Falling For Sakura: A Secret Proposal (Part 1) (34 page)

“Hey, Sarah,” Ray said to the lovely blond greeting them. She winked at him and gave him a good, long kiss on the lips.
 

“You haven’t been to see me for a while, Ray darling,” she said seductively, batting her long fake eyelashes.
 

He laughed. “I’ve been busy. How ‘bout later?”
 

Sarah eyed Tara and said, “Okay, later, then. Hi, Tara.”
 

Tara sneered and told the woman with her eyes to piss off. She wasn’t going to mix words with these lowlife bitches who sold their bodies for money.
 

With her head held high, she marched elegantly up the stairs to her mother’s office. Ray followed close behind her.
 

“What’s the emergency?” she asked the moment she stepped into the luxurious office.
 

Julie looked up from her laptop, her face marked with fright and exhaustion. Tara was very surprised
because she’d only seen the woman last week, and she’d looked as happy and young as ever.
 

Julie indicated the two should sit before she began. Once they did, she said, “She saw me.”
 

Tara frowned. “What? Who saw you?”
 

Julie fisted her hands into balls and snapped, “Sakura saw me.”
 

Tara blinked. “Come again?”
 

“Sakura, that little bitch, saw me today. I was in the Princetons’ hotel and—”
 

“What?”
Tara shrieked in outrage. “What the hell were you doing there? I told you not to go there. What if they recognized you? James and Brenda live there now.”
 

“It can’t be helped,” Julie defended. “One of my important clients was there. I was escorting one of my girls there for him.”
 

Tara looked heavenward and prayed for patience. “Screw your business and your girls!” she snapped. “So what? Sakura saw you. And what the hell was she doing there anyway?”
 

“I don’t know,” Julie muttered. “But I bumped into her.”
 

“Wait?” Tara turned to stare at her mother. “You bumped into her?” At Julie’s nod, she went on. “God, tell me she didn’t recognized you.”
 

Julie sighed and said, “I think she did.”
 

“What the hell!” Tara swore.
 

“I think she recognized me. She was looking at me strangely, and she reacted, like… reacted.”
 

“Like what?” Tara asked, her eyes large with fright.
 

“Like she’d just seen a ghost,” Julie explained.
 

At this point, Ray was interested in what was going on. Mother and daughter looked like they were freaked out by this girl named Sakura. Not an American name for sure.
 

“Sounds like she recognized you all right,” he commented.
 

He received a frighteningly pissed off glare from both mother and daughter. He brushed the anger aside and said, “But really, why’re you so afraid of her? She’s just a girl, right?”
 

“Yes,” Tara said. “But Mom is supposed to be dead. That girl Sakura was one of the girls Mom looked after back at the orphanage. What if she goes and tells the police? What if the police dig up what really happened that night?”
 

Ray laughed. “Okay, let me get this straight. So you’re saying, Julie, you were the one who burned down that orphanage?”
 

Julie sighed. There was no point in hiding it from Ray. He’d find out sooner or later.
 

When she nodded, he chuckled. “Classic. You got balls, Julie, and I like that.”
 

Tara said, “Assuming she’s going to the police, what then?”
 

“We can’t let her go to the police,” Julie said.
 

“Look,” Ray said. “You two look like you need some help.”
 

Tara folded her arms across her chest. “What do you mean?”
 

Ray said, “If she goes to the police, you two are screwed. The Princetons will find out eventually.”
 

Tara’s face flared with terror at that very thought. She couldn’t possibly let the Princeton brothers find out about her mother and her being involved in something like this. She couldn’t possibly let Sakura ruin her chance with the brothers. Not again. Not ever. She was going to get Sebastian or Darcy, one way or another.
 

