Warnings: 16+ as there is some references to sex/sexual arousal, but there’s no nudity and no smut.

Note: This is a short backstory piece about Ganny’s first love, Miki Sato. The story precedes the events of “The Colour V,” which hasn’t been published yet.

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Come to Paris: The water lilies…Thursday, 5:30. G.

Miki crushed the paper in her hand.

“I can’t believe you sent a physical letter, Ganny…” she laughed breathlessly, bringing the crumpled paper to her forehead. As she did, she caught a faint scent, rich with orange and spice. Trailing the letter down over the tip of her nose, she inhaled deeply, eyes closed.

Dammit, you’re making me crazy! she thought, feeling warmth curl up her belly. Then her expression dropped, embarrassed that she’d been all worked up over the idea of his scent.

What kind of idiot falls in love with someone they’ve never met?

The letter in her hand had arrived this morning only after she’d already left for Kagami’s fish market, and headed over to supervise the restaurant. It was sitting on the kitchen counter when she came in just after midnight. Still wearing her chef’s coat, she’d ripped the envelope open with a pounding heart.

Hmmph…I haven’t seen such dandy handwriting in a while…

“What? Did you finally get the meeting with de Chambord?” her roommate Mari, nudged her. She smirked as she passed Miki a bottle of chilled Asahi.

Miki gratefully gulped it down, feeling refreshed as the cool golden liquid slipped down her throat. She leaned her elbows on the bar style counter, and threw her head back as she stretched her aching neck. Eyes still closed, she replied:

“I did, but this isn’t it…it’s something else...”

“Your French lover?” teased Mari. “The flight from Kagami to Paris isn’t that bad you know…”

“Pen pal,” she corrected with a snort. “It’s a twelve-hour flight, and I’d never go if it wasn’t for Mathis de Chambord.”

It’d been her life-long dream to have her creations accepted under the prestigious de Chambord label. Like its sister company, Tachibana, approval meant entry into the highest echelons of the culinary world, but the French brand was really in a class of its own. Since she already had a contract with Tachibana, de Chambord was the next, logical step.

Her best friend and mentor, the CEO of Tachibana, Sho, had encouraged her to request the meeting. Without him, she would never have obtained the opportunity. And now, after a year-long wait, the meeting was finally happening at de Chambord’s Paris office on Friday morning. 

Since the timing of Ganny’s invitation had coincided with her plans, she’d already texted her acceptance.

“Did you sleep with him? Sho Tachibana, I mean…” Mari asked, casually rubbing condensation off her bottle.

Miki shot upright, spine stiffening.

“No! It’s not like that at all. He’s…like an older brother…”

“Hmmmn,” the other girl shrugged.

While there was no denying that Sho Tachibana’s blue eyes, dark hair, and perfect blend of Japanese and French features made him a sex bomb, she’d never thought of him that way.

“We met at culinary school…and we’re both of mixed parentage, Asian and French. So, I guess it just made for instant friendship…”

Miki’s father had been Japanese French, and her mother was Canadian Chinese. Both had counted as attractive people, but she’d somehow failed in that department compared to Sho. Nondescript brown hair. Hazel eyes. Nothing special about her…except perhaps her passion for food. 

Water lilies…she sighed at the cryptic message. Ganny…what am I going to do about you...?

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Miki arrived early. 

It was prime tourist time at the Musée de l’Orangerie, and she still needed to figure out which of the two ovals rooms she was supposed to be in. So, she was quite put out to find the museum closed with two rather serious looking suits blocking the entry. 

Wasn’t the museum supposed to be open until six?

Since her French was basic at best, the only words she caught in response to her tentative inquiry were ‘sorry,’ and ‘private’. Dejected, she stepped to the side, pulling out her phone to text Ganny that she’d be late. She contemplated texting ‘where the hell are you?’ but decided against it.

Obviously, she’d misunderstood the message…but if he’d literally meant water lilies…God, you didn’t actually mean Giverny did you…? That’s almost two hours away…

“Miss Miki?” asked an older man, wearing an earpiece. “Oh my, you’re early…” he said. “Please, this way.”

Too surprised to question him, she didn’t notice their arrival at the vestibule until he spoke.

“Miss…? Miss Miki?” the man repeated, smiling politely. “He’s just through there.”

Taking a deep breath, and smoothing a nervous hand over her hair, she made her way in only to falter when she saw him.

