“They abandoned us” 

Indeed, after they shared life stories and joked around, Mizuki left with Chris. Osamu and Anna remained all alone in front of the restaurant.

“That little-“ Osamu stopped swearing at his friend when he realized there was no petite figure next to him anymore. She started to walk towards the park, where the blind date started.

“So your name is Anna” They were the only people walking that way. “Nana-Anna- nice word game. Who would have thought I would have such a big impact on your life” He continued, trying to liven up the mood. He wasn’t that type of guy who could keep his mouth shut and truthfully, she wasn’t either. They had so much to tell each other and it seemed as if there wasn’t enough time. Thinking that they may not meet again after that night, she chose to take the initiative.

“Actually, I never thought I would be haunted for four years by a guy I met coincidentally one day” He frowned.  They stopped in front of a small decorative bridge from the central park. She leaned against the railing and sighed. “Fate is seriously messing with me” She whispered.

“I didn’t tell you to give up on anything” He started. She didn’t react. “You asked me what happens when you change the reason to keep living. I was foolish when I told you to give yourself into the wind and let yourself be taken by it. It takes you nowhere” Anna’s eyes were staring into Osamu’s soul; at least that was how he felt. 

“Osamu” He turned his head to the side. Her stare was too much to bear. “I’ve been asked what I would do if I would meet you again. Everyone knew for sure that it was inevitable; everyone except me. I was scared to meet you again. I was scared how big of an impact you would have on me this time” She walked closer to him and closed the distance between them. When she was right in front of him, she turned to the left and let herself be submerged into the scenery.

“I-“She interrupted him instantly.

“I don’t regret anything. I don’t regret meeting you, sleeping with you, listening to you. That day was the best day of my life. I tried to convince myself that it wasn’t like that. We were complete strangers; complete opposites and we knew it was the beginning of the end” She sighed and bit her lower lip. She was trying to find the right way to explain her feelings. “It wasn’t what you said that haunted me; it was you” In that moment, Osamu’s head quircked up. He couldn’t read her; that fact certainly didn’t change. But, he was intrigued by her.

“That night I-“He wasn’t sure if he could voice his thoughts as well as her but he knew he had to show her. He leaned in. His eyes never left hers. She didn’t move and he took  it as a sign to continue. Their lips touched and they both felt the attraction. The blood was rushing through their veins, the electricity was slipping from one body to the other. It was intense but at the same time, it wasn’t.

They stayed like that, looking into each other’s eyes in silence. It looked beautiful from the outside. Their bodies were illuminated by the buildings around the park and the place itself was romantic. But, looking closer, they were two people who didn’t know what they wanted from themselves and from each other. They weren’t in love but fate just didn’t want to give up.

 

When Anna arrived home, she didn’t feel any relief. Her worries ceased up, she didn’t feel guilty anymore but she was absolutely sure that it didn’t end yet.

The next morning, she woke up on the couch, dressed in the same clothes from last night. The makeup was spread all over her face, she had dark circles around her eyes, her hair was a mess and overall, the sweat mixed with perfume made her feel itchy. The first place she entered that morning was the bathroom. 

The first thing she heard when she finished her bubble bath was the phone. From the moment she placed foot on Japanese land, her phone started to ring nonstop. She was too busy to look through the fridge. She was acting exactly like an old, fat man who didn’t have a life. She grabbed a beer and a pack of chips. She placed her sorry on the couch and her feet on the coffee table. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought she was still in College, waiting for Takeshi. Unfortunately, those years passed. Fortunately, Takeshi was just a phone call away.

On the other side, on the other side of Tokyo, into a grand luxurious hotel, one man was groggily trying to open his eyes. The curtains were the only things blocking the sun from entering the room. The man groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, even though it was still dark inside. The truth was that, he couldn’t fall asleep that night and he was certain he won't hear the end of it for at least a week.

When he started to feel annoyed by his own self and irascible by the lack of sleep, he got out of bed and walked towards the window. He pulled the curtains and flinched. The light was too bright. After his eyes got used to it, he sighed and ruffled his hair. He just got messed up again and he wasn’t sure if he could run away for the second time.

After he did his morning routine and dressed more presentably, he walked down to the lobby and asked for the mail. It seemed he didn’t have any. However, he had a message from his father.

