My head is killing me. My feet are killing me. Mr Lim is killing me – or trying to apparently. Tiffany and I are in her-our hotel room at the Hyatt. I just finished having a shower and Tiffany nipped in after me. There are faint sounds of her humming to some tune or other.

My headache has gotten worse since we reached. I call up for some painkillers and the hotel staff bring some up almost instantly. The whole process looks quite grand. They fetch up a giant silver tray with frilly lace. There is a card on the tray with ‘Congratulations to Ms Kim Taeyeon and Ms Stephanie Hwang from the Grand Hyatt staff’ written on it.

I move to the tray and lift the lid to reveal – two little white tablets, looking somewhat of an anti-. I down the tablets with a swig of water and crumple myself on the bed, which by the way is thankfully king-sized. Tiffany and I have a dinner reservation at Roku Roku – conveniently located in the hotel building, so I have to get dressed. All I’ve got to so far is slipping on my undergarments before tugging on a bathrobe.

I hear a sound of a blow-dryer. Tiffany will be ready soon. I psyche myself to getting up, but grab one the pillows instead. I push my head deep into the pillow, maybe the softness will ease my headache. I inhale deeply, there is a very pleasant scent that I can’t identify. I take another whiff and settle into a comfortable position. I shut my eyes…

“Tae?”

“Hmmm?”

I feel fingers gently my hair. I open my eyes to see Tiffany looking down at me with some concern.

“How are you feeling? You’ve been asleep for twenty minutes.” She says.

Like my brain is being used as a gong. “I’m okay.” I pull myself up, slightly alarmed. “Tiffany! Our reservation!”

“It’s okay. Don’t worry.” She says calmly. I notice she’s in a bathrobe as well. “I cancelled the reservation and ordered some room service instead.”

I rest my head gratefully back on the pillow. “Thanks for that.”

“No problem.” She sits on the bed next to me and asks, “How is your head really doing?”

I sigh. “Have you heard of Miracle Mike?”

“Miracle who?” Tiffany asks puzzled.

“I continue. “Miracle Mike was a headless chicken that lived in the US. A medical miracle, he was able to live even after his head was chopped off.” I turn to Tiffany with a wistful look in my eyes and say, “I want to live like that.”

She snorts in laughter. “Ah pabo!” She moves closer. “Here let me try something.”

She places my head on her lap and presses on my temples – hard. Very hard.

“Yaaah!” I try to twist away. “That hurts more!”

“Stay still! This works. Trust me.” Her hands hold me in place and she continues to massage my head. “I used to get severe migraines as a child and my mother did this for me. It always worked.” She explains.

After a minute, the pain in my head starts to ebb away.

“The pain is going!” I say amazed.

“Good.” She replies. “So you don’t have to live like Miracle Matt.”

“Mike. Miracle Mike.” I correct with pseudo pretentiousness. “He’s a chicken legend you know.”

“Whatever.” She retorts.

She eases the pressure and starts doing gentle, circular motions. It’s very soothing. My whole body relaxes. A part of Tiffany’s bathrobe tickles my neck and I reach out to brush it away. I must have overstretched because instead of rubbing my neck, my hand slips up her bare thigh.

My eyes shoot open and I whisk my hand away.

“I’m so sorry!” I say awkwardly. “I meant to rub my neck.”

Tiffany regains her composure and quickly tries to assure me, “No, it’s okay. Really I –”

A jarring buzz shocks the two of us.

“That must be room service.” I say hopping off the bed. “I’ll get it.”

I let in a smartly dressed woman pushing a trolley with silver lidded dishes. She sets the dishes carefully on a table in the living room. Tiffany walks out of the bedroom with a few notes in her hand. She hands them to the lady who bows gratefully.

“Arigato gozaimasu, Ms Hwang.” She surreptitiously glances at Tiffany who looks slightly flushed and then at me with my tousled hair. She quickly bows again, “Please enjoy your stay.” And hastily retreats from the room.

I grab two bottles of water from the mini fridge as Tiffany settles by the table. She has a mischievous smile on her face.

“Taeyeon?”

I place the bottles down and sit across her. “Yes?’

“I’ve got another nickname for you.”

“What is it?” I ask, full of apprehension.

“Ms Kim - ,” She leans forward slightly. “-Byuntae – yeon.”

Aish jinjja…

 

“More coffee Ms Kim?”

I waiver the waiter away and continue to skim through my emails on my phone. I’m sitting at the hotel café, having some breakfast. Tiffany has gone to get the newspaper and maybe a magazine to read on the way to the airport.

There are a few documents that need my authorization awaiting me when I get back. I look through one of the progress reports I asked Janet to email me – good, our share price has increased by 2.1%. Though a small percentage, in actual fact it represents millions.

