her.
‘Drama queen,’ said Penny, opening a jar and sniffing it. Regan recoiled as if she’d opened a joke tin with a springy snake in it. Penny closed her eyes.
‘If you’re overcome with fumes you only have yourself to blame.’
‘Stop it.’ Penny scooped some out, spread a little on two crackers and handed one to Regan.
‘What’s this, a suicide pact?’
‘Eat it!’ Penny looked like she’d reached the end of her tether.
Regan took the cracker from her and sniffed it. ‘Onion and chilli,’ she confirmed, in a small voice. At least she could identify it. She looked at Penny, her cracker held in front of her. ‘On three?’
Penny shook her head and took a bite of the cracker. Great, now I’ve definitely got to eat it, thought Regan. She took a bite and chewed quickly. The sooner she got to the swallowing stage, the sooner it would be over and she could wash it down with coffee. This was not a moment for mindfulness. But as she chewed, the flavour that sprang across her tongue was a huge surprise. Regan slowed her chewing and watched Penny – she was grinning.
‘That’s bloody lovely. You really had me going there,’ said Penny, giving Regan a playful slap on the arm. ‘The sweetness of the caramelised onions works really well with the bite of the chilli.’ Regan was speechless. ‘And what’s this one?’ said Penny, opening the other jar and putting a big dollop onto a fresh cracker.
‘Plum and cardamom,’ whispered Regan. One was a fluke. This was bound to be vile.
‘It’s set well,’ said Penny, before taking a bite. Regan stared and waited. ‘Mmm, that’s really good too.’
Regan snatched up a cracker and spread some on to try for herself. Penny was right. It tasted good. The cardamom gave it a savoury flavour. ‘I could eat that with a curry,’ said Regan, sounding as stunned as she felt.
‘Well done, Regan. I think you’re in business.’
Regan was taking a break when her phone rang. ‘Cleo. Hello, are you still in Japan?’
‘Yes,’ whispered Cleo. ‘I’ve got a problem.’ Regan was relieved and worried in the same moment.
‘Why are you whispering?’
‘Because I’m in Mr and Mrs Yomoda’s toilet.’
That just gave Regan more questions. ‘Again, why?’
‘Because,’ continued Cleo in hushed tones, ‘they invited me to their house for dinner. I was going to watch an anime film in my room but I’m a bit sick of hotel food, so thought why not?’
‘That sounds lovely,’ said Regan, thinking that she could do with a nice home-cooked meal herself. ‘What’s the house like?’
‘Er,’ Cleo sounded momentarily thrown by the question. ‘Simple. Boxlike. All painted white.’
‘That’s disappointing. I thought it would be all bright Japanese colours, silky kimonos and lanterns.’
‘Me too, but it’s less geisha and more IKEA.’
‘So what’s your problem?’ asked Regan, checking her watch. She’d never been one for keeping to time, but working for Penny was different and Regan didn’t want to take advantage.
‘They gave me some sort of soup, but it had something large and black lurking in its depths like a bowl-sized kraken. And chopsticks to eat it with!’ said Cleo, her voice rising for the first time. ‘At least at the hotel I could use Google Translate and get a rough idea of what I’m eating. Here it would be rude to ask.’
‘Just copy what they do,’ suggested Regan. ‘Or ask for a spoon or a straw.’
‘Right,’ said Cleo, not sounding like her problem had been solved. ‘I’d better go. Are you okay?’
‘Yeah. I’m okay. Good luck with the kraken.’
‘Thanks.’
The call ended and Regan smiled to herself. Even if Cleo didn’t know it, she was making real strides. The Cleo of old would never have considered leaving the hotel alone – this was definitely progress. Regan was proud of her friend.
That feeling changed a little when just over half an hour later her phone rang again. Regan put her on speakerphone. ‘I’m working … in the office,’ she added. She wasn’t ready to tell Cleo that she’d lost her job yet, or about the lottery debacle, because she couldn’t see a way of telling her without revealing that she was living in the studio or making up more lies.
‘Okay, I’ll be quick,’ said Cleo, still whispering but sounding brighter. ‘I copied them like you suggested and hauled the black stuff up from its lair with the chopsticks. There was lots of the stringy substance so it took a couple of goes. And … it was okay. It was noodles.’
Penny glanced over at Regan and she