The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,63

voice came out screechy and panicky.

‘Sorry, I thought the shutter was sticking a bit; I wanted a test shot. Don’t worry it’s completely out of focus and there’s too much light behind you.’

Relief almost made her knees buckle. God knows what might have shown on her face. From now on she was going to have to be very careful around Gabe, so she didn’t give anything away. This wasn’t love, just infatuation, and it would go as soon as she could get away from him. She only had to survive the next week. And surely she could come up with plenty of strategies to avoid him. Spend a day in the teashop with Setsuko. And she had the tea ceremony with Haruka. That left the trip to Mount Fuji, but hopefully now she knew what she was up against she could erect some barriers and keep her guard up, maintain a healthy distance etc. etc.

‘Fi, are you listening?’

She blushed again, realising that both Gabe and Ken were staring at her.

‘Sorry, I’m a bit light headed.’ Which actually was the truth. Her pulse was just returning to normal.

Ken jumped up from the sofa and Gabe took her elbow and guided her to sit down. Seconds later the actor was pushing a glass of water into her hand and Gabe was crouched in front of her, holding one of her hands. ‘You’re a little flushed, are you okay?’

Oh heck. Her throat was so tight with embarrassment she couldn’t say a word. Gratefully she took the glass and tried to shake her other hand free from Gabe’s. The warm touch of his skin and the concern in his eyes wasn’t doing her any good at all. He squeezed her hand, not letting go. ‘Have some water. There, that’s it.’ Even his voice sounded worried.

Taking a sip, she managed to say, ‘I’m fine.’ Now she was even more mortified with both men staring anxiously at her. ‘Honestly I’m fine.’

‘Sit there for a moment.’

‘But I’m holding you—’

‘I’m pretty much all done.’

‘That’s what I like about working with you, Gabe. Quick and dirty, get the job done.’

‘It’s not always that easy,’ said Gabe with feeling. ‘Thanks for the support.’

Fiona was aware of a presence in the doorway and she turned to see a beautiful, slight woman, standing with an amused smile on her face, poised and waiting to be spotted. ‘They’re good people,’ said Ken, unaware of the woman behind them. ‘a bit … how do you say it?’ He lifted his palms upwards.

‘Keen,’ said Gabe with another roll of his eyes. He hadn’t seen her either.

‘But doing their jobs, like you and me.’

The woman’s eyes had now narrowed and her lips had flattened, the expectant smile dimming. Fiona could see her displeasure in the way her hand slid to her hip and in the petulant tilt of head.

‘You’re a better man than I am,’ said Gabe.

‘I’ve got too many people ready to run me down if I’m not,’ replied Ken, with weary grin.

‘That’s the price of being in the public eye.’ Gabe raised both eyebrows.

Ouch, she really did not look happy. Fiona tried to catch Gabe’s eye but he was now showing Ken the shots and with their heads together they were murmuring and discussing the pictures Gabe had taken.

The woman had taken a couple of steps forwards and had paused, posing again. Fiona tried to smile at her but the woman wasn’t interested in her – all her attention, sharp and eerily focused, was on Gabe. She watched him with possessive hunger, her mouth pinched now. Her pose, initially relaxed with feline assurance, had stiffened with anger and irritation.

‘Er … Gabe,’ said Fiona, fidgeting in her seat, loathe to stand up. Next to this tiny slender fairy creature, she was like a towering colossus and, as she acknowledged the thought, her heart plummeted to the bottom of the ocean with a total sense of hopelessness. Gabe was totally out of reach, she knew that. This was the sort of woman he went for.

‘Mmm?’ he said, still absorbed in his camera.

‘You’ve got a visitor.’

‘What?’ He finally lifted his head. Yumi glowered at him.

‘Yumi! What are you doing here?’

Suddenly she was all gracious smiles. ‘You said you were doing the shoot with Ken. And I finished earlier than I expected so I thought I’d come over and say hi.’

‘Hi,’ he said, clearly a little bemused. ‘Ken, this is Yumi Mimura.’

‘We’ve met before. Her smile was sultry as he bowed to her. ‘And it’s Yumi Mitoki now.