adjust to skinship with everyone. Western etiquette was met with physical contact. Back home we bowed, and sometimes shook hands. I hugged my mother all the time, managed more than all right with acting, but coworkers, and even somewhat close family friends I wasn’t okay with it. Unless it’s India. My brother did an internship in the States and came back hugging everyone. It took him a while to get back to what was considered the norm. My time spent in the Special Forces unit when I was in the military made me colder. Every emotion, every feeling, wiped clean. An enemy could read body language, and if you allowed them to get close to you, could tell your tales. But with India, I had no problem with touching, hugging, or even kissing her. I like the warmth she emanates. I’m flustered and useless in her presence. There are moments when I remind myself to breathe when I’m around her. She hasn’t noticed, or I’m that good at hiding it, but either way, being next to her is the best form of energy. It’s not like she’s my first crush, or even the first woman I’ve kissed. I had no problem with relationships, they lacked true intimacy and it was for a reason. I never got too close to anyone because I never knew what the coming months would look like with my schedule. My life was not my own currently. I had promises to keep, and an appearance to keep up. For India, I’d give it all up.

“Kai, you give the best hugs.” My brother gives Vivian a warm smile before stepping back.

“It’s good to see you too, Vivian. I hope you are staying out of trouble. How is your daughter doing? How is your husband?”

“I’m in the middle of a divorce, and Ava is good. She’s with her father and stepmother, which is where she wants to be. I can’t complain.”

“I wasn’t aware you were in the middle of a divorce.”

“No one knows, well except for the two of you.”

Vivian turns and looks in my direction and I can tell from the smirk on her face, and the nasty gleam in her eye, she wants to cause trouble.

“Vivian, I find it hard to believe that you can’t keep a man. Your husband must have been the problem,” Kai comments, pulling his phone from his pocket.

“They can’t seem to keep up with me.” Vivian strokes Kai’s left shoulder and I almost laugh at her blatant demeanor. She is worse than his fiancée. Maybe the two of them are better suited.

“I have plans later tonight. So, I will excuse myself first,” I say, trying to make a clean getaway.

Vivian turns back to look at me. “Where are you off to? There isn’t much to do in town. I know a great restaurant outside the city, it’s closer to the river too.”

“No need. I promised India I’d meet her after work. We are going to a bar for drinks and have other plans that will take us well into tomorrow.”

I know I’m being tacky, but I want to make sure Kai understands I have no intention of allowing him to cause any disruptions in India’s life.

“That’s funny. I told Miss Danvers I would arrive to check on her.”

Vivian looks between the two of us. “You both know India?”

“Yes.”

“Yes.”

We answer at the same time.

“The women of Beauville sure know how to pull one over on the men they decide to play with. You know that India Danvers belongs to Finn and Sawyer Gaines, right? The twins? They even were going to have a baby, but she lost it right after birth. It’s a shame, you know. But how can a woman be so greedy and want to be with both men at the same time?” Vivian shakes her head, and then says, “Shameful.”

“What’s shameful, Vivian, is you. Trying to influence either of us to your side is quite pitiful and childish. I advise you to stick to what you know, and from what Ms. Park tells me, it isn’t much. You’re here because of who you know, not because of what you can do, and I can change that at any moment. Now if you two will excuse me I have other things more important than idle gossip.”

I stand, leaving them both in the room. I don’t make it halfway down the hall before Kai is next to me.

“I’d like to come with you tonight to see Miss Danvers.”

“I seriously doubt that is going to be doable. But I’ll let her know you’re here, and if she wants to invite you, I’m sure she will extend the invitation. Besides, I’m sure your fiancée wouldn’t want to know that you came to the other side of the globe to check up on your patient when you could have just video conferenced her.”

Kai has nothing to say. And why would he? I know I’m right and although Kai is in a matched marriage, it does not give him the right to attempt to mess around either. Something tells me he’s harboring feelings for India. Something I can’t allow. His mother matched him as a punishment for marrying Luan and then losing her and his child. My parents are ruthless in their dealings, and it was standard, but I mostly got the peaceful end of the deal, since I wasn’t the firstborn or even considered a second son. I am the black sheep of the family that others don’t take notice of.

“Why are you so worried about my treatment with India? Do you perhaps like her?”

“And if I do, that’s none of your business.”

“What if I told you, I liked her first?”

“I think you just did.”

“Father and Mother—”

“She’s not my mother,” I interrupt. “She’s yours. My mother lives in a house your father provided and has been sequestered away. My mother wouldn’t have an issue with me seeing India. While your mother would faint from the shock of it, and well, Father won’t accept a foreigner from his firstborn.”

Kai grits his teeth. “I’m not in love with my fiancée. And you’re being matched with Katerina, or did you forget?”

“Let me worry about the situation with Katerina. I never agreed to the match. And you’re not in love with India either. You’re just interested in her because she is different. I’ll admit, she has appeal, and for a foreigner, she’s beyond beautiful on the inside as well as the outside. But your parents won’t allow it, and you’re too self-centered to step out on your own and do your own thing, because you only care about what others think. To put things in better perspective for you,” I take a step closer. “She’s mine. Even if you saw her first, which you didn’t by the way. She’d still be mine.”

“You did not see her first.”

“Keep telling yourself that, hyung.”

Kai clears his throat. “You do care about what others think.”

“When have I ever? Father wanted me to go into the business and I didn’t. I went my own path, and I get it. Father tolerates me as I’m seen in a good light by the public. But I’d give it all up to have a chance with India, and I plan on doing just that. If you’re seriously here to treat her, then fine. But if you have any other plans, back off. I’m here now, and I don’t plan on leaving her side unless she tells me to.”