Over dinner, which the man ordered from a restaurant, he shared his thoughts with Anna. — You know, it feels like we’ve known each other already. — That’s right, — she smiled, popping a piece of fish into her mouth.
— We’re almost married. — Lenny smiled back. — In what sense, married? — Alex gasped.
— Eat your vegetables, — his older sister advised. And then came day X. Makoto Takahashi and his beautiful wife with an equally beautiful name Sakura, after whom his company was named, arrived on time. Lenny personally met them at the airport, checked them into the hotel, and then parted with the couple until dinner.
At home, waiting for Anna, Leonard was on pins and needles. He hired a nanny for Alex, and sent Anna to a beauty salon and his store to get her in order. But all the jitters evaporated as soon as Leonard saw Anna.
It was like in the movies he watched in his youth. There the girl descends the stairs to the first floor, touching the railing. And she was beautiful.
Anna was beautiful too. No, she wasn’t a model like Allison. But in Anna, dressed in a white dress, with a hairstyle opening her face, there was something special, even otherworldly.
The man offered his elbow to his companion and was surprised to feel warmth in his stomach when she took his arm. At the restaurant, everything went better than Leonard could imagine, and it was all thanks to Anna. The girl easily found common ground with Makoto and Sakura, charming them with her simplicity.
The invented story of the bride and groom’s meeting, as well as Anna’s real fate, deeply touched the married couple. Makoto Takahashi couldn’t take his eyes off Anna, and at the end of the evening, unable to hold back, asked. «Your face is so familiar to me.
Could I have seen you somewhere?» Anna smiled embarrassedly, shrugged her thin shoulders. «I don’t think so. I’ve lived in the USA all my life, haven’t appeared on billboards.»
Makoto nodded, but didn’t stop scrutinizing the girl’s facial features. After that, the Takahashi family spent two wonderful weeks in the USA. Leonard and Anna accompanied them everywhere, delighting the couple.
One day the man called Leonard over and said sincerely. «Cherish her. Such girls are diamonds among dust.»
Lenny looked at Anna, who was trying on a kimono brought by Sakura, and laughing. His heart clenched, he thought Makoto was right. Leonard started spending a lot of time with Anna, and also with Alex.
Matthews and his accomplices decided they would live together until their Japanese guests left the country. So as not to arouse suspicion. However, the situation began to heat up in an unexpected way for Lenny.
So Anna, learning that Takahashi loves soccer, invited him with his wife, and along with him Leonard, to Alex’s match. The boy was a goalie, quite agile and good. He didn’t let in a single ball, though the team’s defense often erred.
Moreover, the goalie’s boots seemed to have springs inserted. He jumped so nimbly for the balls, now to the left, now to the right upper corner of the goal. After the match, the whole team went for a walk, and then Makoto and Sakura invited themselves to a home dinner.
Lenny wasn’t ready for guests under his roof and was sure the plan would fail, but Anna didn’t let him down here either. Anna, a homemaker by nature, had already settled into Leonard’s kitchen. The girl gave everyone instructions, entrusting Makoto and Leonard with chopping vegetables, and told Sakura to rest and drink tea.
Such distribution of duties amused the spouses. However, preparing dinner, and then the meal, went wonderfully. The dishes cooked by Anna with her helpers turned out excellent.
Later they all played charades, monopoly, and even lotto, sprawled on the floor in the living room. Lenny laughed until his stomach hurt and thought he hadn’t spent time so warmly in ages. Soon Leonard caught himself thinking often about the sister and her brother, even missing them.
He simply forgot that their relationship had a business subtext. Dennis, looking at his friend, began to notice with some contempt that he was daydreaming. «Haven’t you fallen for your fake fiancée?» — Cooper raised an eyebrow.
«Don’t talk nonsense!» — Lenny brushed him off then, though the obsessive image of the fake beloved kept popping up before his eyes. But this morning he went down to the kitchen for coffee. Music was playing there, and Anna, dancing, was making pancakes.
Alex was already eating them, dipping in sour cream. «Good morning, Lenny!» — the child beamed and extended a greasy palm from breakfast for Leonard to slap. Such a greeting had become their tradition.
«And to you, champ!» — the man slapped the child’s hand. «What, day off today?» — «No, I’m going to practice!» — the boy declared proudly. Anna turned with a smile, looking at the man and child.
Such a smile melted glaciers, and with them the businessman’s heart. «Will you have breakfast?» — the girl sang. «I made pancakes and bought your favorite jam.
You said you like apricot, right?» The man’s heart did a somersault, just like that, from a simple question, everyday, essentially. She didn’t confess love, just remembered what jam he likes. «Yeah,» he nodded.
«My grandma made such jam. She was from the South, there were lots of apricots, even fed to pigs. And there were walnuts, she sent them in sacks.»