Song for the chapter Helium by Sia
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Fumiko's father diligently and gracefully descended the stairs fully aware of the intense atmosphere and took a seat at the table.
Fumiko immediately bowed to greet her father. She mouthed a respectful greeting in Japanese to which Jigi did not understand. The father ignored her daughter's greetings and presence with a grim and stoic expression.
Fumiko's father, Masashi Agawa, was an incredible influential figure in the Tech industry in France. Fumiko's father offered his daughter the best education to succeed him after his retirement.
He owned Masashi Co. Masahi and Laurel met when Laurel was twenty six and Masashi was thirty five. They initially met at a Tech event at Japan Sapporo. It was love at first glare.
Laurel Bülher was a very intelligent and independent young woman. She was a senior user experience designer at her workplace. She was on an Tech expedition in Sapporo, Japan, to look for potential staff for her job, BlogOn, when she wandered into the path of Masashi Agawa.
He was a very ambitious man equally ambitious as Laurel. He was in a heated argument with a staff of a show table. He was saying something in Japanese she couldn't understand.
With annoyance walked in Laurel direction and bumped her favourite hot coffee, mocha latte onto her white blouse, turning the pure white to a dirty beige colour.
Laurel was dressed professionally in a white blouse together with a blazer and a knee long black pencil skirt as well as black glossy heels.
Laurel hissed at the situation of the hot coffee slightly scalding her skin tracing her white lace brain her blouse. She clenched her fist trying to hold onto her irritation and the feeling of the drenched clothes seemingly clenched onto her skin.
Laurel cursed in German and started demanding compensation for her coffee. She had just bought this cup of coffee to notice how expensive it was.
Masashi ignored her and walked if pretty infuriated about his encounter with the show person. Laurel refused to give up and let it go, so she followed him.
"Junger Mann, du musst dich entschuldigen und deine Handlungen kompensieren." Laurel firmly said following closing behind him still speaking German. She was beyond furious.
Masashi kept mumbling something in Japanese, clearly not in the mood for Laurel antics. Laurel quickly moved to block Masashi's way. He could feel his left eye twitching.
"Lady, what do you want from me?" Masashi asked fed up. He stood tall arm crossed. Masashi was a very good looking man. He wore a vest over his white shirt with sleek black trousers and black Oxford.
They both stood in an alley staring intently at each other, neither of them were willing to back down from the challenge.
Masashi was intrigued and annoyed by Laurel at the same time so he said, " I apologise." He raised his hands to surrender for good measure.
Laurel grinned at her victory doing a little dance in her head. She gestured for him to continue and asked, "And my compensation?"
Masashi scoffed, " I basically saved you from that horrible thing you were about to drink as coffee."
Laurel raised her left eyebrow debatable unimpressed and responded, " My compensation."
Masashi sighed wondering why she even crossed paths with her. There was a full grin on Laurel's face as they walked off. Masashi took her to a nice cafe and bought her the mocha latte. They ended up chatting and the rest was history.
Jigi has never been this glad when Fumiko's mother joined the table shortly after unknowingly reducing the immense tension with her warm presence.
"I didn't know you would join us, Jigi." Fumiko's mother, Laurel, addressed Jigi with a smile. She wore a cozy brown floral dress with a white apron. She had her hair in a classy fish braid. Although she had worked all the day, there was not a strain on her apron.
"Fumiko invited me today." Jigi simply stated. They had all crossed and folded their legs at the table.
Fumiko's father gruff voice said suddenly, "That's very much expected. Nothing more." Jigi witnessed the deviant outgoing Fumiko succumb to silence, silenced and docile.
Jigi was stupefied. Jigi watched her friend feeble eat her meal. Fumiko felt like she was eating rubber. She could barely taste anything. All she wanted to do was to disappear and never return.
"This is a family dinner. We are here dine and make merry for lost times. Not quarrelling you two." Laurel intercepted the brewing quarrel.
They are in thick silence. The gulping and swallowing of the meal could even be heard.
"And who do we have here?" Masashi asked. Jigi stared at Fumiko's dad puzzled. She had just stated her name the reason for being there.
"Are you addressing me sir?" Jigi asked. Fumiko's father just stared at her until she cleared her throat and answered, "I'm Jigi. Fumiko's roommate. She invited me to come with her."
Still wanting her like a hawk, he said darkly, "And why would she invite you to a family dinner?" He emphasised on the word family.
Jigi had done nothing wrong however she just broke out in a cold sweat.
"Father, I invited her." Jigi stared at Fumiko having a stare down with her father. Fumiko knew what she was doing was considered disrespectful but she could careless now.
"Juniper dear, would you go get me like anything? You can help yourself." She pointed out. Jigi sighed and opted to use the bathroom instead. She had never so happy about her choice.
The moment she close the door a full agreement blew out in the dining hall. Jigi leaned against the bathroom door and clenched her fist against her chest.
Most of the agreement was in Japanese so Jigi didn't understand what was going on. But she could feel and tell the emotions and the struggle going on. She heard a father's disapproval, disappointment and anger.
A daughter's rebellion actions and words, earning for the freedom to choose. A mother's heartache for the struggle and the raft between her husband and her daughter.
Jigi sighed in a brief moment she thought of her family. She wondered the secret her mother held and never told her as well as the buried truths. There was a still silence and a sizzling chill surged through Jigi's spine.
She slowly cracked the door open and slowly made her way towards the dining area. Laurel and Fumiko stood in the middle of the dining room with Masashi missing.
Laurel was at the brink of tears but she held herself together and smiled at Jigi.
"Juniper honey! What took you so long?" She asked. Jigi was confused about her actions.
"Mama, we have to go. I enjoy seeing you again today. I would come visit more." Fumiko said hollowly grinning at her mother.
"But you didn't eat anything, Mein Kind.", her mother replied.
"We take it to go, Mama." Fumiko answered. Laurel nodded understandingly. Jigi just watched in sympathy and she held Laurel at the kitchen. She helped her quickly pack up stacks of meals enough to fill both Jigi's and Fumiko's arms.
Before the left the home of the Agawa's, Fumiko engulfed her mother in a hug with unspoken words and affection. They nodded at each and the duo departed.
"Are you going to tell me about it?" Jigi asked immediately after they were in a safe distance away from the house and out of earshot.
Fumiko mumbled, "Not now. I'll tell you when I'm ready." Jigi nodded understandably and the continued their journeys in silence, individually lost in their own thoughts.
The moment the made it back home at the apartment, Fumiko walked to the kitchen a placed the food on the counter and left straight to her room.
Jigi followed suit to the kitchen an left the food on the counter. She took out a dish, Papet Vaudois. Jigi would have utterly enjoyed the meal if she wasn't so upset about Fumiko's situation.
She cleaned after herself and reached into one of the cabinets and saw the box with her father recipe book. She pulled it out and she was a strange paper sticking out and pulled it out only for a key to fall out.
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Winter Bakery
ChickLit"Want to get out of here?" " I- I, my shift hasn't ended yet." She stuttered. "You really what yo go back in there?" Fumi asked raising her eyebrows. " Well..." Jigi strained the vowel sound. "Come on. It would be fun. I've been meaning of us to g...
