9. Chapter Nine – Adam
Adam
So that happened.
I have no idea what came over me. Was it spur of the moment? Emotions running wild, the atmosphere of the amusement park catching up to me?
No, I know better.
It was her.
It was the whole day of seeing her as a anything but her CEO persona. Getting her to know apart from her job.
Not that I didn't know anything about her before, but something about her radiating happiness just flicked a switch inside me. It’s like I was seeing her for the first time, like the day has opened my eyes to the real her.
And I like the real her. Too much, I fear.
Seeing her without the CEO filter in front of my eyes has me noticing all the little details. Like her slightly crooked incisor, that I’ve never seen before because she tends to scowl, not smile at me. Those small dimples in her cheeks when she does smile. The way her breath hitches when she laughs, the way she always looks down when she swipes a strand of hair away from her face and bites her lips when she’s nervous.
The way she's addicted to her iced coffee, to a point it makes me worry for her health, knowing very well that I am not much better with all the energy drinks I consume.
It's adorable. She’s adorable.
Fuck.
This is not what I expected to happen here in Tokyo. She’s not what I expected. Not at all. And I spent the whole night with our kiss repeating in my brain like a three-minute movie.
Remembering her soft lips on mine and the feeling of her soft hair under my palm has me blushing just remembering it. Blushing .
The way her breath hitched when our lips met. And even the barely noticeable gust on my skin as her eyes fluttered closed has me biting my lips because as soon as her image pops up in my head they curve into a smile.
And now that I've had a taste of her, I fear I'm addicted.
I need to get a grip of myself.
It’s Tuesday and our first negotiated afternoon of fun is in a place called Harajuku, only a few train stations away from our hotel. Thankfully, the trains weren’t as crowded today, but when I see the mass of people at our destination, dread washes over me .
“Relax,” Lily says softly and grabs my arm to pull me after her in the opposite direction. “They’re going shopping; we’re heading somewhere else.”
She has one of those little handheld fans with her again. I envied her for it at the amusement park, and I envy her for it now. Thick clouds hide the sky today, and despite the lacking scorching sunshine, it’s still hot and humid, my hair already sticking to the sweat on my neck.
“Thank God,” I mumble when she pulls me towards trees, fanning myself with my hand and loosening my tie. Then my eyes grow wider and wider as I realize it’s a full-fledged forest instead of a regular park.
"This is crazy," I say in wonder, turning around to take everything in. The noise of the city has suddenly subsided and everything seems to happen slower and quieter here. The trees seem sky-high, and the sudden idyll makes me feel like I've been thrown right into a Japanese fairytale movie.
I wouldn't be surprised if little elves or other forest creatures jumped out from the bushes or, I don't know, a glowing forest god crosses our path.
"I know, right?" she agrees and shoots me a smile, so happy it makes my heart jump. “I love the way here more than the destination.”
I raise my eyebrow at her. I have no idea where we’re going and I hate being in the dark. Which she really fucking enjoys .
“Relax, big guy. We’re going to a shrine. Meiji-Shrine if you want to look it up while we walk there." She giggles and I fight the urge to reach for her hand.
So far, she’s made no indication that she wants to talk about what happened yesterday.
Which I’m thankful for because I’m still reeling. I don’t know what that was and I don’t even know what I want it to have been. My head is all over the place and my heart jumps between sinking, wondering how I’d have time for a love life if I can’t even to manage time for my family, and imagining what this could become.
“I figured if you haven’t been sightseeing here yet, this would be a good start and not quite as intense as Asakusa,” she continues and I nod along, my focus still captured by this beautiful forest.
It’s really still quite a way until we reach it though, especially with us stopping to check out a wall of barrels that’s set up on the way and taking pictures of the forest.
It is so dreamy here. My mouth opens when we encounter the wooden gate to it – I’ve seen these kinds of gates on pictures and postcards before, but I never thought they were this big.
“It’s one of the biggest ones in Japan,” Lily explains when she notices my shocked expression and waits until the surprise wears off and I’ve taken my pictures before we continue.
The shrine area is still packed, but it’s not as bad as I feared, judging by the station .
"Let’s go." She takes my hand, dragging me through a forming crowd just behind the gate to take pictures.
It’s weird to be here as a tourist. There are people praying and hanging up little signs that look important. It feels an awful lot like walking into a church in the middle of a mass and I feel like I’m intruding.
But Lily pulls me along. Pulling me after her by my hand – she could drag me to hell for all I care.
And that’s dangerous. So damn dangerous.
There’s a line to our left and Lily pulls me to it. I’m a bit confused but it seems to be a ritual before entering, where we need to wash our hands and rinse our mouth before we continue.
“I feel so out of place here,” I tell her, and she nods in understanding. “Like I’m disrespecting this place by coming as a tourist.” A look around reveals that tourists are very much welcome, but I still feel like an intruder.
“We don’t have to stay long,” she assures me and nods to our left. “Let me get a protection charm and make a wish.”
“A wish?”
“You see those wooden boards over there?” She nods to our right. “You donate, then write your wish on there and put it on the wall.” She watches me eye the wall. “Would you like to make one as well?”
“You know what? I think I do.”
"Now, what' s that street over there?" I ask Lily later as we make our way back to the station. When I expressed wanting to make a wish I had so many ideas running through my head, but as soon as it came to writing it down, my brain was blank.
