Best not to tempt himself.
Chapter 6
Savannah was having the time of her life. The absolute time of her life. Although she’d only been here for a handful of days, it didn’t take her long to realize that Japan was a land of unspeakable natural beauty, and brimming with all sorts of adventurous things to do.
Like most people who had never been here before, all she’d seen were beautiful pictures in travel brochures and holiday shows that gave you an idea of the best places to visit. However, those pictures and holiday shows could only give you a little taste of what Japan was truly like. Being here was something to be felt and experienced.
The first thing that drew her in instantly were the exceptionally beautiful trees that could captivate you for hours. The picturesque cascade of colors on them was unlike anything she’d ever seen in her life.
The deep tones of red on the maple trees were dramatically striking, and she wanted to call the shade of purple that hung from the blossoms of the wisteria trees lilac, or lavender. However, neither color seemed to describe it well enough.
The Chinese fire trees really did look like they were on fire. The incandescent tones were completely spot on and reminded her of a brilliant bonfire blaze. Her personal favorite, though, of all the trees, had to be the cherry blossoms from the Sakura trees. Those were everywhere. She loved the pink blossom and thought it looked utterly magical.
Her official adventure begun with the tour she had with Mr. Fujita at the manor. While tiredness had definitely caught up with her, he’d kept her interested and awake the whole time, regaling her with his knowledge.
Her first thought on meeting him was that he was purely about business, as he was the head of the company, but she was quickly proven wrong. The minute he’d started talking she could clearly see his love for architecture, design and landscape, and the way that he’d described it all was incredible.
What she’d seen of the manor on the night she arrived was nothing compared to seeing everything he’d showed her in the daylight. He’d told her that they’d always been a family that loved creativity from all over the world. So the manor had a mixture of architectural designs gleaned from the beautiful chateaus of Europe and traditional Japanese-styled houses. She’d liked the idea completely, and thought it worked extremely well.
The majority of the manor had smooth, honeyed-stone straight walls you’d see on most chateaus. These intersected at the corners by spherical portions, and a gray roof displayed a series of slopes and cones. The rest of the manor held true to tradition and had the shinden zukuri design, so it stood in the midst of the garden, which was divided into six private gardens with the surrounding lake filled with koi carp.
The Japanese-style parts of the manor began just after the kitchen and ran symmetrical with the rooms connected by long hallways. Some of the rooms had shojis, which were sliding panels made of translucent paper within wooden frames. They also had fusama acting as walls and doors that depicted images of dragons and samurai. Savannah had been delighted to spend the whole day admiring it all.
The next day was spent in Tokyo with her tour guide, Ishida. She wanted to get familiar with the city and look at all the interesting sites. On her sight-seeing list was a mixture of everything, from traditional places like the temples and shrines in Kyoto, the idyllic islands and beaches in the south, to, of course, Mt. Fuji. But she also included trips to Tokyo and Osaka for the cosmopolitan liveliness. As the family was based in Yokohama she thought she’d start with the sites around Tokyo first, then venture out from there.
Ishida had been brilliant at explaining and pointing out everything. He also gave the kind of interesting details she appreciated and needed for her articles. They’d started off with the temples and shrines by visiting the Sensō-ji temple, Asakusa and Meiji Jingū. Next was the Samurai, Nezu and Edo-Tokyo museums. They followed that up with the Imperial Palace, the Shibuya crossing, and a tour of the markets where she thoroughly enjoyed getting immersed into the culture and looking at the different types of food, arts, and crafts. She also learned the difference between anime and manga.
There was heaps more to see, but they finished the day with Ueno Park and the Tokyo tower, and even caught a glimpse of the Fujita Technologies building standing amongst the sea of skyscrapers.
She was so impressed with Ishida that she booked him to take her to Tokyo again and tour the places she didn’t get the chance to see, and also for the next couple of weeks. That list of hers was brimming with sights and things to do, and she kept adding to it.
So far she thought Japan was an experience that surrounded you. The culture, the food, the people, the environment. Every day she’d been here had been filled with new discoveries and delights that took her breath away. She couldn’t wait to see more. There was also this air of reverence about the place that seemed to encompass daily life. She’d experienced a similar sort of reverence in Rome when she stood in the Vatican and Coliseum. But this was a little different. It seemed to be part of their way of life.
Today was definitely the icing on the cake as she spent it shopping with Yumi and Sakiko. Never mind about the clothes she already had, Japanese fashion was to die for.
Clothes and shoes that were unique and original in style always caught her attention, and Japan was unquestionably the place for uniqueness and originality. In everything.
They bought so many clothes they had to send a car with the first batch of bags back to the house so they could shop some more, and shop they did—till the stores closed. They then went on to Sakiko’s studio, where Savannah got the first view of her fabulous summer collection.
