Someone Else's Daughter

~ ~ ~

OVER THE NEXT few months, Karen and her parents prepared for the coming of the baby. Since she wasn't going to be going to school after all, Karen had to find a job, which meant no more volunteering at the theatre, which really broke her heart. Instead, apart from working at the convenience store near the two universities, she spent her time reading up on pregnancy and parenting. Her first year's board and tuition went to paying for and preparing for baby necessities.

It took over a month before her father would even look at her, let alone speak to her. Even then, it was mainly in single sentences. Gone were the loving hugs and cheerful exchanges. All Karen got from her mother were doleful looks as she helped her youngest daughter prepare for motherhood, making sure she wasn't completely alone at her doctor's appointments.

Although readily obtainable in Canada, Karen and her family did not even consider abortion, since their faith would not have allowed it. While they had also explored adopting the child out, Karen still held on to schoolgirl dreams of reconciling with Bill and wouldn't hear of giving his child up.

Over the nine months of her pregnancy the mood in the house was quiet and tense. Through family gatherings during Thanksgiving, and Christmas, Karen was generally ignored by the extended family, pointed out to younger cousins as an example of what happens when a girl becomes too worldly. The only kind face throughout the ordeal was her sister, although she didn't cut Karen any slack either, kindly reproaching her whenever Karen's head got too stuck in the clouds. She encouraged Karen to take a few correspondence courses at the community college before the baby came to at least earn some credits that she could use in the future.

When the time came to give birth in February, Karen's mother was in the room with her throughout the sixteen-hour ordeal. Although her father wasn't ready to welcome her back into his good graces with open arms, he did stay in the waiting room with Katherine until his first grandchild, Christine, was born.

While Karl was still not feeling quite charitable to his younger daughter, his heart melted for his granddaughter. She was wrinkly, and an angry pink colour. The nearly white peach fuzz on her head her only hair, but to him she was beautiful, and he pinned higher hopes for her than he did for her mother.

The next few weeks were a flurry of activity. Karen had to learn how to be a new mother, with the help of her own, and a hand from her sister and cousins. After a few weeks, Karen had to go back to work, still hoping that she could go to university by September and get her plan back on track. She didn't want to deplete her college fund any more than she already had. Luckily, her sister was able to find her a mailroom/reception job at a local branch of the company where she was a bookkeeper.

Karen found the job only marginally better than the convenience store, mainly because she had to find cheap daycare for Christine when family couldn't cover, but she enjoyed the work. She especially enjoyed when she was at reception before the main receptionist's shift and during her lunch hour. This was where her cheerful, perky personality shone.

The company where Karen now worked was a Japanese business services and logistics company serving the many Japanese companies in the country. Her office supported auto manufacturing nearby and engineering research at the university sponsored by various Japanese industry associations. Despite being a satellite, the office was quite important, which is why on a very early morning in mid-spring, the head of the Canadian operations and his entourage arrived to meet with the local executives.

As the group entered, Karen stood up from behind the reception desk and bowed in the Japanese fashion, thankful for the pointers her sister gave her. "Good morning Mr. Sakai!" she greeted as she recognized the head of the group. "Please let me show you in," she offered as she led the gathered group into the main boardroom. As they began seating themselves, she noticed that the admin assistants were just coming in for the day, so she took the initiative to serve coffee and tea to the men until they were able to take over. She bowed again to the group and thanked them for visiting their office.

Osamu "Call me Sam" Sakai, the chief of the group watched her as she walked out. At 55, he was still young enough to appreciate a pretty girl, but there were pretty girls all around, and so many executives here in North America were getting in trouble fooling around with the pretty girls that they worked with. Also, his father-in-law, who was the head of the company, would have his head on a platter for that kind of indiscretion, so his head turned to business.

He surmised that a pretty western girl who looked like a cheerleader would be a great presence at reception in their Toronto offices. He leaned over to the younger man sitting beside him, to the consternation of his main assistant, since it bucked protocol. But he was the boss, and the big boss' son-in-law, so no one complained.

"Kenji, I want you to do something for me," he requested of the younger man in Japanese. "After the meeting, go to personnel and find out who the receptionist was and get her transferred to our main office."

