Queen of Love

Chapter 31

Bitterpillswerenever easy to swallow. Genevieve would know: she had tasted at least a hundred of them in her forty years on Earth.

Experience doesn’t mean shit in this case. She also didn’t know if it were a blessing or a curse to be in Japan while her life came crashing down. It was easier to ignore the press when she was in a place where the media was more likely to stand down in the face of defamation lawsuits. Genevieve’s team was also used to playing the game in Singapore and Taiwan. Yet this wasn’t a mild dating rumor that was as tasty as a plain cracker. This was her naked body plastered on the internet.

The videos and photos may have been removed from the major sites. The Japanese celebrity who was also hacked may have taken over the news. Neither of that mattered when Genevieve’s reputation had been sullied to hell and back.

Honestly, it was a testament to the current state of the economy that she had applicants to work at her lesbian bar. While Genevieve oversaw the remodel of Ladylike into Mango’s, her hospitality company put out feelers for talented women with bartending skills. Originally, her plan was to go straight to a local school in Tokyo and scout some raw talent, but that idea died once she realized everyone would recognize her. It’s difficult getting things together when your own face is working against you. She was tempted to conduct business under her Chinese name. Which would be a riot, since she never responded to it.

The all-male team remodeling the bar attempted to maintain professional distance, and as long as the head contractor was there, Genevieve could pretend nothing was amiss. Between drowning herself in studies to avoid the real world and upping her in-person lessons with Paulina, who now came straight to Genevieve’s apartment, she was skilled enough in Japanese to not only converse with her contractor, but to overhear most of the conversation around her.

Again, it was a blessing and a curse.

Her strongest tether to Japan was Aya, but with her caught up in the flack as well, Genevieve was far from relieved. Aya has suffered at work because of me. That was how Genevieve internalized it, once she realized Aya had done everything in her power to keep their private correspondence… private. It’s not her fault. It was those hackers, who turned out to be a cabal of young Korean teens who didn’t have anything better to do with their lives than pick the first major carrier in East Asia that had some vulnerabilities. Genevieve had generously contributed to a legal fund that would put the fear of God into the three teen boys who had ruined a few lives. Because it wasn’t just Genevieve or the other celebrity who had been dragged through the mud that month: every few days, news hit about this manager or that housewife hurting themselves because their affairs had been exposed. The news had gone from talking about who had been damaged and who had done it – and what were phone companies going to do to prevent this from happening in the future?

Yet people were people. It was all well and good for the CEO of Aya’s carrier to do a public apology on the evening news, but it didn’t save Genevieve’s reputation back home. Nor did it help Aya get back into her office.

“I’m going insane,” she confessed one afternoon, as she worked out of Genevieve’s kitchen. Across the counters were print-outs of residential rentals that had been dropped off at her apartment the evening before. Today, Aya was putting together more lists of what to show a client looking for a 3LDK to buy for his small family. “We don’t work on commission here, but I’m not used to being kept away from the action.” She clicked her pen against her cheek. Ever since she was booted from the office, she had worked in jeans, T-shirts, and the occasional pajama set she never bothered to change out of. “My subordinates are the ones rising in the ranks because they’re impressing the clients. I didn’t even know one of them knew how to say such fancy things in English! Then he calls me two days ago, asking me if I knew what a… I don’t even remember what it was called now. Because I had never heard of it before, and he was definitely holding it over my head. You ask me, I can kiss my promotion goodbye. Okada is going to get it before I do! Okada! I’ve been at Atsukatta for seven years more than him!”

Genevieve silently nodded. In her hand was a tablet showcasing the before and after pics of Mango’s. While everything was coming along nicely, she couldn’t bring herself to be excited. Not like she had been before. “I’m still banned from Paradise. Not that I was going there anytime soon, but it makes me worried… didn’t you say that a bunch of Singaporean interests had drummed up at your company? Where did Fiona Huang and Onkar Khan go? Don’t tell me that apartment you’re looking at is for Onkar.” Did he even have kids?

Aya winced. “Pretty sure they canceled. Fiona disappeared, and that Onkar guy ended up going to a competitor for his nice place in Shinjuku.”

“You’re kidding…” Aya’s company was losing work? People truly were fickle.

“Shou ga nai,” Aya said with a sigh.

Genevieve hesitated before asking. “What does that mean?”

“Hm? It’s what we say when there’s no helping something. Shikata ga nai means the same thing. It’s what I would say to my boss’s face.” Aya scrunched her brows. “Not that he’s showing up anywhere around me. Hmph. Pretty sure he saw the photos. Including of me.”

