One Kiss in Tokyo... (8 page)

Avery nodded. ‘All sounds good to me. You're the expert here. I'm just happy to watch the cooking and get eating.' They ordered drinks at the bar and Katsuko sipped her wine as she spoke rapid Japanese to the chefs. They slid along the cream leather bench and watched in fascination as the chefs expertly sliced, chopped and prepared food. The preparation time was minimal. These guys were complete and utter professionals. Avery pointed to one small plate of food with a few
nigiri
. ‘That would probably take me hours to prepare,' he said to Katsuko as he took a drink from his beer. ‘I think I could watch them all day.'

‘I couldn't,' she said quickly. ‘I just want to eat.'

As they slid along the bench, following their food being finished, Avery was fascinated with the whole experience. When the food was plated they carried it over to a table overlooking the Hachiko crossing. He had used chopsticks before but just wasn't very good with them. Katsuko laughed at his efforts and leaned over to reposition them in his hands, her warm skin touching his.

‘Watch out, Katsuko,' he warned with a smile. ‘I'll think you're trying to deliberately touch me.'

‘I'm trying to stop your food landing in your lap,' she said smartly.

He ate for a few minutes, looking down in awe at the still crowded crossing. It was teeming with people and after a few minutes they started pointing out the people they thought would never reach the other side in time. It was almost like a kids' game.

‘This food is delicious. You're right. I will come here again.'

She nodded. ‘It helps to eat it just after it's prepared. Sushi should be eaten at the optimal fish and rice temperature. It tastes best then.'

He noticed a few of the other men around glancing in her direction. Katsuko was bright and lively. It didn't hurt that she was the prettiest woman in the room with a whole lot of sexy thrown in there too.

‘Who texted you earlier? Was it an admirer? I bet you've got a few on base.'

She didn't flinch at all. ‘Nope. No admirer. It was my grandmother.'

‘Your grandmother? You mentioned her before. How is she?'

‘Still here.'

He was surprised by her blunt answer. ‘What does that mean?'

She took a deep breath. ‘Let's just say I've always had the distinct impression that my mother and subsequently me are the biggest embarrassments of her life. In fact, it's not really an impression at all. It's fact. She's said it.'

‘She what?' It seemed like such a harsh thing to say. And even though Katsuko said it so matter-of-factly there was no hiding the glimmer of hurt in her dark brown eyes. His insides automatically coiled upwards.

Katsuko took a sip of her wine. She was trying so hard to appear indifferent. Did she know she couldn't look indifferent no matter how hard she tried?

He reached over and touched her hand. ‘Tell me more about your grandmother.'

He was definitely curious. There was a story there. But he was more curious at Katsuko's reaction to her grandmother's text.

She shrugged. ‘What's to tell? I see her when I have to, which isn't often as she doesn't particularly like me. She wants the whole world to jump for her. I've learned the hard way not to do it. The more I get involved the more I get hurt. Adulthood has taught me to move into self-protect mode.'

He didn't know quite what to say. Lots of families were fractured, lots of families were broken. His own wasn't ideal. But this? This was a whole other story. Was her grandmother her only living relative?

‘Do you have other family in Japan? Aunts, uncles, cousins?'

She shook her head. There was an air of sadness about her. ‘No. My mother was an only child. I think my grandmother had some cousins once, but I'm sure she treated them the same way she treats everyone else.'

‘And how is that?'

She met his gaze square on. ‘With disdain. With disapproval.'

He released her hand and leaned back in his chair a little. ‘Those are harsh words.'

‘She's a harsh woman.'

He signalled to the waiter.

‘What are you doing?'

He gave a rueful smile. ‘I'm ordering us more drinks. I don't care if we're supposed to eat and run in here. I want to know more.'

She bit her lip and he wondered if he was pushing her more than he should. But she'd been the one to mention it, and he wanted to know more about her. He gave her a moment as she pulled something from her bag. Her lips were still perfectly red but she slicked something over them that gave a waft of strawberries. He could sense delaying tactics easily.

