Chapter 45

The alarm woke me up from a weird dream where I was playing hockey with sword wielding Yakuza hockey players while Ellen, Paige and Kim watched from the bench.

I reached over and found the shut-off button and slowly sat up. Ellen was on her side and didn't stir a muscle when the alarm was ringing. I looked at her lovely face, peaceful in sleep and wished things had worked out differently.

Sighing with regret, I got up and had a quick shower before getting dressed. I left her a note thanking her for all her help yesterday as well as the wonderful night and telling her to call if she ever changed her mind. I left the keycard and the note on her night stand, gave her a soft kiss and then quietly left the room.

Reaching the lobby, I found only a single bored guy at the front desk.

"Hi, is there anyone available to get a car from the valet service?" I asked, handing him my stub.

"Give me a few minutes, and I'll have it brought around," he said.

"Thanks," I replied.

I went out the front entrance and waited a few minutes until it came around. I handed the driver a twenty and got in. It was a quick few minutes to the tunnel and a quick trip under the river to the booths at the border stop in Detroit. After answering a few questions at the booth, I was on the way back to Ann Arbor.

Kuro and Ren were sitting in their own SUV when I pulled up beside them at the arena.

"Hey guys, how was your day off?" I asked as we got out of our vehicles.

"Not so good," Kuro replied. "Let's go in and talk before you change for practice."

I led the way in and we found a seat in the arena where we wouldn't be overheard.

"First of all, here is your new cell, with all your old contacts," Ren said, handing over a new smart phone. "It's as secure as we could make it. Feel free to use it to call your regular contacts. We've also made sure your email account can't be traced by your run of the mill gang members so you can use that again."

"Thanks," I said, slipping it into my coat pocket.

"Now to the bad news," she continued. "When the Yakuza couldn't find Mitsy and the girls, they moved on to other relatives. Takeru and Hiroto have both been hurt badly in a hit and run accident. Luckily, Kiyomi suffered only a broken arm and is with Hiroto in a private hospital."

I shook my head at how far the clan had gone to avenge the honour of the four idiot members.

"Please express my well wishes to all three of them," I responded. "Let me know if I can do anything for them. I'd like to visit but will wait until you let me know when it's safe to do so."

"Mr. Matsuda knew you want to see them, but you will have to wait a while," Ren told me.

I nodded and waited for them to continue.

"Mitsy and Asuka won't be back to school," Ren stated. "Mitsy will be joining the company hierarchy as soon as the current danger is past and get her training on the job. Casey and Barb are moving back to Ohio and New York as soon as they can for their safety. They'll will take their exams in a secure setting and then go home."

"I'm going to miss all of them," I said. "Let them know to call or write when they can so I can talk to them."

"All of them wish you well but, for both your safety and theirs, further contact will be extremely limited," Kuro told me. "Don't try to contact them at all, let them set something up themselves if security allows it."

"Ok," I agreed with a sigh. "Is there anything else?"

"It's been decided that we are to back off our visible protection of you," Kuro stated. "We'll still be around while you're out, but it will be from farther away so it's not so obvious that we're still watching out for you. We're hoping that it will show that you're not important to the family and they won't feel the need to target you. You can still call us if you need to talk, but we're going to be in the building rather than in the room with you from now on."

"What about the security at the condo?" I asked.

"We're going to replace the rooftop sentries with state of the art sensors that will be monitored 24/7," Ren replied. "The guys at your door are gone now. We have upgraded your security system to the best we can provide and your door is now a more secure one. The security system now has a secondary level that can be activated while you are home and will protect you without you setting it off. I'll show you all the new features when we take you home for the last time tonight."

"Ok, thanks for all of your help, and please pass that on to Mr. Matsuda as well," I said.

"We will," Ren promised. "Now, we will fade into the background but will meet you at your condo after practice tonight. I suggest you keep your maid away from the condo this week as well."

I nodded as we got up. I shook their hands and wished them luck. They left the arena as I walked down the tunnel to the locker room and got dressed.

After my usual solitary skating and shooting warm-up and the team's warm-up, the coach let us know that we would be playing Alaska Friday night in the semi-final. The other semi-final would be Notre Dame versus Northern Michigan with the championship to be played by the two winners Saturday night.

We went over our games that we had played against Alaska and Notre Dame this season with the coaches outlining our strategies we would deploy for each team. We had an intense practice concentrating on learning the strategy against Alaska for all three facets of the game. The team was held as long as possible and several of us had to hurry to make our next classes.

The school day went by fairly fast as I handed in my math assignments and got busy during lunch on the new ones. Philosophy class was actually beneficial as it helped me with some points for my third and final paper.