“My father?” The man asked, pointing to himself. “Are you sure?” The receptionist narrowed his eyes at the young man and gave him an envelope. The unnamed man walked deeper into the lobby and sat down. The envelope contained a pair of keys, a letter and a business card. Firstly, he read the letter. It was from Watanabe Aoi:

Osamu,

I know you are in Japan and I know you won’t care enough to come and visit. Luckily, I moved to Tokyo and am currently working on a movie. The director wanted me exclusively to create the script. I know you may not even read this letter but I would be delighted if you could at least visit my workplace. I know you’ve been hired to photograph different sites in Tokyo for an American magazine and I know you well enough to figure you will work according to your own schedule.

 Ai-chan also called me to talk about your engagement. She told me she’s rethinking this decision and you should too. You’ve been engaged for two years and she still loves you. Anyway, you decide that. But I really wish we could meet and talk.

 By the way, the director here heard about you and he would also like to meet you to talk business. You have to come anyway, it seems.

 Take care of you,

Your uncle

Osamu’s expression didn’t change the whole time he read. It wasn’t uncommon to get letters from his uncle saying how he missed his long lost nephew who he didn’t really accept as being a photographer. Even if he was practically still engaged, Osamu never felt as if he was. Not then and definitely not when he decided to end it. His fiancee was a nice woman, he didn’t have anything bad to say about her. She was someone who had a career in modeling but it didn’t matter to him. He didn’t love her and she knew it even before they became a couple. She was petite, brunette and liked to wear dresses. She looked a lot like someone he met four years earlier and he knew that was the reason he got engaged to her. However, things changed.

The next object he looked at was the business card.  It had the address and name of his uncle’s workplace. The keys were still a mystery. It didn’t make sense at all.

While he was still thinking about the keys and the situation at hand, his phone started to ring. It was an unknown number.

“Hello?” It was a man. Even if he didn’t want to recognize it, he wished it was someone else. “Yes. I’ll come and get the pictures. Thank you very much” It was the staff of his new project. He had to take pictures of beautiful sites in Japan. Or so his uncle thought. That one was rescheduled for the next month, since there was no rush. Instead, he volunteered to promote the bohemian coffee shop Anna first took him at. He loved that place and the staff was young, friendly and open minded.

He chose to walk there instead of taking the car. He didn’t have anything better to do and he wanted some time to think about the latest events

He couldn’t believe he saw her again. She thought that one day was simply one day. It happened and there were no regrets left. He didn’t regret it but he also didn’t forget it. His life started to base itself on her image, even though it was hard to believe. He started to look for girls that looked like her. It was pretty complicated to find girls with green eyes in Japan so he traveled abroad, for different projects. He went to America first. The girls there didn’t really appeal to him, for some reason. But he met Chris and a few more people who helped him become the famous photographer he was. After that experience, he didn’t want a relationship anymore. He just concentrated on work. He went to Africa and tried to help the children, tried to help build a new life for the poor families. After he came back to Japan, he met Ai. She looked a lot like Anna which was both nice and infuriating. She didn’t have the same attitude, the same philosophical style of thinking and she definitely didn’t have green eyes but she had that spark of curiosity. He was too excited back then and he started to have second thoughts about their relationship. From lovers they became engaged and then everything started to fall down. Brick by brick, he started to build a wall between him and Ai.

While walking on the same alley he started to remember that day. They were two strangers. He didn’t even know her real name but there were  fireworks between them. He shook his head before he opened the door to the coffee shop.

A few hours later, Osamu was still busy talking to the manager. They wanted to promote it but they all had different ideas and it was pretty hard to unite them into something.

“So let me see if I got this right. You” He pointed at the manager, Ayumu. “You want to promote with fliers and eventually on television” The man nodded. “You” He pointed to one of the waitresses. “You want to use a one day host club so the popularity would increase, which isn’t necessarily a bad idea” The women smiled. “But the customers would come just for that and when you won’t organize host clubs anymore, they will stop coming” The happiness turned really fast into depression. Osamu could see the dark clouds hovering over their heads. “And the bartenders would actually go for both ideas. This is not much. You really haven’t thought about it seriously“ He sighed heavily.

“If Anna would’ve been here” Kyoya mumbled. He wasn’t an idiot as customers believed. He glanced at Osamu to see if he got any reaction. He wasn’t sure. It didn’t seem to make a difference. His plan was a failure so he went back to corner.

Osamu did hear Kyoya’s statement. He was aware of his bond with the younger woman but he just ignored it. That, until he remembered his uncle’s letter.

“Maybe it's not such a bad idea”