She stood. “I have a fashion shoot in Hawaii this week.” She clutched her hands when once again she remembered only last week, Mr. Tachibana had called her and Alaina into his office, informing them of Sakura, a new model,
the main one
. And all along, Tara had thought she was the supermodel who got to wear Mr. Tachibana’s most expensive and desirable items, as well as Lady Haruka’s jewels. Of course, it didn’t dampen her anger either, even though Mr. Tachibana had informed them the Princeton brothers were the rest of the male models.
 

She said, “Sakura is one of the female models for Mr. Tachibana’s summer collection.”
 

Julie glanced up and managed a tentative smile. “That’s good.”
 

Ray knew the two were up to no good, and he was actually looking forward to playing with them.
 

* * * * *

The Nightmare Returns

Eighteen Years Ago, St. Joseph Island
 

Little Sakura woke herself up with a soul-piercing scream that shook her wee body by the force of fright. She flashed her eyes open, praying the monster Mrs. Byrd wasn’t there in her room, about to whip her with a belt. Her eyes were dark and wild as she scanned around the cold, bare surroundings. Once she was convinced the woman wasn’t present, she clutched the thin blanket against her person and began to whimper.
 

“I wish I had a mama to hug me,” she cried, tears flowing down her cheeks. Instead, she hugged herself into a small ball to ease the icy coldness in the room and tried to go back to sleep.
 

The thought of that ruthless, mean Mrs. Byrd and her daughter, Tara, however, kept her awake. They were no doubt very comfortable in their warm beds right now. She had only wanted another blanket to top this thin one to keep her warm at night. When she’d asked that morning, however, what she received in turn was a slap on the face and then ten whips on her backside. She was still sore from the punishment but tried not to think about it. Instead, she thought about the Princeton brothers, of the boy named Darce with jet-black hair and beautiful lavender-gray eyes. It was only then she felt a sense of calmness settling within her as a smile formed on her lips.
 

“Darce,” she whispered softly between her lips. “Darce.”
 

He’d stroked her hair and suggested they call her Snow. She liked the name very much. It was a beautiful name. Better than Sally, of course. Sakura wasn’t a
Silly Sally
. She was Sakura, and to Darce, she was Snow.
 

Then she thought about the beautiful boy named Sebastian. The one with golden-blond hair and sky-blue eyes. He’d been curious about her, smiled at her, and talked to her. He was nice and kind. Oddly enough, he made her happy. Oh, how she wished they were her siblings. How she wished they’d play with her like they’d played with Alaina and Tara.
 

She turned on her side, wiping tears from her cheeks. Then she cupped her hands together and began her prayer, her wee heart aching with loneliness.
 

“Dear God, please hear my prayer. If you are out there, please listen to me. I’ve been a good girl, haven’t I? I mean, I’ve studied really hard and I did all my chores. I didn’t complain when Mrs. Byrd whipped me. That ought to account for something, right? So please hear my prayer. I want a nice family to adopt me. I want them to love me. I want a mama and a papa who love me and hug me when I have nightmares. Most of all, I don’t want them to be angry at me all the time and whip me. I mean, they can be angry at me sometimes when I’m being silly or stupid. But I’m not stupid or silly. That name, Sally, is a silly name and it just doesn’t suit me, you know. Anyway, please, please, please do something soon because I’m beginning to think you don’t exist anymore. You’re so slow at working this out. Anyway, please help me find a nice family. The Princetons would
be nice. No, not just nice. They’d be perfect. Please? Okay, that’s all. I’m going to stop bothering you now. You can go back and make people’s wishes come true, but just don’t forget mine.”
 

She sighed after having expressed her wishes to the Almighty and then closed her eyes.
 

Ten minutes later, she still couldn’t sleep and felt awfully thirsty. She sat up and got out of bed, praying very hard it was still too early for anyone to be up.
 

She quietly opened the door, slipped out, and silently made her way across the dark corridor, down the stairs, and then toward the kitchen.
 

There, she reached for the knob and turned. Slowly and quietly, she cracked the door open while she glanced behind her shoulder in case anyone saw her. All she wanted was a glass of milk, but Mrs. Byrd would slap her again if she were to take milk without permission.
 