After my last class, I walked back to the rink, keeping a more watchful eye on my surroundings then I usually did. Thankfully, nothing happened and I reached the arena without any issues. After a longer than usual workout, I joined my teammates as we got dressed for afternoon practice.

The afternoon practice was dedicated to our strategy against Notre Dame, the team we were most likely to face in the finals. We reviewed what went well against them in our games this season and then practiced all three facets again.

I grabbed some chicken from a drive-thru and headed home. I had called Daphne earlier in the day and told her to stay away this week. When I parked the SUV in the garage, Kuro and Ren appeared from a nearby car and joined me in the elevator.

We rode up in silence and Ren opened the condo door with a new set of keys. She handed me a card with the new passwords and let me disarm the system. Kuro took a look around while Ren showed me the new features. Five minutes later they left after shaking my hand and wishing me luck.

I ate my dinner while working on the new math assignments. After I was done, I checked my messages and found a few on the condo machine as well as a few emails.

Emma had called and left a message telling me she was safe and sound and back to school. She said she had her new secure phone that I could call when I thought it was safe.

Ellen left a message thanking me for the wonderful night and hoped that I would stop in to see her the next time I was in Toronto.

Kristen left a message telling me that she had a free weekend in April that she would like to spend with me and to let her know if my schedule was open.

Katie sent some pictures via email of our shoot to me and told me that the higher ups were very impressed so far. She also informed me the million was deposited in my Canadian account.

Aunt Nancy sent an email with best wishes from the family with some attachments of the girls' paintings for me.

Finally, Isobel Collins, the New York financier I met on the plane before my run-in with the acid, sent an email asking if I wanted to pursue anything with her company.

I responded back to those I could via email, still not trusting my cell phone to call them.

I let Kristen know that I would be in exams the first two weeks of April and wasn't sure of the photo shoot schedule yet for the last two weeks but would let her know as soon as I did.

I told Isobel that I was interested and to have her Canadian contact get a hold of me via email to start.

I thanked Aunt Nancy for the pictures from the girls and told her things were hectic for the next month.

I sent Emma an email letting her know I had the new cell as well and would call when things slowed down.

I responded to Katie and thanked her for the pictures and her help yesterday as well as the payment.

Finally, I thanked Ellen for a wonderful day again and told her I would be up in Toronto in late May for the NHL combine and would let her know more as the date approached.

The rest of the evening I worked on my last philosophy paper and fit in a stretching and forms exercise break about half way through. I had a quick shower and hit the bed early to catch up on my sleep.

Tuesday morning was a repeat with practice and the first computer class. I started working on the new assignment in the cafeteria while eating a salad topped with chicken. My laptop was beside me and I used one hand to type while shoving a forkful of salad into my mouth from time to time.

"What did we decide last week about your eating habits?" a voice asked as someone sat down across from me.

I looked up to see Gwendolyn looking at me with a frown as she slipped off her book bag and placed it on the seat beside her.

"There's a face I didn't think I would see again," I said, ignoring her jab. "I'm glad you decided to join me. I was hoping you couldn't stay away if you saw me eating like this again."

"So this was a ploy to get me to come over?" she asked, looking sceptical.

"Of course," I said as I saved my work and closed down the laptop.

"So am I going to be swarmed by your other girlfriends in a couple minutes?" she asked as she looked around.

"Nope, they're actually away for a while so you've got me to yourself for the foreseeable future," I told her.

"Really?" she asked, looking even more doubtful.

"Really, really," I replied with a grin.

"So what does that mean?" she asked.

"They had to disappear for a bit after some trouble Mitsy's family is having," I told her. "Actually, none of them are coming back to school this semester or in the future."

"That's too bad, I kind of liked them," she said.

"Me too," I agreed with a grin.

She rolled her eyes at me and looked at my salad.

"Will you join me for lunch?" I asked. "It would be my treat."

"Well that salad does look pretty good," she admitted. "Maybe I'll just share yours."

"Even better, I was starting to turn into a rabbit," I told her as I handed her my fork.

"Are you germ free?" she asked.

"I'm not one hundred percent sure," I admitted. "Let me get you your own salad just to be careful."

I got up and quickly went into the cafeteria despite her objections and grabbed another salad and a variety of four juices as I didn't know what she liked. I paid for them and got some utensils and hurried back to her.

"Mike, you didn't have to get a whole new salad, I was kidding," she said, exasperated. "I only needed one juice, apple or orange is fine."

"It's better to be safe than sorry," I told her. "I had a photo shoot on Sunday and I was around a lot of people, so just in case I caught a bug it's better that we don't share until we're sure I'm not contaminated."