He tapped his fingers on the table. ‘Your grandmother must be quite modern.'

Katsuko let out something resembling a snort, then covered her face in embarrassment. ‘I don't think anyone would describe my grandmother as modern.'

He held up his hands. ‘She's texting. She must own a mobile phone. What age is she?'

‘She's just over eighty. My mother was a late baby. She thought she couldn't have any children.'

‘Then she must have been delighted when your mother came along.'

Katsuko sighed. ‘You'd think so. But I think she'd got used to having no children. She'd accepted her fate. My mother was a shock. I don't think she ever really adjusted to having to replan her life.'

Avery pried a little further. ‘You said she was unwell—she's in a wheelchair?'

Katsuko nodded. ‘Her rheumatoid arthritis has been severe for as long as I've known her. She's been in a wheelchair since I was tiny. Her muscles are wasted. She has fibrosis of her lungs and kidney problems too. Every joint is affected. Her fingers are all disfigured. She doesn't use a phone. She uses a tablet.'

‘Who takes care of her?'

Katsuko swallowed and glanced out of the window towards the busy crossing. A classic avoidance technique if ever he'd seen one.

‘She has help.' Katsuko bit her lip again. She seemed annoyed.

‘What kind of help does she need?'

Her gaze was fierce. She was obviously regretting this conversation. ‘Every kind of help. Someone washes her, dresses her, prepares her food and amuses her for the day until they have to do it all again in reverse.'

Avery's brain was spinning. He wasn't quite sure of the healthcare system in Japan. Who helped when someone needed care at home?

But Katsuko didn't even let him ask the question. ‘I pay for it. Don pays for it. She wouldn't let us help her. She told us in no uncertain terms.'

There it was again. That flicker of hurt. That deep-seated resentment.

‘Why on earth does your grandmother treat you that way?'

Katsuko rested her elbows on the table and ran her hand through her shiny hair. She glanced around the restaurant, looking at the other people around them. She straightened in her seat and looked at him. ‘Do you see anyone who looks like me?'

He frowned and looked around. Was it a trick question? ‘Of course. There are lots of Japanese people in here.'

She shook her head. ‘Look again. Look hard. Do you see anyone who looks like me?'

If this was test, he was going to fail.

‘I don't know what you mean.'

She sighed and held up her hands. ‘In Japan, I'm known as
hafu
—it's the term we use for biracial.' She glanced over her shoulder. ‘I can't see anyone else in here that looks like me. Japan is one of the least ethnically diverse countries in the world. Some people think that people like me—
hafu
—aren't fully Japanese. My grandmother has always felt that.'

He was more than a little stunned. All he could see when he looked at Katsuko was her beauty. He hadn't thought much deeper than that. Oh, sure, when he'd first seen her he'd been a little curious. But that was all.

Working in the air force all around the world meant that race had never really been an issue for him to consider. His life had been full of people with varied nationalities and more mixed genetics than he could ever imagine.

He chose his words carefully. ‘What does Don say about this?'

She sucked in her cheeks. ‘Oh, Don is mad. Don has always been mad about the way she treats me. He was mad long before my mother and father died. When I was younger, he took me to visit her every two weeks. But he sat outside in the car for two hours, then knocked on the door to pick me up again. I gather they exchanged words during the custody issues—but neither of them has ever spoken about it.' She glanced out at the street again. ‘When I turned eighteen, he told me it was up to me if I wanted to visit. I could drive by then. He just let me know he wouldn't force me to go.'

Avery tilted his head to the side. ‘Was he trying to stop you going?'

‘I don't think so. I think he'd just felt some sort of duty up until then. In Japan, you're not officially an adult until you're twenty. But I think Don's patience had worn thin by that point. I'd already been accepted for nursing. He told me it was up to me to decide what I wanted to do.'

