A Thousand Years of Hope Ch 4-3

Tuesday evening, Tani arrived at the bar and restaurant where Hakan worked. It was named Balkon and was on the second floor of a building with a wonderful view of the city. Tani found an empty table on the balcony terrace and pulled the wooden chair closer to the table as he settled for the evening.

His phone buzzed in his pocket. Tani unzipped his jacket and reached for it. He found a message from Tom.

‘Meeting arranged for the Arturo Vineyard tomorrow. Hera is coming along, hope you will too.’

Tani placed the phone on the table and turned to stare at the sun setting on the horizon. The religious would say God was busy painting the sky. Tani liked to hang on to this beautiful belief. He smiled and sat back, watching the sky turn a beautiful orange.

“May I take your order?”

Tani’s smile disappeared and he glanced at his waiter.

“Hakan.”

The man standing by his table froze, staring at Tani.

“You’re a hard man to get a hold of,” Tani said. “I’m not half as unavailable as you.”

“Babu,” Hakan said in shock. “What are you doing here?”

“I eat too,” Tani said, folding his hands against his chest. “Hera insists this is a great place to eat. You don’t get to call me Babu. I’m disappointed. I came home to find Deniz and Hera sad because of you. Deniz waited the whole weekend to see you, but you never showed up. You didn’t call her either. She cried in my arms last night wondering why you don’t like her anymore. I had no answers for her. So, I’m here to ask what you truly want to do about them.”

“Babu—”

“Hakan.”

“I—”

“Babu is for those under my care,” Tani said. “At the moment, they are three, maybe four. Tom is getting ready to marry his girlfriend. There would have been five had you stuck it out, Hakan. You have chosen to become an outsider. Outsiders are not under my care.”

“Mr. Ryuzo,” Hakan said.

“Good man,” Tani said. “Now, tell me, what do you want?”

Hakan stayed quiet, and Tani took the time to study him. He was of Turkish descent. Handsome enough to resemble a young Tom Cruise, fit and in love with v-neck tee shirts. At the moment, Hakan wore a black one with dark slacks. Tani wondered what Hera saw in Hakan, but then again, he had no power to judge others in terms of love. His own mistakes were many.

“Why don’t you get me a glass of orange juice? And something sweet,” Tani said. “When you get back, you can tell me what your thoughts are on your daughter and her mother.”

“Alright, Mr. Ryuzo.”

Hakan hurried away and Tani sat back in his chair, he returned his attention to the sunset.

“You’re very quick to solve Hera’s problems,” Cale said, pulling out a chair opposite him.

“Stalking me can also be considered a hobby,” Tani said in greeting.

“Your hobbies are more interesting,” Cale said, settling in. He signaled a young woman who was walking by. “Get us a bottle of red wine, please. Cancel his orange juice order.”

“Coming up,” the woman hurried to fulfill Cale’s order.

“Tom says there is something wrong with the soil your man dropped off at the conservancy. He is going to visit the vineyard with Hera. Are you going?” Cale asked.

“Mm. I’ll check it out,” Tani said, still watching the sunset. “You said to meet him. I will, and get it over with.”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic about it,” Cale teased, smiling at the server who brought them a bottle of fine red wine. She opened the bottle and poured Cale a glass. He went through the motions of tasting the wine then gave her a nod to leave the bottle on the table.

Cale poured a glass for Tani and passed it to him, touching their glasses together when Tani took his with a nod.

“Who is enthusiastic about heartbreak?” Tani asked, sipping his wine. “He’s already gotten children with Viola. I can only imagine what that will be like.”

Cale scoffed.

“You’re overthinking the situation,” Cale said.

“One thing I know for sure,” Tani said. “He always wants to take care of his children. Something about them taking care of his mother later. I do not overthink his intentions.”

“Hm,” Cale sighed, sipping his wine.

Hakan arrived at their table carrying a plate with a slice of chocolate cake and a fork. He placed it before Tani, who studied the chocolate cake slice.

Tani took up the fork and took a small bite of the cake. He sat back, nodding as he swallowed the cake.

“The cake is good,” Tani said, and then placed the fork on the plate. “Have you thought about what you want to say to me, Hakan?”

“I think you should not interfere with my relationship with Deniz,” Hakan said. “I’ll solve how to take care of my daughter on my own.”

Tani pushed the chocolate cake aside. He rested his hands on his lap and leveled his gaze on Hakan.

“Hera is my ward. I have helped raise her to the age she is now. You’ve walked into my house and given my ward trouble. With your logic, what should I do with you?”

Hakan bit his bottom lip and clasped his hands in front of him. He looked around the busy restaurant before he returned his gaze to Tani.

“I—,” Hakan started.

“Hera is valued in our Ryuzo house,” Tani said. “Her daughter even more so. If you cannot be there for them as you should be, then you had better keep off, Hakan. Don’t make promises you cannot keep. I will not tolerate it.”

“Mr. Ryuzo,” Hakan started.

“I came to tell you that Hera and Deniz are under my care,” Tani said, lowering his voice, allowing the amber in his eyes to shine bright, he continued. “I won’t allow you to disrespect my ward. Keep off, if you can’t keep your promises.”

Hakan stepped back, shock clear in his gaze.

“Hakan,” Cale placed enough money to cover their wine bottle and the cake. “Listen to what he says. You don’t want him unleashing me into your world. I revel in misfortune.”

Hakan took the money and hurried away, sparing Tani a wary glance.

Tani smiled and shook his head, amused. He reached for his wine glass to take a sip and paused in the action when his nostrils filled with the scent of his beloved’s jasmine. The gold mist aura wrapped tight around his beloved lingered in the air, indicating he was close.

Tani held the glass stem too tight and it cracked, breaking. The broken glass fell on the table, but Cale muted the sound, hiding the resulting mess of red wine on the table. Cale grabbed Tani’s left arm and pulled him up.

“Are you going to meet him now?” Cale asked, noting Tani’s nails turning black, and his eyes taking on a fox’s attributes. “You’ll frighten him away.”

“No, it has to be tomorrow with Tom,” Tani hissed, catching a glimpse of his beloved standing by a table on the opposite side of the balcony terrace.

Dante looked distracted, a frown dancing on his forehead, his gaze searching.

Tani’s right palm throbbed reminding him that he needed Dante to heal the wound.

“Let’s go,” Tani hissed, ignoring every instinct begging him to walk to Dante’s side and introduce himself.

Cale nodded, took Tani’s jacket, and led the way out of the balcony terrace.

*~*~*~*

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Babu means grandfather