School Girls' Stories

Chapter 24 – Mr. Tennison’s Fiancé

Shai loitered outside of the French restaurant waiting patiently for Fuji and her mother. Shai was going to try to prove to Mrs. Chenbaro that Fuji had friends of a higher caliber. Shai, to Fuji, seemed like the perfect candidate. Shai was smart, she was quiet, and her grades were impeccable half of the time, though she always seemed to have a hard time with science.

That should not matter to Mrs. Chenbaro, though, Shai hoped. Shai anxiously kept her feet glued to the sidewalk, trying her hardest not to pace in front of the restaurant. She had met Mrs. Chenbaro on very few occasions, mostly only when the school was holding a function and parents were required to attend. Mrs. Chenbaro, her prim hair always stuck in the perfect bun, and her earlobes decorated with the most expensive of jewelry, did not seem like an evil woman. Shai would never even have suspected that she would have thrown such a temper at Fuji if she had not seen the bruises herself. Mrs. Chenbaro was biting and dictating, she wanted everything to go her way. Her mother had shaken Fuji a few times, but she had never been beaten, literally.

Shai noticed them out of the corner of her eye. Fuji and Mrs. Chenbaro were walking up, Fuji dressed like a little corporate ladder climbing businesswoman, which matched perfectly to Mrs. Chenbaro’s own look. Both women were dressed in the same suit, and Fuji’s hair was pulled back as tight as it would manage to go in an extreme bun, but the large glasses or the subtle make-up could not mask her beauty. The stray wisps of hair, too shorn to be pulled back into the bun, fell around her neck in beautiful curls that only exaggerated the beauty.

“Shall we go in?” Mrs. Chenbaro asked, not so much as giving Shai a pleasant greeting. Shai and Fuji followed behind the woman and Shai felt underdressed. She was wearing a nice soft blue sundress that was flowing around her body so as not to look too lewd. She had wanted to give the best impression, but she was lying to herself. Fuji was lying to herself as well.

The three women were lead to a table for four in the middle of the room. Mrs. Chenbaro sat across from the girls, her lips tight, her lipstick not even smeared a bit after rubbing them together in that stern line.

“Someone else will be joining us for dinner,” Mrs. Chenbaro announced when they were seated and water was poured. “I have ulterior motives to bringing you girls out. Fuji,” she turned to her daughter, her dark eyes not unkind, and gave her the best impression of a smile she could muster. “There are many things I have not told you lately, and I’ve been so worried about you. I know in the last few weeks since I blew up at you that you have been doing the best you can to please me, but I was not really mad at you. I was afraid I would lose you. It seems my finances are not what they were supposed to be, though I am happy to see trying to make a good impression on me by inviting Shai here.” Mrs. Chenbaro turned her eyes to Shai, almost a calculating gaze. “Shai, I have always liked you, much better than that Yuki girl you two hang around with. I am sure tonight is going to be a pleasant evening, but I honestly have a surprise for my daughter, and was not brave enough to do it, just the two of us. That is why I invited Shai to come along. My poor old heart can not muster this much courage to face my daughter alone.” She looked full of courage and full of joy, but she was trying to make herself seem weak and feeble.

“Mom,” Fuji said, running her finger over the sweat of the water glass, “I am sure you do not want to talk about our finances in front of my friend.”

Mrs. Chenbaro smiled delightedly and shook her head. “No, but I guess I really just wanted to celebrate my engagement with more people.”

“Engagement?” both girls asked with trepidation.

“Yes,” Mrs. Chenbaro smiled, her eyes searching the dining hall then landing on the object of her affection. “There he is.” Both girls turned, and both girls faces blanched, while Shai’s was much greener from envy and anger than Fuji’s. Mr. Tennison walked through the dining hall and towards the table, smiling at all of the girls. He looked a bit shocked to see Shai sitting there, but his perfect face did not fall from his smile.

“Noriko,” Mr. Tennison smiled at the woman, leaning down to kiss Fuji’s mom on the cheek. Fuji stared with her mouth opened in wide horror.

“Fuji, Shai, I believe you know Teiyoku Tennison,” Mrs. Chenbaro said as he sat down next to her at the table.

“Of course we do,” Fuji was nearly hissing. “He’s Shai’s tennis coach.”

“That’s right,” Mrs. Chenbaro laughed, as if she did not know that ahead of time. Fuji was beginning to see a scheme beneath Mrs. Chenbaro’s exterior that was not shown to anyone. The four people had been placed into an act, and all of them were acting it out, while everyone knew the plot.

“So you are engaged,” Shai blurted out, softly, kindly, as was her way, but Fuji saw the pain deep in her eyes.

“The rumors seemed to have escaped faster than I could control them,” Mr. Tennison nodded. “We were trying to keep it a secret, until we at least told Fuji, but it seemed someone saw us one night and rumors took over.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” snapped Fuji, snapping her head towards her mother. Her anger was bubbling over and ready to erupt like a volcano. She was trying her hardest not to reach across the table, pull her mom’s hair from the bun, and just start slamming her face into the table. That, however, was far more violent then the girl ever acted and so she kept quiet, watching the plot unfold in front of her.

“Fuji, it was not the right time yet,” she told her daughter.

Fuji raised her eyebrows, something clicking her own calculating brain. “You said you acted badly towards me because you were worried about money,” she told her mother, “however rumors of his engagement had already hit by then. So the real reason you acted badly towards me was because –“

“Do not finish that Fuji,” snapped Mrs. Chenbaro. “I am looking out for your best interest.”

Fuji’s eyes darted to Shai, who looked ready to break down crying at the drop of her napkin. “I know what is in my best interest, mother,” she insisted. She stood from the table grabbing Shai’s arm to bring her with her. “Shai and I are going now,” she said calmly. She looked down at her watch and smiled at the time. She would have plenty of time to convince Kaori to go. “We have a previous engagement, as it seems did you. Good night mother, I will see you when I get home.”

Mrs. Chenbaro stood along with her daughter. “Fuji, you will not walk away from me,” she growled.

Mr. Tennison reached out to Mrs. Chenbaro’s arm and stopped her from rising to her anger, understanding the situation than the older woman. “Noriko, let them be,” he said quietly. “They are teenager girls who need to live life. Besides, you could not ask for a better daughter than Fuji, and Shai is a very responsible woman.”

Shai’s tears were on the surface and ready to pour from her eyes. Fuji thanked Mr. Tennison, quite curtly, then stomped out of the restaurant with Shai trailing behind her. When they walked out onto the sidewalk poor young Shai burst into tears and began to fall to her knees. Fuji reached out and wrapped her arms around Shai’s body, keeping her from falling.

“Come on,” Fuji said quietly. “We are going to go to Yuki’s house, and then we are going to go out and enjoy the night.”

Shai shook her head, clinging to Fuji. “You go out tonight, I don’t want to stop you,” she sobbed, “but I don’t want to go out. I can’t go out. I just need to,” she took a deep inhaling breath. “I just need to be at home.”

Fuji sighed and began walking Shai towards Yuki’s instead, knowing that Shai needed a friend more than she needed to be by herself.