The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,88

having me on.’

‘Swear to God and cross my heart.’ He held his hand up boy-scout style. ‘It was Mayu’s birthday treat.’ He shuddered. ‘And she sang “Like a Virgin”. Mayu that is, not Haruka.’

Fiona giggled. ‘I’d like to have seen that. What did Haruka sing?’

He laughed. ‘She sang Whitney’s “I Will Always Love You”.’

‘Interesting,’

‘It certainly was.’ He grimaced.

‘Can you? Sing, that is?’

‘I can hold a tune. And when I’ve had a few I’m the next best thing to Robbie Williams.’ He grinned at her. ‘How about you?’

She shrugged. ‘I’m okay.’

They pushed their way into the bar, through a crowd of very happy Japanese youngsters who were just leaving. The place was packed with plenty of people and there was a group of German tourists on stage, gleefully murdering a Mariah Carey song much to the evident enjoyment of the assembled crowd of mainly tourists.

‘What would you like to drink?’ Gabe had to shout in her ear over the noise of the clapping and cheering.

Fiona, who was taking everything in with interest, pulled a face. ‘I’ve no idea. I usually drink wine but I’m not sure … what do people drink here?’

‘Highballs, mainly, or beer.’

‘I’ve had enough beer. What’s in a highball?’

‘It’s a long drink of Japanese whisky and soda although some people drink it with Coke or lemonade.’

‘I’ll try one of those. With lemonade please.’

He muscled his way to the front of the bar and caught the eye of the waitress who was singing along to the song at a decibel level that might burst an ear drum. Carrying the drinks, he wriggled his way through the chairs and tables to where Fiona had found two spare seats at the end of a long table that was occupied by two other parties.

‘Kanpai,’ he said, raising his glass to chink against hers.

‘Kanpai,’ she said back. ‘I guess that means cheers.’

‘Sort of. The direct translation is “empty your glass”.’

Fiona took a couple of sips and then tipped her neck back and drained the glass in one.

‘Whoa. You were thirsty. I didn’t mean you to take it literally. Do you want another?’

‘Yes please,’ she said as sweetly and placidly as a nun, as if she hadn’t just necked a double whisky.

‘Okay. You’re sure?’

‘Yes.’

When he brought back the second drink, he said, ‘Go slowly with this one. That whisky can pack quite a punch.’

‘OK,’ she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and watching the proceedings avidly as the German singers left the stage and another couple took to the mic.

‘This is quite a traditional karaoke bar. These days the big chains in Tokyo and big cities tend to have different sized private rooms that you can hire by the hour. A lot of them are themed and some even have costumes for a bit of cosplay.’

‘Wow. That sounds … hideous. Oh,’ her eyes darted to the stage, ‘I love this song.’

‘It’s a karaoke classic isn’t?’ Gabe teased as the strains of ‘Islands in the Stream’ began to play.

‘So what song would you choose for us to sing together?’ he asked.

‘“Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”.’ She winced. ‘That came out … wrong. It was the first duet that I could think of.’ Her eyes were suddenly a little grave. ‘But you probably could.’

The words punched him in the throat and he swallowed, the sudden sense of responsibility weighing heavy and making him feel a little panic stricken.

Her lip curled, as if she could hear the thoughts running through his head.

‘If I let you,’ she gave a sniff and tossed her hair over her shoulder, ‘which I’m not going to do. So you don’t need to worry.’

Well that told him. But what if she broke his?

***

A few more songs and a third highball later, Fiona was as ready as she was ever going to be. Gabe had been quite intrigued when, after the German couple had come off the stage, she’d signed up for a turn. That was the first whisky talking.

Stage fright was a real kicker. Even the thought of mounting those steps filled her stomach with rocks and the whisky hadn’t helped the way she’d hoped it would but something inside her drove her on; she wanted to impress Gabe for once. He was always so competent, so self-assured. She wanted to show him that she was good at something.

A group of Japanese girls were doing terrible things to the Spice Girls ‘Wannabe’ and quite literally having a ‘wail’ of a time doing it. Not that the crowd cared; they were going wild.