Standing in front of Monet’s Water Lilies, was a stunning man with wavy, shoulder length, blond hair loosely tied back, suit jacket hooked over one shoulder. He looked ridiculously tailored in his custom-made shirt and waistcoat, pants cut tight and just above his bare ankles.

Just like a magazine model…

But when he turned his cool blue eyes toward her, she felt ice crash down her spine. Freezing inexplicably, she felt the smile slip from her face.

I can’t…move…

“Miki!” said Gannon, his smile breaking her out of her inertia.

He strode up to her, took her hand and bent over it, breath brushing over her knuckles before he released her. “I’m Gannon—”

Just as he was saying his family name, something buzzed in her ears.

What…the hell? she thought in confusion.

“Enchanté,” he said gallantly, straightening up to his full height. “I’m delighted to finally meet you, Miki.”

Shoving down a feeling of disjointedness that she attributed to her nerves, she formally introduced herself.

“I’m Miki Sato. Nice to meet you as well,” she said softly, sounding far less polished. Since he was so tall, she didn’t try to look at him, but this was fine, since she was still reeling from the raw terror that had frozen her back brain a moment earlier. She continued to feel off balance, but Gannon didn’t seem to notice.

“Shall we?” he asked, offering his arm.

“Oh,” she said, hesitating. “Isn’t it a bit old-fashioned?”

“In what way, ma chère?” he grinned. “As your escort, shouldn’t I do it properly?”

“But we’ve only just met…?” she teased, flipping the question back.

“All the more reason to act the gentleman,” he said, tucking her against his side with a warm chuckle. “And we aren’t really strangers...are we, Miki?”

“Pfft… alright then,” she laughed. He shouldn’t give me the wrong idea like this, but I can’t say I dislike it…Rogue.

He paused, charmed by the sound of her laugh.

Since they’d written to each other for over four years, it didn’t take very long for them to fall into companionable conversation. After all it was due to their compatibility that they’d maintained their correspondence for this long. It had been the unspoken rule between them to not ask certain things, but Miki decided that the security detail was just a bit too much for her to put up with.

“So, are you going to explain the fact that the entire museum’s booked...Young Master Gannon?” she prodded.

He laughed brightly, leading her down to the lower level and into the temporary exhibit space.

“Actually, my family owns a fairly large private collection. The director suggested a collaborative exhibit to which I agreed. I just arranged for the pre-opening inspection to coincide with our meeting today. You told me you love Monet...so...” he shrugged expressively.

She wasn’t sure how to respond to that, but she tried not to show the flutter of her heart on her sleeve.

He’s way out of my league...she sighed internally. It might have been better for me to stay blissfully ignorant of all this...

“What is this?” she asked, stopping in front of a glass case containing a jeweled chalice. Made of gold and encrusted with gems, the heavily embossed chalice looked old, and she twitched when she saw that the inside was stained dark.

Is that…blood? Ugh...

She frowned at the French description, noting the year as being sometime in the 1400s.

“Back in the day, my family might have been into the occult…” he said, sounding somewhat apologetic.

“Fascinating...” she murmured to herself, interest igniting. Dropping his arm, she flitted back and forth through the exhibit which was filled with every kind of precious item.

“Do you like it?” he asked, pleased by her interest.

“It’s like I’ve been dropped into a treasure trove...” she said, turning to find him so close behind her that she felt his breath on the back of her neck. She shivered involuntarily. Something inside screamed a warning, but she shoved it down.

What the hell is wrong with me right now…?

“Oh...” she said, coming up to a life-size painting of a finely dressed blond haired man from the 1600s. “Who is this haughty fellow?”

“One of the Dukes of de Chambord...” he responded, folding his arms over his chest, disdain passing briefly over his face. “I’ve always hated this painting...”

“Ganny, you’re related to the de Chambord’s?” she asked with a jolt, unintentionally using her pet name for him.

“Ganny...is that what you call me?” he suddenly whispered into her ear, fingers brushing her skin while he pushed back a tendril of escaped hair. He tilted her chin up, mesmerizing her with the look in his eyes.

Sorry Miki...not yet…he thought with regret.

Her eyes glazed slightly and then she blinked.

“Sorry, I just blanked out there...what were you saying?” she asked, frowning. She turned slightly. Next to the painting, there was a small pedestal with a small hand-drawn sketch of a teenage boy. She would have walked right by it, except the eyes and features of the boy in the drawing made her think of Ganny. She glanced at the description…The Vampire Prince.

“Are you hungry?” he asked, slipping his hand over hers.

She nodded.

“Excellent! I know a good place…”

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