"Oh, and how close did you get to the models?" she asked.

"No use trying to sugar coat it, you're going to see the pictures soon enough," I told her. "Calvin Klein commercials and ads are pretty racy so we get as close as can be with little between us."

"Oh really?" she asked.

"Sorry, but you probably already saw my first CK stuff somewhere so you know what it's about," I replied.

"Hmmm, not sure how I feel about that," she mused.

"It's a job that pays really well," I offered. "I don't particularly like to have pictures of me in my underwear out so everyone can see, especially my two young cousins, but CK made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"And getting to cavort with beautiful women couldn't hurt either," she wisecracked.

"Better than with other guys," I retorted with a grin. "You have nothing to be jealous of; you're just as beautiful as any model."

She laughed out loud and said, "You obviously need your eyes examined."

"I think you're very beautiful so and so do a lot of other people," I told her.

"I think you're just trying to butter me up," she replied, still shaking your head.

"While I would love to take you out for dinner sometime, I'm not lying to you about how you look, which is as good as any model I've seen," I told her.

She was quiet for a few seconds as she looked at me.

"Did you just ask me out on a date?" she asked.

"Yes, dinner and maybe a movie if you like," I repeated.

"We hardly know each other at all and you hang out with movie stars and gorgeous supermodels," she stated. "Why on earth do you want to go out with me?"

"Obviously to get to know you better," I replied. "I think you look gorgeous and I love the fact that we can almost see eye to eye. Now we just need to see if like each other enough to want to date."

"How about we just have lunch once and a while to get to know each other instead?" she suggested.

"How about we do both?" I counter-offered.

"Honestly, I don't know if I want to date you," she told me.

"Can I ask why?" I inquired.

"You're way out of my league and you're always in the news and on TV," she said. "I don't want to be on TV or have the paparazzi taking my picture"

"Listen, I'm not anything special and I avoid the paparazzi and being on TV like the plague," I told her. "It would be nice to have a somewhat normal relationship with a lovely girl that plans to be around for a while and doesn't want me for any of that other stuff."

"I need to spend a lot of time practicing and painting, I don't have much spare time to date anyway," she continued.

"I'm pretty busy as well, so we would just have to fit our dates in when we can, and continue having lunch together," I responded.

"Listen Mike, I'm not going to jump into bed with you just because you're a famous model," she said, clearly exasperated. "I'm sure that you can find a dozen women in this room alone that would love to sleep with you right away. You should find one of them to go on a date with you."

"Gwen, I'm not like that and I don't expect to sleep with you for a long time, at least until the second date," I replied with another grin. "Listen, if you're that worried about the date, we can just continue to have lunch together where we're surrounded by lots of people. I'm willing to take this as slow as you want so you're comfortable being around me. We can even go out with some of your friends if you like, maybe double date or something. I'm not going to force you into doing anything that you don't want to do."

"I don't know, I shouldn't have come here today," she said.

"But you did, and you came over last week," I reminded her. "Forget about the other stuff, it's what I do, not what I am. I'd like the chance to have a normal relationship with a normal girl who was curious about me before she found out about my extra stuff."

"It's still a part of your life and I'd have to be involved in it at some point," she said. "However, eating lunch with you shouldn't be too dangerous."

I sighed with relief.

"You don't know how relieved I'm to hear that," I told her. "I think I was going to join a monastery if you would have left."

"I wouldn't have just gotten up and left, that would have been rude," she said with a deadpan voice. "I would have at least eaten my salad before I did."

"Good, now let's eat," I said with a grin.

We dug into our salads and ate for a few minutes in quiet.

"So how was your weekend?" I asked.

"It was busy, I had to practice for a couple of recitals and get some painting done," she told me.

"Ok, are you doing a double major or is one of them a minor degree?" I asked.

"I'm majoring in music, I play the piano and the violin," she answered. "I'm doing a minor in art; I do pencil sketches, water colours and oil paintings."

"Wow, multi talented as well as beautiful," I said. "When can I hear you play and look at some of your art?"

"Many moons from now, if ever," she said primly. "So you're a computer programming and math geek on top of being a hockey star and a model?"

"Yep, my scholarship is in computer science actually," I replied. "I'm from Dryden, up in Northern Ontario. Where are you from?"

"I'm from here in Ann Arbor," she said.

"You said you had a couple of younger brothers, right?" I asked.

"You were paying attention," she replied. "Brad is sixteen and Ryan is fourteen. Before you ask, my Dad is a senior manager for a company here in the city and my mom is an office manager at an accounting firm. What do your parents do?"

"No family left I'm afraid, I was an only child and my parents died last year, cancer and an industrial accident," I told her.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said.

