Mister James arrived in the late flight.
Mrs. Nakamura was there to receive him as soon as he stepped out of the baggage
claim area. She was very nice, greeting him with a sign with his name on it in
both Japanese and English. She asked him about his journey as they walked
towards the door. Not even a minute later, as they were talking about how
difficult it could be to sleep on a plane, a small black car, which seemed
brand new, appeared out of nowhere and parked in front of the two of them.
Minute
later, the car was on a highway, speeding next to many other cars and
motorcycles. Mrs. Nakamura was talking on the phone and he didn’t know whom
with. He was too fascinated with the view from his window to care: the city
rose in every way, buildings all over. It was impossible to see the moon in the
sky. It was late but there were lots of cars in the road. As they approached
the core of the city, the denser it became.
When Nakamura hung up, she smiled again and
explained where they were going and the name of his hotel. It was a very
prestigious five star hotel with every single commodity a person could ask for.
He personally thought it was a bit too much for a four days stay but he didn’t
say a word. He knew Japanese people loved to be hospitable and it would be rude
to say anything against it. So he just smiled and said that the city was very
impressive. It was extremely big in every way.
Soon, they crossed the most popular
neighborhoods, where people gathered to have a drink after work and the young
ones paraded around to have fun, whether it was on the numerous arcades or on
the specialized stores that sold comic books and other anime and manga related
items. There were so much people, more than Mr. James had ever seen. He had
being born in a very small city and had only left after high school so he was
still impressed by large cities.
They arrived in the hotel just a few minutes
afterwards. The building was beautiful and someone, a small man, came out of
nowhere and took James’s suitcase. He almost went running after him but it was
obvious he was an employee and he was only looking to be efficient. The driver
left and Nakamura joined him in the reception for the check-in procedure.
The lobby of the hotel was very big, filled
with flowers. There was no one around except the staff who was also very nice
and smiled every single moment. It was late and they were probably tired so it
was a very nice thing of them to keep smiling. The short man took the suitcase
to the elevator and took them directly to the assigned room. It was locate on
floor number 44. The view was outstanding. He almost didn’t hear when Mrs.
Nakamura told him she would be there by seven in order to take him to the
conference.
Once alone, he checked his suite: it was
almost like a proper apartment with a living room, a small kitchen space and a
large bedroom with a very comfortable bed. The bathroom, which had a circular
Jacuzzi type of bathtub, had a window overlooking the city. He felt tempted to
have a bath but he decided it was better to rest as he had an early day the
next day. He took of his clothes and hopped into the bed. There, he stared at
the window for a while and realized the bed was big enough for two. So he put a
hand on the space next to him and fell asleep.
The conference that was being held in the city
lasted all the four days he was going to be there and would take most of his
time. When Nakamura came in to take him there, he was sad he couldn’t walk
around the city first. But she noticed something in his face because she told
him that they were going to have lunch in a traditional restaurant and dinner
in an interactive place where many foreigners love to go. So he decided to look
forward to both those activities.
The conferences were about security in the
XXIst century and how could people feel safe in every single one of the spaces
they frequented the most such as public transportations, shopping areas,
recreation venues and so on. He had given the same conference once and again
and again for the last five years. James was considered to be one of the
experts in the subject, always invited by television networks to talk about
terrorism and how it worked in urban areas and so on.
Sometimes, he grew very bored of hearing his
own voice. And he knew that he also bored many people, no matter how interested
they were in what he was saying. It was one of those traits that are impossible
to erase from the personality. But he was looking forward to lunch so he
decided to be as gracious and nice as he could.
He was awarded by the most delicious meal he
had ever had, at least in recent times. There was some sushi but also ramen and
noodles of all kinds and various cuts of fish and seafood. There were also
sweets made of what he thought were strange ingredients. But he tried every
single thing and was commanded by the chef for being such a good sport with
everything. They even took a picture of the whole table, James smiling.
At night, Mrs. Nakamura took him to the
strangest place he had never been in: it was called a café but it was more a
hybrid between a bar and a restaurant. They had a live show featuring some
people in costumes and the food was all filled with sugar: milkshakes, ice creams, sweet cocktails, cheesecakes
and all kinds of desserts to enjoy as you watched the show.
When he arrived at the hotel and Mrs. Nakamura
left, he had a big smile on his face. The place they had been last was filled
with typical tourists and also younger people but he had a lot of fun looking
at the costumes and the very creative show they had put up. He was a bit drunk
because of some funny colored drinks he had but the first thing he did when he
arrived at his bedroom was not to fall asleep but to grab his tablet and start
looking for everything he wanted to see all around the city.
He had decided he wasn’t going to waste any
time, no matter how short or if it had to be done at night. He wanted to see
every single landmark that was worth a watch and also visit more places like
that café, places that felt unique and special. He had gotten such a good vibe
out of that place and maybe it was because he had never been in such a fun
place, filled with color and with people having fun.
As he finally got into bed, he realized his
job had its perks. It was depressing to talk about security every day but he
got to visit such great places and have a fun time. It was always better that
been at home where he had no one to come home to, where he had long nights in
which the old insecurities came back to hunt him. No, when he travelled he was
always happy and had the most fun he had ever had in his life. He wished it
could always be like that.
The second day they went to the shopping areas
and James decided to splurge a little. He wasn’t a fan or anything of the sort
of manga but he decided to get advice from the owner of the largest store of
manga they saw and ask him which ones he recommended to begin with. He bought
four books, all in English so he could understand. The owner, as all the other
people, was always very nice.
He also bought some clothes, making Mrs.
Nakamura help him with the sizes and telling him if he looked good in them or
not. At first, she had been a little apprehensive that he was not as she had
expected him to be. But after some conversations, she realized he was lonely
person, which wasn’t all that uncommon in her city, in her country. So she
decided to help him as well as she could and follow him to all his adventures.
The night before he had to leave, they went to
a very quiet sushi bar which she had recommended as she had dinner there with
friends quite often. They discussed his schedule for the last day and when she
mentioned his flight, James smile disappeared. He obviously didn’t want to
leave yet. She promised to take him to a special place the next day, before the
flight and he smiled to that.
James last night was one of almost no sleep,
mostly thinking and thinking. And when he was done doing that, the sun was
about to rise. By the time he arrived to the conference hall for one last
lecture, he had taken the decision to change his life and to make that
presentation the last he would ever make.
