“You did what?!” Anna was currently trying to slip through the people from the train. She had to get to the studio as fast as her legs could take her. It was rush hour and she almost got caught into the wrong mob of people. Besides that, Mizuki wouldn’t stop calling her.
“We didn’t do anything. 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.
“Mizuki, were you naked?” She could hear the caller gulp.
“...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’s innocent 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 4 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 loudly into the phone, making Anna flinch. “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?” Now, 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 because she hadn’t had a real boyfriend in a long time.
“Anna-chan! Good morning.” Those words were on the lips of 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 slightly on the door and sighed.
“Are you going to move soon? I can’t open the door with you blocking it.” Anna’s eyes popped open and she turned her head to look at the offensive intruder. It was a fatal mistake. They both jumped back surprised. Nao still wanted to get it over with so he easily pushed Anna aside and opened the door with his uncle’s keys. He realized he wanted so much to be visited and listened that he would even give his nephew a copy of his office’s keys.
Inside, Anna sat on the left side of the table while Nao was on the right, facing her. She was tense. She had her eyebrows furrowed, either in confusion either in annoyance; either in both. On the other side, Nao didn’t really seem to care much. He was leaning back lazily and his head was tilted to the side.
“What are you doing here?” Nao chuckled and leaned a little on the table, amused by her question.
“What are you doing here?” She scoffed and kicked him under the table. It startled him.
“That hurt! Are you bipolar? I just asked you innocently!” He acted a little exaggerated but it amused him how defensive she started to get.
“You met me when I was young and depressive. I got over how unfair life is a long time ago. Now, meet the real me.” She forced a smile and kicked him again. He winced again but he couldn’t give her a comeback because the door opened. Both adults looked up to meet the director and the scriptwriter. One looked at Anna and one seemed surprised to see Nao.
“Naoki.” The happy smile on the scriptwriter’s face was enough to enlighten the room.
Once everyone entered the room and eventually bowed to each other, the meeting started with 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.” Whispers started to break the silence of the room. Most of them were 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 uncle knew that. Moreover, he 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.” Slowly, the room emptied and the only people inside remained Anna, Nao and the scriptwriter.
“I’m a little startled you actually came.” Anna raised an eyebrow. “Oh!” When Watanabe-san realized Anna was still there, he smiled kindly. “Anna-san, this is my son. 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 but it became a best seller fast, Lovers in Tokyo?” Nao shook his head. Anna sighed in relief.
“Should I read it? Is it any good?” He wasn’t interested into 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 out 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 of it? I’m sure you will find yourself remembering things.” Her answer intrigued but also seemed to tick him off. They glared at each other for one more time before Anna grabbed her bag and walked out the door.
“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 shoulder.
"You should read it anyway. If you accept the job, you’ll have to know what’s happening in that book.” Nao sighed in frustration. Well, at least he got to promote the bohemian coffee shop.
On the way back to her apartment, Anna was skipping imaginary stones. She was mentally tired but her body was still fresh. A lot of things happened in one day and a half. She shouldn’t have met Nao again. Wasn’t their relationship all about one chances? One day, one night and one shot. Why was his uncle the scriptwriter? Why was the director so fascinated by his pictures? Why were so many links between them? It was annoying but she couldn’t help but also feel excited. The guy who managed to stay inside her head for 4 years was there, next to her. She could just get his number and then keep in touch.
“But that would be wrong.” She shook her head and ruffled her hair. It was overwhelming. “He’s so annoying.” She stopped in her tracks when she saw someone in front of her apartment. He wasn’t tall, he looked rich and he was half American. “Chris.” He waved at her and walked over.
“Hey. Sorry if I seem like a stalker but I’ve been waiting for a while. My feet kind of hurt.” She rolled her eyes and told for him to follow her.
“Welcome to my palace.” She mumbled after she closed the door behind him. His eyes scanned the living room fast and eventually turned to her.
“I know you’re busy so I won’t take much of your time. I just wanted to know what happened that night. Mizuki doesn’t respond to my calls and I’m sure you two shared information.” He looked pretty nervous and curious and even amusing. Anna knew she liked to see other people on the edge too much. She wasn’t a sadistic writer for nothing.
“Nothing happened. She’s just a scared cat.” He watched as she walked into the really small kitchen and started to prepare hot chocolate.
“Isn’t a little late for that?” He pointed towards her hands, where the kettle was. She chuckled and poured water into it. While waiting for the water to heat up she joined him on the couch. “Anyway, if nothing happened, why is she so scared to talk to me?”
“She left because there was an emergency at the hospital. Mizuki is a heavy drinker; she wouldn’t do something like that and not remember. She’s scared that you may think she left you hanging. She’s very sensitive and takes everything to heart. Also, her schedule is complicated. Do you understand my point?” For a second it looked like he understood but in the end, he shook his head. She was surrounded by naïve people. “If you like her, go surprise her at the hospital” She grabbed a business card from her wallet and gave it to him. “Now the problem is solved.” He started to laugh out of nowhere while looking at the small rectangular piece of cardboard.
“You remind me of Nao.” Instantly, Anna scoffed and rolled her eyes. She was already getting prepared for another long and appreciative story. “He usually doesn’t act so shy. You know, he’s actually taken.” That was quite big news and shockingly, it actually matched the whole process of messing her life. “She’s an awesome woman, pretty too. Quite the catch, you know.” He sighed and leaned back. “But he doesn’t love her. It’s so complicated. I’m his best friend and I want him to be happy but it seems like he doesn’t want to.”
One moment she had to give explanations about Mizuki, which she was completely fine with, and in the next, fate was interfering again. It was all so annoying and overwhelming. Why couldn’t things get to the early stages, when there was no electricity and no sparkle; just the empty space into her cold heart.
“He’s a nice guy, playful even. You know, once when he was in America I asked him what is wrong with him. His answer was vague. He said that love passed him by and he figured it out too late. It seems he fell in love once and she broke his heart or something. I asked him about her but he just said she was the most unique woman he had met.”
“What about his girlfriend?” She was somehow getting pulled in.
“Ai-chan is a model. She works in Osaka most of the time. He moved in with her after they got together. She has long brown hair, she’s quite a short woman but she gives off a strong aura. You know, now that I think about it, you look a lot like her.” Why didn’t that surprise her either? It was all so usual. Weird things were connecting her to him and vice versa. That was the main reason she didn’t want to get into a relationship with Henry: she felt like she was rejecting the reality and projecting Nao into him. It seemed that didn’t work for the subject itself too.
“But you are definitely different. You behave like a foreigner mixed with a Japanese woman. It’s weird but attractive in some way. You two would make an interesting couple. Too bad you haven’t met before, huh?” His eyes were staring at her deeply. She couldn’t act badly. She had to cover her feelings somehow.
“Yeah. Too bad.”
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