Lovers in Tokyo

When Anna arrived home, the silence of the apartment was more than welcomed. She had been so touched by him and by his actions but she didn’t feel any relief. Her worries ceased up, she didn’t feel guilty anymore but she was absolutely sure that it didn’t end yet.

The next morning, she woke up on the couch, dressed in the same clothes from last night. The makeup was spread all over her face, she had dark circles around her eyes, her hair was a mess, sticking in every possible direction and overall, the sweat mixed with perfume made her feel itchy. The first place she waltzed into that morning was the bathroom.

The first thing she heard when she finished the long and refreshing bubble bath, was the phone. From the moment she placed foot on Japanese land, her phone started to ring nonstop. She was too occupied to look through the fridge, acting exactly like an old, fat man who didn’t have a life. She grabbed a beer, in the end, and a pack of chips. She placed her sorry ass on the couch and her feet on the coffee table. IF she didn’t know better, she would have thought she was still in College, waiting for Takeshi. Unfortunately, those years passed but fortunately, Takeshi was just a phone away.

On the other side, going to some other corner of Tokyo, into a grand luxurious hotel, one man was groggily trying to open his eyes. The curtains were the only things blocking the sun from entering that room. The man groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, even though it was still dark inside. The truth was that, he couldn’t fell asleep that night and he was certain he won’t hear the end of it for at least a week.

When he started to feel annoyed by his own self and irascible by the lack of sleep, he got out of bed and walked towards the window. The pulled the curtains and flinched. The light was too bright in that moment. When his eyes got used to it, he sighed and ruffled his hair. He just got messed up again and he wasn’t sure if he could run away for the second time.

After the man did his morning routine and dressed more presentably, he walked down to the lobby and asked for the mail. It seemed he didn’t have any. However, he had a message from his father.

“My father?” The man asked, pointing to himself. “Are you sure?” The receptionist narrowed his eyes at the young man and gave him an envelope. The unnamed man walked deeper into the lobby and sat down. The envelope contained a pair of keys, a letter and a business card. Firstly, he read the letter. It was from Watanabe Aoi:

Son,

I know you are in Japan and I know you won’t care enough to come and visit. Luckily, I moved to Tokyo and am currently working on a movie. The director wanted me exclusively to create the script. I know you may not even read this letter but I would be delighted if you could at least visit my workplace. I know you’ve been hired to photograph different sites in Tokyo for an American magazine and I know you well enough to figure you will work according to your own schedule.

Ai-chan also called me to talk about your divorce. She told me she’s rethinking this decision and you should too. You’ve been married for two years and she still loves you. Anyway, you decide that. But I really wish we could meet and talk.

By the way, the director here heard about you and he would also like to meet you to talk business. You have to come anyway, it seems.

Take care of you, Naoki.

Your father

Nao’s expression didn’t change the whole time he read. It wasn’t uncommon to get letters from his father saying how he missed his long lost son, who he didn’t really accept as being a photographer, and how he should think again about the decision he recently took. Even if he was practically still married, Nao never felt as if he was. Not then and definitely not when he did that step. His wife was a nice woman, he didn’t have anything bad to say about her, she was someone who had a career in modeling, making her a beauty, but it didn’t matter for him. He didn’t love her and she knew it even before they became a couple. She was petite, brunette and liked to wear dresses. She looked a lot like someone he met 4 years earlier and he knew that was the reason he married her. However, things changed.

The next object he looked at was the business card. From that, he glanced to the keys. It was the address and name of his father’s workplace and the keys were still a mystery. It didn’t make sense at all.

While he was still thinking about the keys and the situation at hand, his phone started to ring. It was an unknown number.

“Hello?” The voice of the caller was manly. It was a man. Even if he didn’t want to recognize it, he wished it was someone else. “Yes. I’ll come and get the pictures. Thank you very much.” It was someone from the staff of his new project. He had to take pictures of beautiful sites in Japan. Or so his father thought. That one was rescheduled for the next month, since there was no rush. Instead, he volunteered to promote the bohemian coffee shop Anna first took him at. He loved that place and the staff was young, friendly and open minded.

He chose to walk there instead of taking the car. He didn’t have anything better to do and he wanted some time to think about the recent actions. He couldn’t believe he saw her again. She thought that one day was simply one day. It happened and there were no regrets left. He didn’t regret it but he also didn’t forget it. His life started to base itself on her image, even though it was hard to believe. He started to look for girls that looked like her. It was pretty complicated to find girls with green eyes in Japan so he traveled abroad, for different projects. He went to America first. The girls there didn’t really appeal to him, for some reason. But he met Chris and a few more people who helped him become the famous photographer he was. After that experience, he didn’t want a relationship anymore. He just concentrated on work. He went to Africa and tried to help the children, tried to help build a new life for the poor families. After he came back to Japan, he met Ai. She looked a lot like Anna which was both nice and infuriating. She didn’t have the same attitude, the same philosophical style of thinking and she definitely didn’t have green eyes but she had that spark of curiosity. He was too enthusiastic and slowly, he started to have second thoughts about their relationship. From lovers they became married and then everything started to fall down. Brick by brick, he started to build a wall between him and Ai.

While walking on the same alley he started to remember that day. They were two strangers, he didn’t even know her real name, but fireworks were going off into the sky and into his heart. When he opened the door to the coffee shop, he chose to clear his mind and enter with his usual smile.

A few hours later, Nao was still busy, talking with the manager of the shop. They wanted to promote it but they all had different ideas and it was pretty hard to unite them into something.

“So let me see if I got this right…You,” He pointed to the manager, Ayumu. “You want to promote with fliers and eventually on television.” The man nodded. “You” He pointed to one of the waitresses, “You want to use a one day host club so the popularity would increase, which isn’t necessarily a bad idea.” The women smiled. “But, the customers would come just for that and when you won’t organize host clubs anymore, they will stop coming.” The happiness turned really fast into depression. Nao could see the dark clouds hovering over their heads. “And the bartenders would actually go for both ideas…This is not much. You really haven’t thought about it seriously. “He sighed while everyone entered the dark corner.

“If Anna would’ve been here…” Kyoya, one of the bartenders, mumbled. He wasn’t an idiot, as customers believed. He glanced to Nao to see if he got any reaction from the older male. He wasn’t sure. It didn’t seem to make a difference. His plan was a failure so he went back to the dark corner.

Nao did hear Kyoya’s statement. He was aware of his bond with the younger woman but he just ignored it. That, until he remembered his father’s letter.

“Maybe it deserves a chance…”