Avery was watching her closely. She liked to keep things guarded, as if she held them close to her chest. Oh, she was talking. But years of being in the medical profession had frequently taught him that it wasn't what was said that was important—it was what
wasn't
said.

‘What did you do?'

Her eyes fixed on the table. ‘I visit when I can.'

‘And you don't want to?'

Her fingers slid up and down the stem of the wine glass. ‘Not really.' Her voice was barely a whisper.

He reached over. This time he didn't squeeze her hand. This time his fingers interlocked with hers. ‘She doesn't know how lucky she is to have you.'

Her deep brown eyes met his and he could see her swallow. It was odd how he understood the awkwardness of family. The not-quite-fitting-in part. Their circumstances were completely different. But strangely similar. She'd lived here her whole life. He'd spent most of his adult life flitting around.

But the connection between them was real.

He hated the fact that she looked unhappy. ‘Surely there must be lots of people on the base who are
hafu
?'

She nodded. ‘On the base there are quite a few. I don't think there's anyone else that's Japanese and African-American, though. I guess I stand out a little because of the colour of my skin.'

‘And that causes problems?'

She shrugged. ‘It depends entirely on where you are. My mother wanted me to attend the same Japanese school that she did instead of a school on the base. But after a year of my being bullied for being “different” she changed her mind. I had some interviews at universities before I decided on becoming a nurse. Some of them were awkward. They asked me outright where I fitted. A lot of Japanese companies are very traditional. In a way, I think they were trying to prepare me for the adult working world. The truth is, even with a university degree, I might have found it difficult to find a job. The base is really the only place that makes me feel comfortable.'

Avery's brain was spinning. She looked so sad when she spoke that it was clear these experiences had really affected her. Who did she have to talk to about them?

The city he'd lived in as a child had people of every nationality—as did most of the bases he'd worked on. What he really wanted to do right now was hug her. She looked like she needed one. Instead, he leaned forward. ‘Just for the record, I think you're pretty much perfect just the way you are.'

She rolled her eyes. ‘You're flirting again.'

‘Of course I am. I'm with the prettiest woman in the room. I'd be a fool not to.'

He couldn't help it. Katsuko could give blasé and smart answers. She was good at that. He'd thought before she was just sparky. Now he was realising it was part of the barriers she erected around herself. Self-protection.

He recognised them. He just wasn't ready to tell her why.

In his head, part of him was already walking away. No matter how much bravado she had, Katsuko wasn't the kind of woman he wanted to toy with.

He wasn't planning on being around her. He couldn't give her what she really needed. Someone to stand by her side. Someone to tell her how beautiful she was, and how good she was. He wasn't sure he could ever be that person.

The thing was, it didn't stop him wanting her.

In fact, it just magnified it.

No matter how wrong it was, he knew exactly what he'd do next.

He stood up. ‘Let's go. There's something I want to do before we go back to the base.'

She gave a little start and made a grab for her jacket as he signalled to the waiter and settled the bill.

‘No. Wait. Let me pay for part of that.'

He waved his hand. ‘You can buy dessert.' He waited until she'd slid her arms into her jacket, then took her hand, leading her towards the elevator. There was already a crowd waiting and space was tight.

He smiled all the way down in the elevator, keeping her hand in his.

‘What are we doing?'

He bent his head. ‘Let's just say I'm still a tourist and I'm living the dream. Hachiko Crossing just made my bucket list.'

Outside it was even busier than before. The streets looked even more magical with their bright neon lights and flashing signs. They joined the crowd waiting to cross.

His thumb brushed against the inside of her palm. She gave him a curious smile. The lights changed and he shouted, ‘Run!'

The shocked expression on her face was priceless. He wasn't quite sure how he managed it, but they darted in and out of the crowd without any injuries to either of them. As they approached the midway point of the crossing he stopped dead. Katsuko barrelled straight into the back of him. ‘What?'

He spun around. They were dead centre. Exactly where he wanted to be.

A few eyebrows rose from people who sidestepped around them.