Sumire came upon the end of the winding road abruptly and hit the brakes, hard enough to lock up her seat belt and nearly strangling herself. She stared at the white fencing that indicated the end of the paved road for a moment before putting her little Honda in reverse and making a three point turn to get out of the tight spot and turn around. She must have missed the address.

Fuck.

She knew this section of Bel Air was full of hidden driveways and twisting lanes, but she thought she'd been paying careful attention. Once again, she looked carefully at every sign, and this time she saw it, nearly hidden in the dense foliage that grew right up to the edge of the street. She made the turn and followed the narrow, winding drive for nearly half a mile up the hill until it widened out, offering a spectacular view of the LA basin, all way out to Santa Monica and the Pacific.

Wow.

The April sun hit her in a blast as soon as she got out of the car, and she could feel herself beginning to perspire before she even got to the door. This irritated her, and she briefly contemplated taking off her sweater, but decided against it.

There were a lot of cars scattered around in front of the house, considering it was a Tuesday morning, and she wondered if something else was going on.

Sumire rang the bell, and heard expensive chimes echoing inside the house. She waited a minute, but no one came. She checked her phone calendar to confirm the time and date, and resolutely pushed the bell again.

🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴☀️🌴

"I'm coming! Jesus!"

Nick groaned as he zipped up his pants and flushed the toilet. He looked at himself in the mirror, decided he would do, and loped down the stairs while making a half- hearted pass at his unruly hair with his hand. He debated making a quick detour through the kitchen for some aspirin and a glass of water, but the bell rang again, and he decided against it.

He had to go through the living room on his way to the front door, and he passed two people playing video games, and two guys passed out on the sofas.

"Thanks for getting the door, guys," he remarked, shaking his head.

"Dude, I thought that was a TV or something," one of the game players answered without turning his head.

"Whatever," Nick replied.

He opened the door, squinting as the bright light from outside hit him. He held up a hand, trying to see who was standing on the threshold.

They stood and stared at each other for a moment.

"May I help you?" Nick finally asked, blinking in the light. He could tell the person was female, and that was about it.

"Um, I'm the tutor?" she said. " Your manager hired me? Martin Stabler? To teach you Japanese?"

"Oh, shit, yeah," Nick murmured, nodding as comprehension washed over him. Was that today? He opened the door wider. "Yeah," he said again. "Come in, come in."

She stepped in and Nick closed the door behind her, engulfing the entry in near darkness once more. He quickly led the newcomer through the living room, where, as far as he could tell, none of the four people had moved, and into the kitchen.

"Uh, have a seat, please," he said, gesturing at the kitchen table.

He saw how she gingerly stepped to the table, and noticed for the first time that the table top was littered with glasses, ashtrays, and bottles from the festivities the night before.

"Where should I put the, um, items on the chair?" she asked politely.

"Items?" he repeated blankly. He bent over to look, and saw a bong and a used condom on the chair.

Jesus Christ.

"Oh god, sorry about that," he said with a laugh. "We had a little party last night, and I guess things got a little off the chain, you know?"

He grabbed the bong and the condom, put the bong on the table and tossed the condom in the garbage can under the sink.

He then began rummaging in the cupboards until he found the coffee filters, shoved one in the coffee pot, grabbed the coffee out of the freezer, and poured the water before turning around to face his visitor once more.

She hadn't spoken a word during the entire two or three minutes it had taken him to complete these maneuvers, and he had been growing a little uncomfortable, though he didn't want her to know that.

As he turned around, Meredith entered the kitchen, wearing one of his T-shirts. It barely covered her ass, though she did look outstanding in it.

"Good morning, babe," she purred, leaning in for a kiss. "Mm, that coffee smells amazing."

She looked over at Nick's visitor, who sat, cat-like, at the kitchen table, her satchel on the table in front of her.

"And who's this?" Meredith asked.

"Right, we should introduce ourselves, I guess," Nick said, scratching at his bare chest, smiling his million dollar smile. He sat down across from her.

"I'm Nick, and this is my girlfriend, Meredith," he said with an easy smile, squeezing the hip of the woman who was standing next to him.

The young woman sitting across the table looked from him to the blonde who was standing next to him, leaning casually on his shoulder. Somehow, without changing expression, she managed to convey disapproval, from the severity of her hairdo to the very slight narrowing of her eyes behind her glasses. Her eyes were actually quite pretty, Nick could see, a very deep brown with thick, long lashes, though she wore no make-up at all, almost as if she were trying to deny their beauty.

"Hello," she finally said, her voice as expressionless as her face. "I'm Sumire."

"Soo-mee-what?" Meredith interjected with a laugh. "Like 'sue me'?" She laughed again, shaking her head, ruffling Nick's abundant hair with her hand. "You'll never make it in Hollywood with a name like that, honey."

Sumire looked up at Meredith again and blinked. "Yes, well, I guess it's lucky I have no plans in that direction, then, hm?" she said, without even a hint of a smile.

Fuuuck. This was not going to be fun.