"Hai, shachou! Yes, Mr. President!" he agreed enthusiastically, happy to be given a task by the highest-ranking person in their company here in Canada. After two hours of presentations from the local staff and pronouncements from the executives from Toronto, business was concluded and they group had an hour to spare before going to entertain their largest client in the area at a local Japanese restaurant and bar.

Kenji "Ken" Suzumura, took the opportunity to complete the task assigned. At 23, he was the youngest man at the table, and it was mostly men at the table. He knew that he was in a privileged position, and he understood that even this menial task meant that the boss trusted him.

Most Japanese salarymen would not have had the opportunity for a foreign posting this young, however Kenji had two things going for him. The first thing was that Mr. Sakai was his father's sponsor in the company, so he took Kenji under his wing out of a sense of responsibility. The second was that Kenji's father had also been assigned to the Toronto office in his younger days so Kenji had grown up partway in Toronto and was fluent in both English and Japanese and knew the ways of both Eastern and Western business practices - a perfect go-between for the mainly Japanese upper management here and the local staff and clients.

~ ~ ~

KENJI WALKED OVER to the HR manager's cubicle, which was right by the mailroom where Karen was working away. He knocked on wall of the cubicle's entranceway and the occupant turned to greet him. Before going in, Kenji looked at the nameplate on the door so he would know her name.

"Good morning, Doris, my name is Kenji Suzumura," he offered his hand to the trim, middle-aged lady. She was a bit surprised since most of the expats wouldn't generally be so forthcoming with a handshake initially - a slight nod maybe, a shallow bow, but not a handshake. This endeared him to her and she was happily willing to help. "I have a request from Mr. Sakai that I was hoping you could please help me with?"

"Of course, Mr. Suzumura," she agreed, making sure to add the Mr. since the expats always seemed to stand on protocol. "How can I help you?"

"Please, call me Ken," he smiled. It was then that Doris noticed he acted and spoke quite differently than the usual expats. For one, his English was very good, almost flawless. Secondly, he walked and held himself quite differently from the rest, in a looser, more confident way, and he seemed taller. "Mr. Sakai would like to know who was working the front desk when he arrived this morning."

"Was there a problem?" Doris asked worried that she would have to let the cheerful and hardworking girl go.

"Not at all, Doris. Mr. Sakai would like for her to consider transferring to our Toronto office as our full-time receptionist," he replied, reassuring the HR manager.

"Well, that's good news. I'll ask her," Doris let Kenji know. "When would you like to know?"

"The sooner the better,' Kenji replied. "Please call or text me when you know," he requested. Doris nodded as Kenji thanked her and left.

~ ~ ~

"HI KAREN. WOULD you mind if we had a chat quickly?" Doris requested as she knocked on the open door to the mailroom.

"Sure Doris. Everything OK?" Karen asked, worried that she may have messed something up.

"Nothing bad, really," Doris assured her. "Why don't we have a seat here and chat?" Doris indicated a small meeting table after she checked if anyone else were around. "So, Karen, what's your situation like here?"

"I don't know what you mean," Karen said, confused by the question.

"Sorry, I mean, is there anything keeping you here in Waterloo? A husband? Boyfriend maybe?" Doris clarified. Karen thought for a moment.

"Nothing really. I have my daughter, and my mom and the church ladies help out watching her, but nothing tying me here. Why?"

"Well, seems like Mr. Sakai, that's the older gentleman," Karen nodded as Doris explained. "Well, he seems to think that you would do well as a receptionist at the Toronto office. Now that would come with a pay bump, but since you have a support system here..."

"That would be amazing! My sister works out of that office," Karen exclaimed.

"That's right," Doris remembered. "She was the one who recommended you for this job. Would you be open to making the move?"

"Let me talk to my family, but I'll let you know by..., say tomorrow?" Karen requested, thinking that being in Toronto would help her back on the acting track more so than in Waterloo.

"Alright," Doris nodded, "but don't wait too long. Let's not keep management waiting," she warned as she got up to return to her cubicle.

Karen went home later that day to let her parents know that she'd be moving to Toronto with the company. There really was no discussion to be had since this would get her one step closer to the entertainment industry. Her parents were happy to have her go, and arranged it so that what was left over of her education money went to her sister Katherine so she could find a larger apartment in the suburbs closer to the office.