In the end it was ‘Time’ I put on it. One word, very simple compared to other, long messages I saw on it. Not any less important, though.
“You mean Takeshita street?” Lily asks and I nod. The name is lighting up over a blinking arch over its entrance.
“It’s a shopping street. You see, Harajuku is one of the fashion districts of Tokyo. This is where you’ll find the more alternative styles. In my opinion, it's gotten a bit heavy on tourism stuff, though. The last time I was here, it felt like every second store was for souvenirs. Do you still want to go take a look?"
"Sure." I nod and shrug. "I mean, we're here anyways, we might as well make the most of it."
"Great. Let’s go!" She smiles and walks ahead. Before we throw ourselves into the shopping masses, I make a point to grab her hand again, though.
"Don't want to get lost." I wink at her, noticing the most adorable blush creeping into her cheeks.
"Oh, okay," she mumbles, avoiding my eyes, and we start walking.
Walking along this narrow road with her, I can safely say she was right. There are a lot of tourist-geared shops and food stalls, and it’s very, very crowded. We move at a snail 's pace, so slowly it becomes frustrating, and at the same time, we need to evade people who suddenly stop or try to rush their way through the slow stream.
I can feel her growing antsy next to me and it makes me smile. She's definitely not a slow walker, I noticed that in my feeble stalker attempt yesterday. She usually walks with purpose, wanting to get from A to B efficiently.
Crawling forward appears to make her really frustrated, judging by the grimace she’s trying to hold at bay and the way her hand claws into mine. Suddenly, she pulls on my arm and I follow her into a side street.
"God, I need a break," she says with a deep sigh and pinches the bridge of her nose between her eyes. Looking around to orient herself, her eyes light up when she sees a little crepe stand just to our left. "Oh hell yes, I can use a snack. Would you like one, too?"
I look over her shoulder to look at the menu, but finally shake my head.
"I’m good, but you go ahead," I say.
"Alright," she singsongs happily and lets go of my hand to join the end of the line. It only takes her a few minutes until she returns with a cone-shaped crepe filled with strawberries, cheesecake, ice, and a grin on her face.
“Is it good?”
“Hell yes!” She nods happily and takes another bite, a bit of whipped cream in the corner of her mouth .
Now I really want to lean down and get a taste of it by kissing her. And now that I've thought about it, I can’t seem to think about anything else but the taste of her plump lips. Fuck.
"Are you alright?" she asks me with a raised eyebrow and licks the speck of whipped cream away. “You look like you’re dissociating. Do you have heat stroke?”
I force myself to shake my head and get my act together.
"I’m okay." I cross my arms in front of my chest and dig my fingers into the fabric of my shirt. “Just daydreaming.”
Goddamnit, Adam. Get it together.
But as much as I try, I can't tear my eyes away from her lips until she's finished her treat. And then my thoughts jump straight to the way her hand feels in mine when she grabs it again to pull me right back into the masses.
My brain is hyper fixating on it, all my doubts, hopes and confusion turning my thoughts into mush. I don't even notice when we reach the end of the street until someone almost runs into the two of us. Clearing my throat, I try to get my act together.
"Please tell me there’s another way to get back to the station?" I ask her and point back to where we just came from, but to my relief, she shakes her head.
"We can go another way." She promptly pulls me to the right and we walk along a main street, leading to a large crossing with way less people on the broad sidewalk. "But we need to make a stop first. I know a spot here that's A, cute and B, has coffee.”
"You know too much caffeine isn't good for you, right?”
“Neither is the working until ungodly hours and only sleeping a few hours."
“Touché.”
She rolls her eyes, and I grin sheepishly at her.
"Also I’ve only had three coffees today, so that's still on the lower end, considering the meetings we had to sit through and the fact that we started our day at eight."
I chuckle at her making her case as we come to a stop at a red light.
She leads me to a tall building that has an entrance consisting of what looks like a giant mirror art piece, then to an elevator I didn’t even see as it’s hidden in a dark corner. Kind of suspicious, but she looks like she knows where she’s going.
The elevator brings us to the roof of the building and I follow her dutifully as she steps out of it, revealing a beautiful terrace setting with an even more beautiful view over the city.
“You were right,” I say full of admiration. “This spot is very cute.”
Only now do I realize that we are still holding hands, and now that I’m acutely aware of it, I suddenly don’t know how to act.
"Told you," she says with a grin. "Let me grab a coffee, and we can go sit outside." Oblivious to my internal struggle, she lets go of my hand to get into line. I join her after a few deep breaths in an attempt to relax my shoulders again, getting myself a snack and a cold, non-caffeinated drink as well .
And once we have our beverages and food, we walk outside to enjoy the view a bit more. And by the view, I mean her.
Before she can sit down opposite me, I pull her over to my side so we can look at the sun starting to set together. She shoots me a cautious glance, but obliges, her whole body tense when she sits down at first but slowly relaxing.
It's a beautiful moment.
The sun is starting to set and dye the sky a bright orange. Despite the heat, there is a nice breeze in the air, and we can look very far from our position.
"Honestly, I thought you'd need to get higher up to get a good view," I tell her, and she giggles.
"Yeah, I was surprised my first time here too. But it's really pretty."
I look at her face illuminated by the orange glow of the sun, a happy and content look on her face.
"Yeah, I agree. Yeah, it is."