Chapter Twelve #2
“Yeah, Mr. Buchanan was there with their driver. Mom, they have a driver! Did I wake you?”
“Oh no, no.” She was slow. “Did you eat? Are you eating Japanese food?”
“Yeah, a little. It was good. You would love it.”
Sally smiled. You would love it.
“Have you given them the thank-you gift?”
“Yeah, right away. And they’ve given me a whole floor, with a bathroom and everything.
You didn’t tell me he was an ambassador.
” She had . “They call the house the Ambassador’s Residence.
Doesn’t that sound cool? Or was it the Ambassador’s house…
I can’t remember. I haven’t met Ryo, Ree-yo, am not sure I’m saying this right, or Amy yet.
But I think one of them is starting college and the other has another year of high school to go? Is that right?” Sally wasn’t sure.
Kit’s voice was breathy with excitement, the way it would be when she won a soccer game at school, or her grades had been better than she had expected.
Until just a few years ago, she could talk to her daughter for hours.
And then when Kit turned fifteen, it came to an abrupt halt, and now, Sally was starving.
But like cool water running down her throat, she could hear that enthusiasm vibrating through her phone.
She heard it sometimes when Kit spoke to Sabrina.
“I can’t wait to hear all about it, honey.”
“It’s like a movie set, the skyscrapers, lights, highways that run through the city. And then like a cute little old temple. But it’s super clean too. Not like Philly.”
“Just make sure you’re being careful, okay? Safe.”
“Oh that’s another thing, Mr. Buchanan was telling me that basically there is almost like no crime at all in Tokyo. Like, it’s one of the safest cities in the world.”
“Well, still, that doesn’t mean you don’t have to be careful, right? You’re still a beautiful young woman in a city you don’t know. So just make sure you’re cautious.”
“I know, I know.” Her breath had slowed down, she was no longer listening. “Anyway, I better go. I love you. Tell Dad I love him too. I’ll probably just message you, okay? Easier than calling with the time difference.”
“Well, I don’t mind, you can call anytime, sweetie, I love you so…” But Kit had already hung up.
Sally stood for a little longer, looking at the home screen of her cell phone, a picture of Kit smiling in her graduation gown, taken just a few weeks ago.
She felt an overwhelming sadness in that moment, but instead of crying she walked to the refrigerator and made herself a cheese sandwich.
She bit into the grainy bread Terry insisted on buying and thought about how she missed the spongy texture of a regular white loaf.
It had been months since she had last eaten bread, let alone a sandwich.
She continued wandering around the empty house and laughed as she trailed the crumbs behind her.
Look at me. I’m ridiculous , she thought to herself.
The next day, Sally had a headache that throbbed in such a dull, nagging way she regretted the second gin and tonic she made herself and wondered if Kit had noticed her tipsiness when they spoke last night.
A photo came in from Kit, a plate of raw fish and sushi that turned her stomach, with the caption “Lunch!” She looked up her daughter’s Instagram account to find she had posted the same caption as she did in her message, and something in Sally smarted, a pain that was sudden and stinging.
She tried to reassure herself that at least Kit had taken the trouble to send her the message, which separated her from the friends who followed her account.
Terry video-called, and she reluctantly answered.
“You okay, love? You look a little tired,” he said, the angle of the phone tilted, catching half of his face and shoulder.
“I’m fine. Just couldn’t sleep.”
“Maybe take a nap,” he offered. “I have that case to close today, so I might be back later than I had hoped. You go ahead without me tonight with dinner and everything,” he said. “I’ll let you know later whether I’ll be back tonight or tomorrow.”
She wanted him to share more about his work, but she knew that he never did because his assumption was that she was uninterested with the ins and outs of his challenges.
So long as she could stay on Gravers Lane in the house they had, as close to Eden as they could get, drive the Volvo, have lunch with her friends, play some tennis, it was enough for Sally. At least that was what Terry assumed.
She knew that in her husband’s eyes her life was so comfortably arranged that she could lie down in the middle of the day, just to recover from a sleepless night, and nothing would be lost, nothing was at stake, nothing compromised. Nobody needed her to be anywhere, nor needed anything from her.
Another message came through. “There’s a party tonight at the Residence. Having a great time!”
Sally felt her stomach plummet. The idea of Kit with Rick and his wife, Yuriko, had been theory until now, and even then, they were far enough away from her, but the thought of Kit, with her voice a little too loud, her overconfidence when she felt uncomfortable (her daughter could even be a little too forthright), and her Americanisms chafed her in a way she had never known before.
Sally wondered what Rick and Yuriko would make of Kit.
She wondered if they ever thought of her.