Sakura thought she was safe and let her guard down. She stepped into the kitchen and didn’t look at where she was going. She came to a complete stop and gasped in fright the moment she saw Mrs. Byrd. The woman had her back to Sakura. She was busy pouring a big can of liquid around the room.
 

Sakura frowned, her nose twitching at the odd scent.  “What’s that smell?” she said softly without thinking.
 

Margaret Byrd jumped and twisted around, her eyes large in horror. Then she gritted her teeth and snapped, “What are you doing here at this time of night?”
 

Sakura shrugged back. “I want a glass of milk. I’m thirsty.”
 

Margaret dumped the large can of gasoline and marched to Sakura. Heaving with frustration and anger,
the woman raised her hand high and then swung across, smacking her plump, hard fist against the little girl’s face, throwing her small body back and landing her backside against the cold floor and her head against the cupboard.
 

Sakura became limp and whimpered as the pain screamed in her body. She was shaking from head to toe as she stared at the large woman heading toward her. She was so afraid that tears burned in her eyes, and she automatically protected herself by hugging her body into a small ball.
 

Margaret wouldn’t have any of it and roughly grabbed the girl by her long hair, yanking her up as she said, “You didn’t see anything of this, you hear? You didn’t see me here. I’m dead. Do you understand?”
 

Sakura recoiled, tears pouring down her cheeks. She didn’t really understand anything. All she wanted was for the woman to let her go and leave her alone.
 

Margaret, however, did none of those things and shook Sakura hard. “Listen here, you little brat, I’m dead. You understand. Margaret Byrd is
dead
. If anyone asks, say I died in the fire.”
 

Sakura shook her head. “Please,” she begged. “Let me go. Please.”
 

Margaret tightened her hands on the little girl, her eyes large with madness. “Look, Sakura, I promise I won’t ever hurt you again if you just tell everyone I was dead in the fire, all right?”
 

Sakura blinked and, tentatively, she nodded. She wanted the woman to stop hurting her.
 

Margaret smiled. “Good girl.” Slowly, she let Sakura go and took a few steps back. She fumbled her hands into the pocket of her dress and took out a lighter.
 

Sakura watched, her eyes large as the woman started flicking the thing, again and again, her hand shaking, until a small flame was born. Then she threw the light onto the countertop, and instantly, it was engulfed with fire.
 

Sakura gasped in fright and shouted,
“Fire!”
 

Margaret opened a drawer as the fire spread faster, devouring everything in its sight across the kitchen. The woman took out a rolling pin. With the thing in hand, she turned her attention to Sakura.
 

“Sakura?” She smiled at the little girl. “Remember what I said, yes? Tell everyone I’m dead in this fire.”
 

Sakura, her body stiff in shock at the sight of the burning fire surrounding her, nodded.
 

“Good girl,” Margaret said. Then she raised the roller high and sent it down toward Sakura’s head.
 

Little Sakura watched in horror as the pin flew toward her in one forceful blow, smashing against her face. She landed on the floor, her small body in a mangled position. She felt numb all over and all she could see was darkness. Her instincts, however, told her she was in danger, and she tried to open her eyes. Her whole body shook as she reached her hand out for the woman who’d just hit her. She was crying and knew she was going to die here in the fire if she didn’t get help soon.
 

Through the haze of her vision, she watched as Mrs. Byrd opened the door, a heavy bag in her hand. With a smile on her face, she walked out.
 

Alone and surrounded by fire, Sakura closed her eyes and blackness eventually took her.
 

* * * * *

Sakura woke up with a start, her heart pounding fast and furious and her head aching. Her whole body was shaking like a leaf as she sat there staring into space.
 

The nightmare of that night had returned, and the look of Mrs. Byrd’s face was etched deep within her mind.
 

Sakura shook her head as she willed her tears to remain at bay.