Jetties part 2

I had a text from him apologizing and saying that he couldn't totally cancel all of his appointments on that Sunday morning so if it was alright with me, we could meet at the same place only later at one in the afternoon. I was half way through getting ready when I received it and so it wasn't so bad. At least I wasn't already 'en-route' and then I'd be wondering whether to turn back or find something else to occupy an extra two hours. I sent a pleasant text back saying thanks for letting me know and yes it would be fine. I decided to use the extra couple of hours afforded to me by doing a little laundry and to make myself a proper breakfast and a leisurely breakfast rather than the half-hearted one that I had been contemplating.

I caught a train from Shibuya on the Tokyu-Toyoko line straight down to Yokohama station and from there I changed and traveled on to Sakuragicho Station. Once there I deliberated whether to catch the Akaikutsu bus or walk. The bus may have saved me ten minutes but the day was so warm and my legs so needed the exercise after experiencing the tight squeeze on the crowded Sunday trains of so many heading down to Chinatown so walk I did. I was quite early or so I thought and so I took a slow walk up past the large sailing ship, the 'Nippon Maru'. This vessel is nicknamed the Pacific swan and is now a museum on water after a lifetime of training thousands of young sea cadets. The cool breeze that blew down from Yokohama bay was very refreshing and it carried that pleasant smell of brine and fresh fish being prepared at several places between me and there. I really fancied something cold. I continued on past the Queens square and being a good girl, I didn't look in the fashion stores not once even though I was very much tempted to do so. I did however buy an ice cream from one of the many street vendors. It is sometimes a balancing act to eat the ice cream quickly enough before it melts all over your hands and slow enough so as not to get the pain between your eyes from eating very cold things quickly. I walked on past the fairly quiet 'Cosmo-world' theme park, I noticed that the clock on the side of the Ferris wheel said that I had less than ten minutes, my watch was wrong! I hurried my pace a little more. As I cut across the car park of the Intercontinental Hotel, heading towards the south side of the park he must have seen me from his car. He hit his car horn and pulled to a stop in front of me, he then got out and leaned back on his car arms folded, head cocked and wearing a smirk trying to look ultra-cool.
I approached him with a big smile and kissed him hello. He told me that I looked great but again he asked if I was alright. I think I may decide to kick the shin of the next person to say that to me!
We headed over to the tea house arm in arm.
Of all the places to meet why did we meet here?

For those that don't know or for those who haven't guessed then this was the park in which we'd once said goodbye all those years ago. It seemed fitting then in my mind the previous night that it should become a park in which to say hello. In the space of just over a decade there have been changes but there is still a great deal of familiarity about the place although the ducks and their little pond have gone. The teahouse looks more modern with it having had a face lift to stop it looking like the relic with peeling paintwork on tired old wood from bygone days that it was when we said goodbye. The trees in the southern half of the park have thinned out a little more so there are clear and almost unobstructed views across to Yokohama bay bridge. But on looking around there was more than enough feelings in our surrounding for us to not only recall those far off days with a smile and also perhaps feel a certain wonderment but also in a strange kind of way it seemed as though we had physically stepped into the past.
As we walked along the path to the tea-house he asked me if there was any particular reason why I wanted to meet him today. When I asked him why, he answered that it just seemed unusual for me to phone him up at one in the morning to arrange a meeting the very next day. Very short notice indeed but that's just how it was. I smiled and said that I was given to sudden impetuous and impulsive actions.
He looked at me and smiled and it was perhaps at that moment that I noticed the years etched into his face. The wrinkles by the corners of his eyes when he smiles looked like wind patterns in the sand. He is still very handsome though.
I told him that he'd been right about him telling me about my needing to laugh more and when I was with him, I did laugh. In his presence I feel so relaxed and he is very funny.
In my devious little mind I had wanted to ask him about the previous night, had he been alone when I phoned him?
Perhaps I can imagine him saying goodnight to me and him switching off his phone and rolling over to cuddle up to a mystery girl. A pretty one! One so lovely you can see how beautiful she is even in the dark.
"Who was it honey?" she'd ask him, running her sensual finger down his chest.
"Oh it was Momo, a girl who wants to change my itinerary for tomorrow at extremely short notice." He'd reply slipping his arm under her neck and kissing her delicate lips.
"Why would she want to do that my sweet?" She'd ask as her fingers reached a critical area.
"Probably because she is feeling alone and dejected and she believes that I make her happy." He'd reply smiling at her.
She'd feel his smile because his lips would be on hers. Then he'd kiss her deeply and her hand would be giving him a reason to smile wider.
Damn! I already feel like kicking her out of his bed!

I also wanted to ask him for his view on why we split up. But I never asked him that either. When I used to think about it over and over in my head I had these secret and small fantasies of me holding him prisoner in some dark and damp cell and forcing him to confess why, why, why? But as I have grown older and my life seems to take on a less demanding demeanor then it seems more and more likely not to have any rhyme or reason at all to chase such answers. We just split up, we fell apart naturally in unnatural circumstances and I went on to find Hitomi and my life seems to become complete. He went his way and did what he had to. Perhaps I will be content to let it remain one of those unsolved mysteries from the past. But then again, perhaps next time I'll ask him because for that day and as for one day... I did not ask.
The toy rings from our younger years remain hidden.