Doris texted Kenji the next morning to let him know Karen had accepted.

~ ~ ~

TWO WEEKS LATER Karen and her daughter Christine moved in with a very put out Katherine. While she was happy to be closer to her niece, who was an absolute cutie, living with her sister was not as great. At nineteen Karen was still a child, who was meant to be responsible for a child. Not having gone through the same formative experiences as others she was not taking to the responsibility of reality well.

Although going through the motions of motherhood and adulthood perfunctorily, Karen still had her head in the clouds. She continued to have notions of going to acting school, of becoming a famous actress, and of reuniting with Bill and becoming a family.

Despite being dreamy and inattentive in other aspects of her life, Karen really did love her daughter, and she valued her new job. It paid quite a bit more than her mailroom gig, and the building management provided a daycare facility. It helped that being a receptionist in an image conscious company put her front and centre, and she thrived on the attention and the opportunity to put on a performance.

As a very pretty, nubile, shapely girl-next-door type, Karen got quite a bit of attention from most of the single, and a few of the less-than-single, men in the office. Karen practically preened whenever any of the more attractive men would stop by and spend a few minutes paying attention to her. Many would try to go on dates with her, but once they found out about her daughter, most would beg off.

One man who was very polite to her, but had not paid her any particular attention was the one that helped her land the job in the first place. That really puzzled Karen who, despite her inexperience and naivety, expected attention from the opposite sex. For Kenji's part, it wasn't that he didn't find her attractive, or that he didn't want to date her. Kenji focused on his career and on making sure he didn't cause any embarrassment for his father, who was also an executive in the company, and for his mentor, Mr. Sakai.

A peculiarity of Japanese corporate culture is drinks with the boss, or a nomikai. In a team bonding exercise colleagues and the boss would get falling down drunk as a shared experience. Many times, the social lubrication would allow things kept internalized to be spoken out loud. While the spirit of the event followed the company to Canada, the excess did not, since it was frowned upon in current Western corporate circles.

This was how Kenji found himself in Mr. Sakai's office with one or two other of his boss' direct subordinates sharing in pours of expensive single malt scotch. As they drank, his boss signaled him closer to speak to him.

"Ken-kun," he called over, adding an affectionate honorific, "Why are you so stiff with everyone?" Sam asked. "You're too much like your father, too proper," he continued as if not expecting an answer. "You should enjoy yourself while you're here, enjoy the culture. Of all the junior executives, you are the one I can see taking over here in the future. The rest are too stuck in their ways. You grew up here, and you understand how things work," Sam said as he finished his glass of scotch.

"Thank you for your confidence, Sakai-san," Kenji nodded his head in a bow as he refilled his boss' glass.

"Why don't you ask out the new receptionist?" Sam continued. "I see you look at her. You like her, don't you?"

"Yes, Sakai-san," Kenji agreed.

"So then, what's stopping you?"

"I don't want to embarrass you or my father if something goes wrong. And she is a single mother," Kenji hedged.

"This is what I mean, Ken-kun! Such a stick in the mud, just like your dad, although his is firmly up his ass!" Sam laughed. "Loosen up! Would it be so bad if you did get involved with her? I wouldn't be embarrassed."

"But how would it look to the company shachou? My family?" Kenji asked.

"You let me take care of that, my boy!" Sam enthused as he patted Kenji on the knee. "Now drink!" he urged as he filled his subordinate's glass.

~ ~ ~

THE NEXT DAY found a few of the sales team gathered around the reception desk flirting with Karen, and she was gamely flirting right back. Kenji walked by and caught her eye, giving her a smile and a nod. Karen was caught off guard by the attention and froze in a half wave. She gave her eyes a quick few blinks and refocused on her chat with the sales guys.

Kenji went straight to his desk getting ready to take care of his supervisor's requests for the morning. As he worked through the AM, his thoughts strayed back to Karen many times as he took his superior's words to heart. After he caught up with the morning, he walked over to the now empty reception area.

"Hello Miss Fischer!"

"Hello Mr. Suzumura, how are you?" she replied as she stood and made a slight bow, recognizing the stature of his informal position, despite his relatively junior title.