“Nothing can be done, huh?” Genevieve lowered her tablet to her lap. “Your boss saw the pictures? Of you? Aren’t you mortified?”

“Of course I’m embarrassed, but what can I do? It’s like I told you, Genny. We can’t let reality get to us. There’s no sense in me stewing in it. What’s in my control is doing my job well. What’s in your control is getting your bar launched and opened. It’s coming along, right?”

Although Genevieve nodded, her mind was already elsewhere. Sometimes, the way she talks drives me crazy. It was easier for Aya to stand in the face of this adversity when she didn’t have as much to lose. Nor was that video of her touching herself in a private nightclub! Isn’t that what I keep coming back to? While Genevieve didn’t resent Aya for her part in this debacle, it wasn’t the same. Nothing was.

Even their relationship had suffered since the hack. What had been a blissful honeymoon period was now haunted by reality. Genevieve wasn’t ready for this yet. It’s too soon to put all of this to the test. As much as she wished they could escape to a tropical island and pretend none of this was happening, that wasn’t practical. Not with so much reality on their plates.

If they could escape… did Genevieve want to leave with Aya?

“Yes,” is the correct answer. Genevieve knew that in her heart, but her mind had other thoughts. As much as she adored Aya – or so she kept telling herself late in the night while they slept side by side – she had difficulties relating to how nonchalantly she took the hack once everything was out in the open. For one thing, Genevieve still held fast to stereotypes about Japanese people, let alone women. Shouldn’t she be freaking out as much as I am? Isn’t she worried about her middle-class parents disowning her? Getting fired from her job and blacklisted from her industry? While Genevieve only went out in giant face masks and baseball caps that covered her bun, Aya was out as herself, confidently traversing her world as if she had nothing to hide. “I’ve done nothing wrong,” she told the lookie-loos and café baristas who may or may not have recognized her. “Why should I be ashamed? You’re the one who sought out the pictures of my nipples. You know, the pictures meant for my girlfriend, and no one else?”

Aya said she was embarrassed. She implied that deep down she was also humiliated. But if Genevieve couldn’t tell, then neither could the whole of Japan. Her personal power over the situation both enthralled and infuriated Genevieve, who was still fielding phone calls from her outer circle. Not to mention the awkward video calls with her lawyers, brokers, and investors. Most of the men couldn’t look her in the eye as they bumbled their way through financial reports and contract updates. The women either spoke to her with clipped Mandarin that cut to her core, or they ignored her altogether. Genevieve unfortunately knew the thought process at this level of society. “Look at her. Who does she think she is? Coming to this meeting like we all haven’t seen her touching her coochie! My God, if my husband asked me to talk like she was in that video, I would divorce him! What a slut.”

No amount of Aya telling her that was mere projection made things better. After all, what did she know about these things?

I wish I could curl up in a blanket on the shores of Hawaii. If Aya were there with her, it would be the woman Genevieve first met back in late March. The one who had yet to see Genevieve in a state of disillusion. The woman I found so mysterious and enigmatic. While Genevieve’s overall opinion of her girlfriend had not changed, she knew the honeymoon period was over. So soon. So quickly.

She had hoped for at least a year. Slowly getting to know one another while exploring what their feelings meant (and learning Japanese was a bonus for Genevieve,) was what Genevieve desired in a new long-term relationship. There was still so much for them to do and understand about one another. Why weren’t they spending these weeks triumphing at their careers and traveling around the country? There were plenty of places she wanted to explore with Aya, but now everything had a heavy cloud over it. The rain only had yet to fall.

As if Aya read her mind, she wandered from the counter and sat beside her girlfriend.

“In other news,” she began, “there’s still our trip this weekend. I think spending the night would be a great gift for us right now. There’s this really nice ryokan my sister and I stayed in once. It’s within walking distance of the big shrines. Since Golden Week is long over, it shouldn’t be too crowded. Getting out of the city would be good for both of us.” She nudged her shoulder against Genevieve’s. “We can push the futons together and see how quiet we are in a ryokan.”

Genevieve forced a smile. “Sounds lovely. As long as we’re back by Monday. I have a big meeting with the contractor that day.”

“Of course. I’m going into the office that morning, too. We’ll be back Sunday night.” Aya’s fingertips touched Genevieve’s chin. “We could take a break now, too. I think we could both use an excuse to shed some stress. It’s… been a while.”