The next morning, Anna woke up to the sound of her ringtone. Her phone was vibrating crazily and didn´t seem to stop ringing anytime soon.
“Hello?”
The person on the other side sounded very eager.
“Anna, I have such big news for you! They’re humongous actually!”
The sleepy woman just agreed with a sound.
“It seems your book sold so well in Japan that they want to transform it into a movie! Can you believe it?” It took a few minutes until she registered what she had been told, Truthfully, she wasn´t too excited. “Shouldn´t you be more enthusiastic about this?” She shrugged and sat up. Looking around, she didn´t even realize she fell asleep on the couch.
“I am; it’s just too early. So, what do you want me to do?” The voice from the other side scoffed.
“They already found a cast and dealt with everything regarding the script. All you have to do is to fly to Japan and witness your hard work being paid off” She ruffled her hair and rubbed her eye. “Are you listening to me? Pack up; you’re leaving in two days”
“For how long?” She asked sleepily while making her way into the kitchen.
“Undefined time" That was all before the line went silent. Anna groaned and scratched her tummy.
“Kuso” She mumbled in Japanese.
Later that day, she found herself on the way to the publisher’s office. She got a phone call that instructed her to come by for a pep talk.
When she opened the door, she almost fell on her back. There were a lot of people, doing practically nothing except talking on the phone. The editor was nowhere in sight while her publisher was silently typing on his computer. He noticed her instantly and waved. She smiled instantly and walked over.
“Do you remember the day when you entered this room and asked for a chance?”
His deep voice sounded perfect for storytelling. He was a very good speaker, actually. He decided to wear glasses that day and it made him look even hotter than he was. His messy black hair was shorter. He recently cut it because of his negative reaction. His father told him he resembled a girl before. He looked younger than he was, which was 30 years old. His cheekbones were his beauty mark. He was quite fashionable too. He had a distinctive charm and he was very polite; almost like a butler. He reminded Anna of a anime character. He was the dream man of any otaku.
“If I remember correctly, that’s the same question you asked me when I left for a France. I am going to come back” He chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
He made her feel safe. That was mainly why he was the shoulder she could cry on. He was that best guy who might have been in love with his best friend since forever but would not tell a word so that she would find her own happiness. She knew that but he resembled that man too much. She didn´t want to destroy a beautiful friendship over love matters.
“I heard you’re going back to Japan” She nodded while he gave her a pack of cookies. She raised an eyebrow in confusion but took one nonetheless. It smelled and tasted fresh. His mother paid him a visit. “Are you going to look after him?” The tone of his voice was wary.
" I don’t know. But I don´t want to force my luck.” She placed the cookies back on his desk and bit her lip. “I don’t know what I want, Henry. I just know that if I will meet him again I will regret it” He nodded and changed the topic.
“Do you remember where I took you after your first published book?” She stuck her tongue out while thinking. She still had weird habits.
“My first published book was ‘Black Water’ which had a horrible subject. You took me to a graveyard?” She titled her head to the side and took a while to think about it. Henry´s eyes widened in amusement and he started to laugh.
“No” He tried to calm down. “It was that bohemian tea house. You said back then that it reminded you of the good old times” She remembered. That tea house was abnormally resembling the one in Tokyo. The so called good old times were the moments she talked about nonsense with that man.
“Do you want to go there? Can you leave?” He chuckled and ruffled her hair.
“Of course I can. I own this place, in case you forgot” She rolled her eyes and pushed him playfully. He was exactly what she needed when she returned to London. He was the person she didn´t want to say goodbye to, as well.
When she got home Rosie was silently waiting while making popcorn. The microwave signalled the finished product at the same time Anna closed the door behind her.
“You came just in time!” The blonde was trying to open the pack but it was too hot and she almost burned her fingers. “Ouch! It’s so difficult” Anna rolled her eyes and walked towards her younger friend. She broke the bag easily and put the popcorn into a bowl.
“It wasn´t that hard, was it?” Rosie stuck her tongue out as a response. She grabbed Anna’s hand and went into the living room. She grabbed the coffee table and moved it aside. She sat in front of the couch and patted the place next to her. Anna complied and waited to see what her friend wanted.
“So, since I´m really curious how your movie-“
“It’s not mine. Only the plot is” Rosie ignored her friend and continued with her idea.
“Well I heard some hot actors will play important roles. For example, the Taka guy. He’s the most important man in the whole book and he has to look handsome. From what I found on internet, Taka will be played by Matsumoto Jun. Wow, Anna!” She rolled her eyes and turned to her flat mate with a peculiar expression. “He played in so many awesome dramas and movies! Oh look! Hana Yori Dango! That drama we watched together!”
“More like you made me watch it and translate it” She smiled sweetly and went back to her business.
“It seems Nana’s role will be played by a Japanese woman” Anna raised an eyebrow. “It says right here" She pointed to her laptop’s screen. “Japanese actress Keiko Kitagawa will play Nana’s character”
“So Nana became Japanese” She mumbled. Rosie nodded and patted her friend’s head.
“It’s ok. That doesn´t change the past. Nana will still be British but will be played by a Japanese actress and-“She stopped when she heard the elder laugh.
“I´m Japanese” Rosie was dumbfounded. “They made me Japanese. That’s something. And the actor who plays Nao” She stared at his picture and started to chuckle. “He looks nothing like him” Rosie shrugged and scrolled down. She actually started to read the whole article out loud. Anna started to laugh over some facts and seemed very intrigued by others.
They didn´t respect her plot entirely. But, didn´t that mean the distance between those two characters was so big that even the actors who were going to play them were completely different? It was strange. She felt a little rejected. It wasn´t really her plot. It wasn´t really her life. What they were doing was just a new scenario. Truthfully, there was no ending to the real story.
The next few days went by too fast. Anna spent them with Rosie and Henry. She planned the whole departure; her apartment in Tokyo was still available. She was scared but she was equally excited.
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