"That's alright Karen, no need to do that," he waved at her to stop. "And thank you for asking. I'm doing well," he replied. "I just wanted to come and see how you've been adjusting. How about we get some lunch and have a chat, say at 11:45?" making an excuse to have lunch with her.

"Sure Mr. Suzumura, that would be great! But I'll have to be back by one o'clock."

"Don't worry about it, I'll get someone to cover," he assured her.

"OK then, I'll see you at 11:45!" Karen replied cheerfully.

~ ~ ~

KENJI AND KAREN walked around the corner to a small deli and spent thirty minutes getting Kenji updated on how Karen was settling in and the next hour getting to know one another. By the end of lunch, they were "Ken" and "Karen", and were communicating naturally.

Over the next few weeks Karen and Kenji lunched at least twice a week, sometimes thrice weekly, if Karen's sister Katherine came along. Kenji got to know Karen and Katherine, and about their semi-rural upbringing on the outskirts of Waterloo - close enough to the city but in the middle of Mennonite country. He learned of their fairly conservative upbringing, but also of their dreams of the bigger world, particularly those of Karen.

He also learned of Karen's daughter, Christine. He didn't necessarily hear the details of her parentage, but gleaned that it was not in the plan. At the moment it was a minor detail that he filed away, not intending things to go beyond a friendship with the two women.

Karen and Katherine learned of Kenji's solitary childhood as an only child to a busy Japanese salaryman. How his father, Ichiro, was quite typically a distant Asian father, seeing his role as provider, and working long hours, both at the office and drinking after hours, or golfing with clients and bosses at the weekend. When Kenji's father was stationed in Canada for six years, Kenji was able to live the typical Canadian middle, and high school experience. His relationship with his mother, Akiko, was also distant, her traditional upbringing little preparing her for an increasingly Westernized son.

Upon his return to Japan though, Kenji found himself a bit of an outsider - not Japanese enough for his classmates - so his solitary existence continued. Kenji's saving grace was his father's boss, who saw the potential of children like him, having grown up in both worlds, to build the business internationally. So Kenji was sponsored to go to the best university in Japan, and to continue further studies abroad. During the summers he dedicated his vacations to grunt work for the company. That landed him a gig in the company's international management trainee program, which suitably impressed the sisters.

~ ~ ~

"HEY KATIE, WHAT do you think about Kenji?" Karen asked one evening as they put Christine to bed.

"Well, he's a really nice guy. Quiet for sure, but kind of confident. Why?" Katherine responded with her own query.

"I was just wondering if you were into him...," Karen explained slowly, but rushed to finish her next statement. "'Cause if you're not then I'd like a shot at him even though you probably aren't into him since you have a boyfriend and how would I even get him to ask me out and would you look after Chrissy for me and... and...," Karen ran out of steam and flushed. "I mean he's kind of cute, and he'd be a catch, his star's on the rise at the company and such, ya' know?" she shrugged sheepishly.

"Hey sis," Katherine began with a small, tight-lipped smile that just didn't reach her eyes. "Most of the expats here are only here for a while, you know?" Kare nodded. "So, he's gonna be leaving at some point...," Katherine explained to her sister. "That means that if you start dating, it would be temporary, at best."

"Yeah, but that shouldn't stop him from dating me for a while, right?" Karen rationalized.

"You said it yourself, his star is on the rise, which means they'll expect him back in Japan, and that comes with expectations, including who he's with," Katherine continued to explain. "And what about Chrissy? It wouldn't be fair for her to get to know him and then just have him disappear."

"OK then, like I said, no strings! Why can't I have some fun?" Karen pouted. Katherine just shrugged and shook her head as she went to pour herself a glass of wine.

~ ~ ~

OVER THE NEXT few weeks Karen and Kenji started seeing each other outside of work. Often it was a quick dinner after work whenever Kenji didn't have obligations to socialize with his co-workers. On the odd weekend that he didn't have to golf with clients or his boss, Kenji would take both Karen and Christine out to small excursions to Centre Island, or out to the Zoo, not that Christine would remember, but it would be a stretch to have Katherine watch the baby every time Karen was out.