CHAPTER 11
Mariko drove Matt back to her house, silently most of the way. Matt was exhausted and even though he knew she was waiting for him to tell her what had happened, he couldn't muster the strength.
"It's about my father, isn't it?" she asked as they pulled into the circular driveway.
He looked at her but didn't answer for a moment. She stopped the car.
"There's a lot going on," he said. He offered nothing more.
"Let's go for a swim," she said. "My dad's not home."
The butler had gone home for the night. They went up to her room, took their clothes off and wrapped towels around themselves. Then they walked back down the curved staircase, across the marble floor of the entry and out the sliding glass door of the living room, into the cool night air of the back yard. Mariko turned on the pool light and they both dived naked into the glowing turquoise water.
They glided together back and forth across the length of the pool as the rippling light cast a crazy dancing pattern above them on the walls of the house. The black sky showed its brightest lights, thanks to the wind of the night before that had blown the air clear. The Big Dipper was easily visible. Venus and Mars burned brightly near the moon. Mariko climbed out on the steps from the shallow end and Matt followed her. He put her towel around her shoulders and kissed her neck.
"Don't," she said. She turned to him. "What did the guy in the Jaguar want?"
Matt wrapped his towel around his waist and they sat down on two wire mesh lawn chairs, facing each other.
"He wants to know what your dad's doing with a merger deal," he told her.
Mariko looked at the pool, the light from the glowing blue water bouncing across her face.
"I thought so," she said. "I was expecting something like this. Are you in trouble over it?"
"Could be."
"What are you going to do?"
"Don't know yet. What do you think I should tell him?"
"Tell him what he wants to hear."
"I would if I knew."
She studied him for a moment.
"Should we talk to your dad?" he asked.
"No, that could make things even more complicated for you. I have a better idea."
"What's that?"
"He made his proposition seem so innocent. I think you should respond in an innocent manner. I think I know how. Let me sleep on it. But we're going to have to wake up early."
He followed her back into the house and upstairs. They got into bed naked and wrapped their arms and legs around each other. He kissed the jet black hair on the top of her head and then they were both asleep. It had been a long day.
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