"I miss them but life goes on," I replied. "I did get some good news in November; I have an aunt and uncle and two small girl cousins in Toronto that I didn't know existed. My aunt saw me on the TV and recognized me as looking just like my dad when he was younger. She called down to the coach and then came down to see me and now I correspond with them."

"Good for you, everyone needs family in their lives," she said.

"It's been fun," I agreed. "So why do you stay in a dorm?"

"I needed to get out of the house," Gwen said. "My parents would have still treated me like a little girl if I stayed. Besides, I practice a lot at school so it's easier to get to the music and art departments from here."

We talked some more as we finished our lunches until we had to go to our next classes. She eased up enough to exchange our contact information before we got up.

"I'll see you tomorrow at lunch?" I asked. "I only have between noon and one on Mondays and Wednesdays."

"I'll try to be here," Gwen replied.

"Great, I'm looking forward to it," I responded with a smile.

She shook her head and walked away. I watched her as she towered over most of the other students, weaving her way to the doors. She never looked back. I knew winning her over wasn't going to be easy but I thought she would be well worth the effort.

I walked to my afternoon programming class and handed in my next assignment before following along with the professor as he went through the chapter I had read already.

After class, I went to the nearby clinic and had some blood drawn and peed into a cup so they could run all the tests for STDs. I received my private id number to retrieve the results in two days. Ellen and I hadn't worn any protection, and, while I was pretty sure she was as clean as a person could be, I wanted to make sure before I got involved with anyone else, whenever that may be.

I hurried back to the arena and had a quick workout before getting ready for practice. Practice was intense and I was exhausted afterwards. I took a long shower and picked up some food on the way to the dojo.

Sensei and I warmed up and then sparred for a good ten to fifteen minutes before taking a break. Afterwards, we worked with several weapons, from knives, to tonfa and larger poles made out of bamboo. I enjoyed the session immensely.

"You are aware of the harming of Takeru, Hiroto and Kiyomi?" Sensei asked when we finished for the night.

I nodded.

"You must always be ready and aware of your surroundings, Michael," Sensei told me. "Walking to your car, driving to a normal destination, walking at school and to and from the arena are all potential places to be attacked. Even in this parking lot you must be cautious."

"I've been extra careful when I'm out," I told him.

"Good," he replied. "Now, put this bamboo rod behind your driver's seat so you can get at it quickly. Be extra vigilant for the next week until things can be settled."

"I will and thanks for this," I answered.

"You're most welcome, I hope it will never be needed but will serve you well if it is," he said.

"I'll see you Thursday night," I told him before leaving.

I was careful as I got into my car and stored the rod behind my seat. I drove defensively all the way home and didn't relax until I was safely in the condo. After a quick shower and snack, I checked my messages and then hit the hay.

Wednesday morning I woke up in a surprisingly good mood as I went about getting ready to leave for the day. It helped me during practice as I put a bit more on my shots and skated a bit faster.

I continued to feel good about the day through my first math class and after the second with Professor Hiller who stopped me for a second.

"Mike, I just wanted to thank you for whatever you did to get rid of my problem with Professor Milton," she said with a smile. "He's actually left the university."

"I just mentioned it to a friend, they must have dealt with it without letting me know," I said.

"However you managed it, I'm very grateful and I owe you big time," she responded.

"Nonsense, we're just even now, you helped me out immensely with your math tutoring so we're all square," I corrected her.

"I thought I might come by soon and give you a proper thanks," she said with a coy smile.

"I'm sorry Professor, I'm just starting to see a girl here at school and as much as I would have loved to get together with you, I'm going to have to keep our relationship professional now," I said, trying to turn her down gently. "It's not anything against you, far from it; I just want to stay faithful to her."

Her smile slipped a bit but she recovered quickly, "I'm sorry to hear that but I understand completely and would do the same in your position. Keep me in mind if you become single again."

"I definitely will," I told her. "I'll see you Monday."

I left her packing up her stuff and hurried off to meet Gwen in the cafeteria. I looked around the large room but didn't see her so I looked in the food area. She wasn't there either so I waited outside for her to show up. She finally came in and shook her head when she saw me waiting for her.

She was wearing a heavy U of M sweat shirt over grey jeans tucked into hiking boots. Her blond hair was windblown and she swept it out of her eyes as she came up to me.

"What are you doing out here?" she asked. "Just wait for me inside in case I don't show up."

"I wanted to buy you lunch," I said simply. "Come on, I'm starving."

She shook her head and preceded me into the room as I held the door for her. She wasn't carrying any books as we joined the line in the cafeteria.

"Are you joining me at the salad bar?" she asked with a smirk.