“Ehhem…” I hear someone clearing their throat. “Ms Kim?”

I look up with a flicker of annoyance to see a stout man in a suit peering brightly at me.

“Mr Akamatsu!” I say surprised at the sudden presence of the Vice President of the Tokyo Hyatt branch. I recognize him from a company event we held in the hotel last year. He was sickeningly sweet and over complementary, hoping of course we would continue to use the hotel in the future.

“I trust you and Ms Hwang are enjoying your stay here.” He simpers.

“Yes, thank you. It’s all very satisfactory.” I reply.

“I’m so glad to hear that.” He snaps his fingers and a waiter materializes next to him with two glasses of green, horrendous looking liquid. Mr Akamatsu lowers his voice and adds conspiratorially, “For you and the missus. A little birdie told me that the two of you have been...ah…very active recently. Had to cancel your reservation, had to order in.”

The waiter sets down the glasses and bows respectfully before leaving. Mr Akamatsu gestures to the glasses theatrically and says, “Please have these health drinks on the house! They are made with the finest roots and herbs. Good for regaining stamina!” He winks.

He bows and cheerily springs away leaving me utterly flabbergasted. What in the world just happened here?  Last night, Tiffany and I chatted for a bit after dinner, mostly about work. Then we went to bed, tired from a long day.

Tiffany returns with a newspaper and a magazine. She sits in her chair and at once notices the green, frothy juice. She looks at me enquiringly.

“They were compliments of the hotel.” I say bleakly.

Being a good sport, she lifts a glass to her lips and takes a little sip. Her face contorts in horror and she gasps, “This is revolting!” She pauses then slowly pushes her glass towards me. “You can have mine too!” She says sweetly, displaying the most innocent smile on her face.  

 

In the car on the way to the airport, I’m busy replying to my emails. Tiffany is next to me reading the paper.

“Oh dear.” She exclaims. “Holden Software has had a major setback. They had to recall all of their new product lines.”

“It was bound to happen.” I say nonchalantly. “They didn’t sufficiently test their software. Instead they chose to push it out quickly to make holiday sales.”

“Weren’t you going to sign a deal with them?” She asks.

I nod, not looking away from my phone. “Yes, but when I found out we decided not to pursue our business relations.”

“Have you found a substitute?”

I frown. “No. We have shortlisted a few companies but none have caught my eye so far. Why?”

Tiffany folds the paper on her lap. “There is a software company called Rio. They are fairly new but have already accomplished an impressive amount. We were actually looking into forming a deal…before all of this happened.”

“That’s interesting. I’ll get the team to look into it.” I send an email to Janet asking the research team to find out about Rio as a potential candidate.

I get engrossed in studying a few reports and meeting summaries.

“Tae?”

“Hmmm?”

“So do your parents have any thoughts on the wedding reception?” She asks.

“Yes.” I nod absentmindedly. “They are happy for us.” I look at her and add, “Do you want to see their message?”

“That would be lovely!” She says delighted.

A few seconds later, her phone beeps from the message I forwarded. Her eyes glide over the screen and her body goes still.

“One word?” She looks incredulous. “Congratulations. That’s it?”

“It’s how we normally are, Tiffany.” I say dismissively. My father semi-retired once I took over. Every month I send him financial reports and a summary of any business changes. If they are good, he continues his golf game. If they are unsatisfactory, he comes in to the office. He hasn’t had to interrupt his golf game so far.

“I see.” She has a pensive look on her face.

My phone suddenly rings. Aish! What is he up to now?

I answer the call. “Hello Mr Lim.”

“Hello Taeyeon!” He says boisterously. “Is Stephanie there?”

“Yes.” I reply suspiciously.

“Well don’t keep her all to yourself! Put me on the speaker, I want to say hello to her as well.”

“It’s Mr Lim.” I inform Tiffany. I switch the call onto speaker mode.

“Hello Mr Lim.” Tiffany greets brightly.

“Ah my dear girl! How are you?” His voice booms from my phone. “Taeyeon not boring you to death with her business talk is she?”

Tiffany laughs. “No, Mr Lim I’m okay!”

“So what was it you wanted to speak to us about Mr Lim?” I say feeling slightly pinched.

“I wanted to give you two a mini update. We have a list of jewellers for the rings. A lot of people were clamouring for consideration but I said only the best! How could – ”

“Mr Lim, was there anything else you wanted to say?” I interrupt.

“Oh yes! The press have all been invited to the reception. Standards are high!  So make sure you get plenty of practice.”

“Practice?” Tiffany asks. We share a confused glance.

“My dears, after the two of you cut the cake –,” He explains. “– everyone expects a kiss between the newlyweds!” He finishes off with delight.

I almost drop the phone.