The Little Teashop in Tokyo by Julie Caplin Page 0,98
only took two short strokes before she stood before him and cupped his face with her wet hands. ‘I’d like to see you again.’
His hands reached for her waist and he pulled her forward to kiss her. ‘That would be good then,’ he said as if everything was all sorted, which she guessed it kind of was when you were dealing with two people who lived in two different countries. It was far more than she’d expected.
Chapter 24
Real life bit hard on the way back. Gabe’s phone seemed to be ringing non-stop and he spent most of the journey darting out to the deck between the carriages. Apparently 4pm in Los Angeles was a good time to do business. With a seventeen-hour difference, Gabe explained, it was difficult to find a better time to talk.
Fiona regretted losing her own phone and prayed that it was back at Haruka’s because if it wasn’t she had no idea where it could be, unless a pick pocket had stolen it, but from what she read before her trip the crime rate in Japan was low – definitely in comparison to Britain.
Having uploaded all of her photographs from her camera she turned on her laptop. She began selecting some of the more recent ones and putting them into her folder marked Exhibition Possibles. Once she’d decided on the pictures, she would be handing the file over to Kaito and his team who would be responsible for staging and the final curation of her exhibition. She was hoping to go through her favourites with Gabe before she made the final selection. If he wasn’t too busy.
He spent more time on the phone than he did in his seat and even when the train finally drew to a standstill at Shinjuku he was nowhere in sight.
‘Thanks. I feel like I’ve put in a full day’s work already,’ he said, reappearing at the very last minute as she pulled their bags down from the overhead shelf. ‘Sorry for abandoning you.’
‘It’s fine. You were working and I got quite a bit done.’
‘Want to come back to my studio?’ He laid a hand on the small of her back and she leaned into it, relieved by the small touch of intimacy. She’d be lying if she didn’t feel a sense of loss that they were going back to real life. As if he knew how she was feeling, he pressed a quick kiss on her mouth. ‘And that’s not a euphemism, although there’s a serviceable couch in there.’
‘Yes, but I need to pop back to Haruka’s and dump my stuff.’ And look for her phone; it had to be there somewhere.
‘No problem. We could pick up a couple of bento boxes, have a working lunch, and go over your photos.’ They walked through the vast Shinjuku station hand in hand and made their way to the Yamanote line. With Gabe holding her hand, resting loosely on his thigh, the journey home on the suburban train felt very different to the one out. By mutual design rather than spoken agreement, Fiona pulled her hand from his when they came in sight of the teashop and Gabe gave her an understanding nod. Whatever their relationship was, it felt too private to share and Fiona wasn’t ready to discuss it or let it be discussed by anyone else, especially not by people who knew Gabe so much better than she did.
Setsuko called a cheery hello from the doorway of the teashop as they wound their way into sight from the local railway station.
‘How was Fuji?’ she called from the doorway.
‘Wonderful,’ said Fiona and felt the brief butterfly brush of the back of Gabe’s hand against hers. ‘Absolutely beautiful.’
‘Full of tourists,’ said Gabe with his usual teasing grin.
‘He loved it really.’
‘Did you take lots of pictures?’
‘Just a few. I’m going to drop off my things and then we’re going to the studio and I’ll come back later. Is that okay?’
‘Okay, Haha is out but the door is open.’ Setsuko bowed. ‘I must get the shop ready for a tour today. And,’ she added with one of her serene smiles, ‘for the photographs.’
‘Okay, I’ll be over later.’
Fiona couldn’t imagine what the other woman had to do as the shop was always immaculate.
‘It’s all about the ritual and the preparation,’ murmured Gabe in her ear.
‘Sometimes I think you’re a mind reader.’
‘I’m an observer of faces. Plus it’s not difficult – you have a wonderfully expressive face.’