"I might get a small one, but I need a more substantial meal as well," I said.

"You go get in line then, I'll get you a small garden salad," she instructed as she pushed me towards the meal line.

"Yes Ma'am," I said with a grin as I left her with the other health freaks in the rabbit food line.

I grabbed a big plate of spaghetti and meatballs and added a hunk of garlic bread before moving to the beverage station. I filled up a large cup with Diet Coke and got her an apple juice. I walked back to where she was just finishing up with the two salads and we switched the juice to her tray and the small salad to mine. I followed her to the checkout and paid for both of our meals before we got some utensils and napkins at the station outside. We found an empty table and sat down across from one another.

"You're in a good mood today," she observed as she opened her juice.

"I am," I agreed. "I knew I was going to see you today. It's been a very good day so far."

She rolled her eyes and took a drink.

"What, can't I be happy to see you?" I asked.

"I guess, but you're acting like it's the first time you've ever gone after a girl," she noted.

I sat back and thought about it and then replied, "You know, you're right, this is the first time I've actually tried to win over a girl. I've only really had one girlfriend, and she more or less made the first moves. Am I doing it all wrong?"

"Not really, but I haven't had much experience with guys pursuing me either," she replied. "Are you telling me you never had a girlfriend before Vicky Waters?"

"Nope, I was a skinny nerd back in high school," I admitted. "I had a significant growth spurt after high school and again during this year."

"Sounds familiar," she said. "I was the skinny, overly tall, music and art geek, and still am."

"No, now you're the very talented and beautiful music and art genius," I told her.

She shook her head and dug into her salad while I started to eat my spaghetti. I ate a few bites and looked up to see her looking at me with a smirk as she chewed on a mouthful of salad.

"Ok, what is it; do I have spaghetti on my face?" I asked.

She swallowed before replying, "I just realized that you probably didn't even go to your Prom. CK supermodel Mike Stewart was a geek in high school and no one would ever believe it."

"Well it's true," I said. "I, for one, am glad that high school is over and I won't be looking back at that time with any fondness."

"I'm the same way," she agreed. "College has been better but there are still the usual bitchy girls and sarcastic guys around."

We ate some more and then I got her talking about her music. She played all kinds of music on the piano, from classical to modern; while the violin was mostly classical. She had been experimenting with some of the modern music for violin, but didn't really like country so she didn't do much of that.

Her art was an eclectic mix as well, from nature scenes to portraits, without much in the way of the so-called modern abstract art unless needed for a class project. She had received a scholarship from both the music and the art departments that paid for her tuition and art supplies.

All too soon it was time to leave for my class.

"I have to go to class," I said. "Will I see you tomorrow?"

"Probably, though we'll be talking about you more than me next time," she responded.

"We'll see about that," I replied. "You have a good afternoon and an even better morning tomorrow."

"You too," she said as we got up.

We put the garbage and trays away before heading out the doors together.

"I'm heading this way," she said.

"I'm the other way I'm afraid," I told her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See ya," she said and walked off.

I watched her until she turned the corner and then walked to philosophy class. I thought about Gwen for a while during class, which helped pass the time. After class I walked to the arena and worked out again, finally getting back to the weight I was pushing before the acid attack.

Practice was the usual, intense and competitive as we had a long scrimmage at the end. I finally felt back to normal and was comfortable with all aspects of the game. I was looking forward to the weekend for the championship games.

I drove home to the condo and cooked some pork chops and rice for dinner. After I cleaned up, I checked my messages and email and found only an email from a Natalie Green, a financial advisor located in Toronto that Isobel had forwarded my information to.

In her email, she made some recommendations on how she would invest some of my money to get the most out of it in the volatile markets caused by the current recession. I read it through and then did a bit of research on my own before replying. I decided to let her play with a hundred grand to start with and see how she did. I let her know of my plans and asked her to get things set up for the money transfer and all the legal mumbo-jumbo.

After that was done, I finished the two computer programming assignments and continued on with the final philosophy paper until after eleven. I put on the new alarm system and hit the hay.

Thursday was another normal day, with practice and computer programming in the morning. I waited for a couple of minutes at the cafeteria door for Gwen but eventually went in and selected some shepherd's pie for lunch. I had it finished and was working on my philosophy paper when she finally showed up.

"Hi Gwen, how's it going?" I asked as she plopped her books down on the table while sitting down.

"I'm having a crappy day," she admitted. "My practicing sucked, my roommate's boyfriend is trying to set me up with a friend of his who happens to be an idiot frat boy, and my mother wants me to go to a baby shower with her on Sunday."

"That is a crappy morning, to say the least," I commiserated. "Let me know if I can help in any way."