The coffee maker beeped, indicating it was finished, and Nick rose to pour himself a cup. He gestured toward the pot, eyebrows raised, while looking at Sumire.

She shook her head, though it was more of a distasteful gesture than one of negation.

"What's wrong? French Roast not good enough for you?" Meredith asked, picking up on the vibe.

Nick took this time to grab some aspirin and wash them down with the coffee.

Ahh.

"Well, if you must know, he didn't wash his hands," Sumire answered.

At Nick's look, she added, "After you threw away the, um, condom."

"Oh. Right! You're absolutely right." He turned to Meredith and explained, "I tossed a used rubber before I made the coffee, and I didn't wash my hands, that's what she's talking about."

Meredith laughed as she poured herself a cup. "I see. How very fastidious you are, Sue-me, how very very hygienic and all that." She ostentatiously took a sip. "Whatever. I'm going up to take a shower. See you bitches later." She kissed Nick on the cheek and left, taking her coffee with her.

Nick watched her go, then sat across from Sumire, sitting with his legs comfortably apart, scratching his chest once more. He gave her a lazy grin and hoisted his mug.

She merely looked back at him and swallowed.

"So, did you want to get started, or should we just set up a schedule today, or what?" she finally asked.

"Well, to be honest, I forgot you were coming today," Nick admitted with another smile. "As I said, I had a little get together yesterday, and I'm more than a little hungover, so I'm probably not at my best--" he let the end of the sentence dangle.

"Right," Sumire said briskly, taking out her phone and scrolling to the calendar. "So I guess we can just set up a schedule today, then, how does that sound?"

Nick could tell she wanted nothing more than to get out of his house.

"Super, sounds super," Nick drawled, taking another sip of his coffee. "And maybe we could just chat a little, get to know each other?"

"Hm? What?"

"You know, a little introductory talk?" He smiled his most charming smile, scratching slowly at his chest, making sure she heard his nails against his skin.

Just then, with perfect timing, they began to hear noises from the den, which opened off the kitchen, the unmistakable sounds of two, or possibly even three, people getting it on.

Sumire's eyes flew to the open double doors from whence the noises were coming, and she clutched her sweater closed at her throat, though Nick wasn't sure she realized she was doing it.

The sounds of human pleasure were getting louder, more urgent and closer together as they grew silent, listening.

Good god.

Nick finally rose and ambled to the doors, calling out, "Keep it down, okay, guys?" before firmly pulling the doors shut.

He grinned at Sumire, ignoring her shocked face.

"Just some people having a little afternoon delight, you know?" he remarked as sat at the table once more.

"Right," she answered, her voice thin with shock.

"So! Soo-mee-reh? Am I saying that right?" Nick asked. At her nod he continued. "What does it mean? And what's your last name?"

Sumire tore her attention away from the den with effort. "Uh, it means violet."

"Like the color purple?" Nick asked with a smile.

"No, that's a different word," she responded. "Like the flower. And my last name is Kotani. It means 'small valley'."

"So your whole name means 'small valley of violets'?" Nick asked in disbelief.

"Yeah? Why?" Sumireh sounded a little defensive.

"No, no, it's pretty, it's really nice," Nick assured her. "My last name is Pensieri, which means 'the thinker' or something like that, so yours is way prettier."

"My father was a botanist," Sumire explained.

"Was?"

"Yes, he died when I was eight."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Nick said, sounding sincere for the first time.

"Thank you."

"But you're not full Japanese, are you?" Nick asked. "I mean, you don't look it."

Sumire shook her head. "My mother's American," she said.

"So you need to memorize a script for a movie, right?" she continued.

He nodded. "It's a huge, Japanese, period piece, you know, like samurai, swords and all that? I don't know if I can pull it off, to be honest, but I'm tired of making stupid buddy pictures with car chases and shit, so I really want to try."

Sumire nodded. "Well, your manager said you spoke a little Italian, and that should help."

Nick looked at her in surprise. "Really? How? Are Italian and Japanese related?"

Sumire nodded again. "I mean, not grammatically or anything, but the pronunciation is actually pretty similar, and you're going to have to do everything phonetically, you know, by ear, because six months isn't nearly long enough to teach you the actual Japanese language."

"Yeah, I have to sound like I actually speak Japanese, and I'm scared shitless that I won't be able to pull it off." For the first time Nick didn't sound slick or glib.

"Yes, well, that's why I'm here," Sumire said, and for the first time, Nick saw her smile. "So how about if I come back on Thursday and we can start? Will the house be cleaned out by then?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

Sumire gestured. "We can't work in this environment, you must realize that."

Nick sat up. "Right. Right. Yes, I'll get the service out here this afternoon. So why don't you come back tomorrow? Can you come tomorrow?"

Sumire looked at her schedule and nodded. "I'm free in the afternoon, after three, if that works?"

Nick nodded.

Sumire rose. "Great. See you then."

He walked with her to the door, past the four in the living room, who again didn't seem to have moved.

He waved from the door. "Bye, Purple," he called with a chuckle.

She turned and looked at him without even a hint of a smile. "Bye, Nick."