AllFreeNovel
Share Us
While the water runs over me, I think about everything that I want to say to ah gung. I need to ask for his help, but I know it is something he has been reluctant to speak about ever since I first brought it up. I have to get to New York. It is an expensive trip, and while I have been saving for a while now, I know I don’t have enough yet.
But how can I ask ah gung to help me when he knows the truth about why I really want to go there?
I scrub shampoo into my hair, enjoying the scent as it steams around me.
When I'm out of the shower, I spend a little tiny massaging Argan oil down the long strands of my hair. I blow-dry it halfway dry and then curl it up into a neat bun, securing it with my silver hairpin.
Ah gung stays close by. I’ll enjoy a morning walk and sort through my thoughts on the way there.
Ah gung’s housekeeper opens the doors and welcomes me in.
He bows his head and smiles, wishing me a good morning.
“Your ah gung is by the koi pond. "
“Thank you, Hikara.” I nod my head, smiling.
“Seraphina, how have you been enjoying your time now that you no longer have to study?”
Ah gung has his back to me, leaning over the koi pond, sprinkling flakes of fish food onto the surface of the water. He doesn't turn around when I step onto the stone pathway that leads toward him. “How did you know it was me, ah gung?”
“Ah gung knows these things.”
I stand next to him and slip my arm around his waist, looking down at the golden, yellow and white fish hungrily grabbing the food into their mouths. “Good morning.”
He wraps his arm around my shoulder.
“It seems we have lost one; it must be the neighbor’s cat again,” he mumbles, looking for his black and white koi.
“Ah gung, you can't blame the cat; he has not been back here since you threw him into the pond,” I chuckle, remembering the look of disgust on the cat’s face as he clawed his way out of the pond. “It might be a bird.”
“I’ll have Hikara look through the security footage. We can sort this out.”
Ah gung is not fond of cats.
I smile and shake my head. He finally turns to me and takes my shoulders in his hands. He looks me up and down, holding me at arm’s length.
“Well, despite being all grown up and ready to face the world, you look just the same. Beautiful as always.”
“Come on, I'm dying for a cup of tea.”
I slip my arm through his, and we walk toward the large outdoor decking where the chef is setting up our breakfast.
“Seraphina, of course, I want to see you, but I invite you here for another reason this morning. There is something I wanted to talk to you about.”
Do I tell him I also want to talk to him? Perhaps I should wait and find out what it is he wants to say first.
Ah gung takes his seat and I push his chair in behind him, then sit next to him, picking up the pot of fresh tea and pouring us each a cup.
I remain silent. It is the polite thing to do. He will say what he wants to say in his own time.
“You are finished at college now, and it is time for you to start your life,” he says, watching my face. “I'm an old man, and soon I want to stop working, but I want to hand over my business to someone I can trust. Someone strong and determined.”
My heart tightens in my chest.
“Seraphina, I want you to come and work with me. I want to teach you everything so that you can take over, and I can step back and relax in my later years.”
I don't want to take over his business. I have other plans.
