The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,17

hair with a sharp thrust which made Fiona wince as it scraped her scalp.

‘That’s better. There now.’ Mayu jumped down.

The three ladies stepped back to admire the picture and Fiona took a few steps in the shoes which felt very odd, forcing her to take careful, tiny moves. Against her skin, the cotton hadjuban felt soft and light, while the heavy silk of the kimono and the tight obi made her feel cocooned and a little constricted, but that was more than made up for by the easy, happy acceptance of the three women and the delighted expressions on their faces. Haruka clapped her hands together, her serene, elegant face wreathed in a motherly smile and Setsuko beamed at her, while Mayu nodded, her head tilted and her arms folded, pulling her mouth in an approving teenage moue.

On the table, Fiona’s phone began to ring with the Facetime tone. She winced and shook her head as Mayu went to pick it up and offer it to her.

‘No, I’ll call them later.’ She spread out her arms and did a little twirl for her audience, not wanting the spell to be broken. Although a foot taller than the three diminutive women, for once being different didn’t feel like being out of place or looking in from the outside.

‘Would you like me to take some pictures?’ asked Setsuko.

Fiona hesitated a moment; she didn’t really like having her photo taken. The minute a lens was pointed her way, it made her stiff and self-conscious but the kimono pictures would be perfect for her blog and she wanted to capture this lovely moment. She also wanted pictures of the three generations of women together. ‘Yes, please. With my camera. It’s in my room.’

‘I’ll get it.’ Mayu sprang up, hovered in the doorway for permission, and at Fiona’s nod darted away.

Mayu was keen to take the pictures and was a very quick learner – as soon as Fiona had shown her the basic controls on her SLR camera, she snapped away, pretending to be a paparazzo, which soon had all the women laughing.

‘Here, darling. Smile for me, Fiona. Give it to me baby. More. More.’

It was easy to relax with the enthusiastic teenager, laughing and joking and Fiona found herself loosening up, knowing she could easily delete most of the photos. She could always cut her own head off if her usual tortured grimaces were truly awful.

After a mixed day, including a low point where she’d really wanted to go home, Fiona reflected as she went to bed on how welcome the three women had made her feel. Maybe underneath it all, when you thought about what really mattered, Japan wasn’t so very different. People still loved, laughed, and cared for each other and those were values that were shared the world over.

Chapter 4

Faced with the slew of querulous texts that greeted her when she went to bed, relinquishing the warm company of the three women, Fiona couldn’t face calling her mother knowing that it would be a combative conversation. Her mother really hadn’t wanted her to come to Japan. Instead, she quickly worked out that if she called at seven the next morning, it would be ten at night in the UK. She sent a quick text, explaining it had been a long day and saying she’d call later.

The futon mattress was much more comfortable than she’d expected and with the thick padded covers, again so different from home, she found herself as snug as a bug and, despite the peaks and troughs of the day, she fell into a deep and dreamless sleep as soon as she switched off the light.

She woke to her phone bleeping and blearily accepted the facetime call.

‘Fiona, I’ve been so worried about you.’

Fiona sighed. Her mother had got in first, before she could jump in with all the positives, like the kotatsu table, the kimono, the delicious breaded katsu chicken that Haruka had prepared for dinner, and the photographs she’d seen.

‘Hello to you too.’ She yawned and pushed her hair out of her face. ‘And why are you worried?’

‘Well the texts I was getting were very short. Anything could have happened and you didn’t call this morning.’

‘Mum.’ Two seconds in and Fiona’s patience had to be forced. ‘Japan is one of the safest countries in the world.’

‘Well, they might they say that but I don’t know. And I hadn’t heard from you and I’ve been feeling awful.’

Fiona ignored her latter comment. ‘I called you as soon as I