Once in the teahouse I was in the mood for something sweet and I was intending to have some donuts with a nice hot triple cappuccino but as I looked at two older ladies who were sat talking at a table close by and who were also munching on donuts, I just had a sudden vision of myself becoming as they were in a few years' time. I played safe and tried to safeguard my future and I ordered a fruit cocktail and sparkling water, no ice. He ordered a chicken salad and green tea. He hadn't eaten all morning he explained to me and as I watched him he ate his salad with great relish and zest.

We walked up to the more heavily wooded northern edge of the park talking about lots of silly little things that we recalled from our teen years yet I did notice that should we recall something for the later part - the time when we were together as lovers then we were hesitant and trod carefully as if the memories of such a time were too delicate and too fragile. I think I was also pretty reluctant to stir up such times too yet strangely it felt that if I were to do so then this would be the most opportune time, walking the park of yesterday.
It was at that moment that fate lent a hand or a foot as we were walking along. I put my foot down on the edge of the path and it went over, the ground level being some five or six centimeters lower at that point than the path upon which we walked. I may so easily have followed and fallen over but for his lightning fast reflexes. He caught my arm and pulled me towards him. Oh for a moment like that in a story where I'd be up against his chest looking up lovingly into his eyes. Unfortunately the pain in my ankle was terrible and I couldn't put my foot down very well. I had my hand on his shoulder and his hand was under my elbow as I gingerly tested my weight on my foot.
My ankle screamed at me. He helped me to a bench and I took off my shoe and he looked at my ankle.
"We may have to amputate your foot." he said sullen faced and shaking his head.
"Oh no! Will you replace it with a wooden one and give me a pet parrot for my shoulder?" I laughed.
"Aye Ma'am and we'll sail away on the Nippon Maru and be the scourge of the ocean. I'll be Captain Jack Sparrow and you'll be Elizabeth Swann. Birds of a feather flocking together on the Pacific swan, hardly the black pearl but it comes with added creature comforts."
I laughed with him but winced because my ankle had started to swell.
"Stay here and don't run away," he said wagging his finger at me, "I'll go fetch the car."
He ran all the way and as I watched him disappear into the distance I rubbed my poor ankle until I saw him driving back up the access road. He parked and brought over his first aid box and a bottle of water. He took out an elasticated bandage and poured water on a normal bandage and then he slipped the first up over my ankle in expert fashion and covered it with the wet and tight ordinary bandage.
“Not too tight? This will do until I get you to the doctor’s office.”
I shook my head, "It's only a small sprain, I don't need the doctor's office." I told him.
"I'll drive you home then." He said and helped me to stand.
I don't want to go home." I said to him limping to his car.
He just looked at me with that questioning look he always seems to wear. Perhaps it's the way that I am with him that has him so confused.
We drove back towards Tokyo and said nothing really for quite a while.
"Is everything alright?" He asked me.
I had promised myself that the next person to ask me that would get a shin kicking. However I only had one good leg and even though I was sitting, I would need that to stand on and so I forgave him.
"I just need to be outside for a while. I feel like I've been confined to my home for such a long time. I feel so restrained and so imprisoned. I am making my bid for freedom and I'm taking a chance to stretch my wings!"
We drove the rest of the way to his place in silence and perhaps he was thinking about things I’d said or perhaps he was lost in his own world or perhaps he was thinking how silly it all had been. I had lost my smile and my ankle really did hurt me as it seemed to expand against the compress. Once at his place I sat down and he brought two cold beers out from the fridge and after cooling my ankle with it, it was really refreshing, so much so that we simply had to have another. There is no substitute of a really cold beer on a warm summer’s day! His place was very much as I remember it. I saw that he had a new couch and new TV but very much it was the typical bachelor apartment and very little else had changed since when I was there last. I saw no deft woman's touch around the place. I mean he is a very tidy and clean person and this is reflected in his home but there was no sign of any feminine touches.
"You'll have to go home sometime." he said while swirling his beer around in his can.
"I know but not now if you don't mind.
I phoned home and reached my answer machine. I hung up and phoned home again and entered the code for my answer machine to play. There were no messages from Hitomi. I switched off my cell phone.

"Can I please stay over?" I asked him.
After asking if I was sure he smiled and nodded.
"Crab meat, yam and vegetables for dinner, is that ok?"
I think as well as I knew him, he might have eaten out or perhaps cooked something simple for himself had he been alone that evening. I appreciated his efforts and I appreciated him for quite a few things really.
"That will be lovely, thank you."

When he came back from the local store a little later with wine and extra supplies, he’d bought for me a toothbrush and toothpaste and a vendor pack of fresh underwear.
He really is a thoughtful friend.

"As for one day" was our song when we became lovers. I'm such a sentimentalist!