Lovers in Tokyo

“You did what?!” Anna was currently trying to slip through the numerous people from the train. She had to get to the studio as soon as possible. It was rush hour and she almost got caught into the wrong mob. Besides that, Mizuki wouldn’t stop calling her.

“We didn’t do anything yet. I don’t know. We went to the bar and then I don’t remember much. But I’m pretty sure he was more wasted than I was” Anna couldn’t believe her older friend. She actually got drunk with a guy and ended up into a hotel room with him.

“Mizuki, were you naked?” She could hear her gulp.

“N-No” There was a moment of silence until she responded again. “Maybe. I mean I still had underwear on. And he was shirtless. Just shirtless!”

“And sleeping next to you” Mizuki gulped again. “Ok. Let’s pretend it was nothing until proven otherwise. How did he act in the morning when he saw you there?”

“Well, I actually got a phone call from work somewhere around four in the morning. I had to rush there and- you’re silent” Indeed, Anna couldn’t comprehend how Mizuki could still act like a teenager.

“So he woke up alone. He might have thought you left him. He was drunk too” Mizuki started to whine into the phone. Anna rolled her eyes. “Ok, ok. I went through this before with my flat mate who’s a lot younger than you are. Anyway, you should wait for now. If he calls you, tell him you panicked and left”

“And if he doesn’t call back?” That was indeed a good question.

“He will, trust me” She hung up fast, not in the mood to continue the love discussion. She never had problems when it came to boys. It had been some time since her last boyfriend.

“Anna-chan! Good morning” She heard that line from every man and woman she met on the way to the office. However, the office was closed. She tried several times to push and roll the knob but in vain. She hit her head on the door and sighed.

“Are you going to move any time soon? I can’t open the door with you blocking it” Anna’s eyes popped open and she turned her head. It was a fatal mistake. They both jumped back in surprise. Nao still wanted to get it over with so he easily pushed Anna aside and opened the door with his uncle’s keys. The old man wanted so much to be visited and listened that he even gave his nephew a copy of his office’s keys.

Inside, Anna sat on the left side of the table while Nao sat on the right. She placed her hands on the tableand crossed her legs. she looked ready to strangle someone. She had her eyebrows furrowed, either in confusion either in annoyance; maybe even both. On the other side, Nao didn’t really look to care much. He was leaning against the chair lazily and his head was titled to the side.

“What are you doing here?” Nao chuckled.

“What are you doing here?” She scoffed and kicked him under the table. It startled him.

“That hurt! I just asked you an innocent question!” He acted a little exaggerated but it amused him how defensive she became.

“You met me when I was young and depressive. I got over how unfair life was a long time ago. Now, meet the real me” She forced a smile and kicked him again. He winced. They bothcalmed down when the door opened. It was the director and the scriptwriter. The director smiled kindly at Anna but the scriptwriter was surprised to see Nao.

“Naoki” The happy smile on the scriptwriter’s face was enough to enlighten the small room.

Once everyone entered the room and eventually bowed to each other, the meeting started with straight questions addressed to Anna.

“Ok, I got what you’re saying. There’s money limit, staff limit, power limit, a lot of limits actually, but that doesn’t mean we can’t improvise. For example” She started to look through the papers spread on the table. “Let’s see, the first part of the story is the most important. It all gravitates around that one day. We need an apartment, we need a coffee shop and we already have the public domain. It’s true, the action takes place in England too but that doesn’t mean we can’t improvise these locations”

The main producer raised an eyebrow and made a sign for her to continue.

“I think fans would love if we would film in these locations but if the budget doesn’t let us, then we should use the foreigner bars around Japan” The crew started to whisper between them. Most of them were talking about the locations. That was the main problem.

“Why don’t you just ask for a bigger budget? I’m pretty sure you can get it since you work with amazing actors. The book seems very popular around Europe so you can manage. And for the coffee shop, I have an idea” Nao’s intentions were clearly subjective. Anna knew that and his father knew that. Moreover, Nao didn’t even know what they were talking about. He just wanted to promote the coffee shop and that seemed as a great opportunity.

“I know the perfect coffee shop too” They both glared at each other until the director coughed.

“Well then, that’s all. I will pull some strings and see what’s going to happen. Until then, please work hard on the rehearsals” The room got empty in no time. People were hungry and tired already. The only people who stayed behind were Anna, Nao and the scriptwriter.

“I’m a little startled you actually came, Naoki” Anna raised an eyebrow. She didn’t imagine that his whole name sounded so childish. But it suited him. “Oh!” When Watanabe-san realized Anna was still there, he smiled kindly. “Anna-san, this is my son, Naoki. He’s a photographer. Director-san wants him to work on the movie” If she would have drunk water, she was sure she would have spilled it right then. “This is Anna Bell. She wrote the book that we adapt into a movie. I’m not sure if you heard about it, Lovers in Tokyo?” Nao shook his head. Anna sighed in relief.

“Should I read it? Is it any good?” He wasn’t interested about his father’s answer but he liked to annoy her. That book seemed to mean a lot for her. She bit her tongue and tried not to make a fool of herself. However, she could freely make a fool of him.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you try and read the first two chapters? I’m sure you will find yourself remembering things” Her answer intrigued but also seemed ticked him off. They glared at each other for one more time before Anna grabbed her bag and left.

“What is the book about?” He became curious and he was sure his father, who read and inspected the book to the smallest detail, knew everything about it. Watanabe-san chuckled and patted his son’s shoulder.

“You should read it anyway. If you accept the job, you’ll have to know what is it about” Nao sighed in frustration. At least he got to promote the bohemian coffee shop.