The first thing Savannah had marveled at on seeing it was Sakiko’s distinct talent and thorough use of imagination, both of which had impressed her. She would definitely be buying her designs.
The evening finished with dinner at Feng Shui, one of the restaurants the family owned, after which they headed home for the night.
Savannah was buzzing from the excitement from the day and from getting to know Yumi and Sakiko even more. It was after eleven when they got in so Yumi turned in to bed, but Sakiko insisted on doing a homemade facial and relaxing in the kitchen. She chose the kitchen to get access to the fridge and the ice cream. The minute Sakiko suggested that, Savannah thought of how well her friends would get on with her. Especially Laura.
Sakiko mixed up a blend of herbs and some kind of luminous green mud she’d gotten from the health store. It claimed to make you look younger. Savannah had been more than pleasantly surprised by the relaxing effects it had after having it on her face for a few minutes.
They sat around the breakfast table with their hair wrapped up in towels and waited till the mud started to dry before they dived into the ice cream.
“Coconut, mint, and chocolate,” Sakiko stated, releasing an appreciative sigh, her eyes gleaming with delight.
Savannah smiled, looking down at her tub on the table. They both agreed that all the walking around they did today would balance out the massive calorie attack they were about to have. As conscious as Savannah was about her weight and healthy eating, she decided she needed this ice cream in her life. That fate was sealed with one spoon, along with her decision to have the whole tub. It tasted out-of-this-world amazing.
She’d never had ice cream so creamy and yummy. And what coconuts tasted like this? As if the flavor had been harnessed straight from the coconut trees that embellished the Caribbean. The mint and chocolate only served to make it more exotic.
“Yummm,” was all Savannah could say.
“I know, it’s great isn’t it?” Sakiko smiled.
Savannah nodded vigorously and shoved a very heaped tablespoon into her mouth and swallowed. She rested her hand on her heart and said, “Do you think it would be bad to eat this all day?”
“I can’t answer that question right now. I’m supposed to be on a diet.”
They both laughed.
“You don’t need to be on a diet. It’s me who should be worried.
I haven’t stopped eating since I got here. Everything tastes so good.” Savannah could see it now, she’d get home next year and no one would recognize her.
“Honey, don’t worry about that now. We can go for a run around the manor tomorrow, and if worse comes to worse I have a friend that has a bull, we can get it to chase us. That will definitely burn some calories.”
Savannah laughed so much her sides hurt. “Or, we could have a salad.”
“Or that. I hate vegetables, but I’ll have them if I need to.”
“Same here.” She liked that they had so much in common. “I like sautéed or roasted vegetables.”
“Me too, but the way I like them probably won’t count as healthy. I love roast potatoes covered in goose fat. My mom does them at Christmas.”
“Mine too.” Savannah smiled. She’d bet their moms would get on, too.
“So what are you doing tomorrow?” Sakiko asked, straightening up with an excited smile.
“I’m putting all the plans together for my articles. My first issue goes live in a few weeks. It’s going to be my big intro.” Her excitement stirred as she spoke. This first issue had to be good, great even. It had to truly impress. She felt confident that the ideas she had so far would do just that. “I’m doing features on things like food, culture, fashion and a host of other things.”
Sakiko smiled on hearing that. “Well, let me know if you need any info on the fashion side.”
“Thank you. I will definitely take you up on your offer.” Of course she would. Sakiko was an up-and-coming designer. Any information she could give would be valued. “I was also thinking sport, too, but I’m not sure what.”
Sakiko narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. “That does tend to go with the season. I’d say ice skating if it was winter.”
“Ice skating would be brilliant.” But the wrong season.
“There’s martial arts, sumo wrestling, and fencing.”
Savannah nodded. She was kind of in between martial arts and sumo wrestling, but she felt like she needed something with a little more edge. Everything she’d put together so far had been unique. While she’d chosen some of the well-known aspects of Japan, she also wanted to include topics that people weren’t always hearing about, or at least have a good mixture. For example, in her top ten sights to see in Tokyo she included the Imperial Palace and the Shibuya Crossing, but also talked about Tsukiji Market.
People already knew Japan was famous for sumo wrestling and martial arts, but there were other sports, too, that were just as fascinating.
Sakiko filled her mouth with a huge spoon of ice cream and smiled widely. “That was the golden part,” she announced. “You should be approaching yours any minute now.”
“Golden part?”
She pointed to Savannah’s ice cream. “I won’t spoil it for you, just taste it.”
Savannah looked at the creamy texture of the ice cream and dug around with her spoon till she hit something slightly hard. It was a chocolate shell similar to what you’d get around an Easter egg. She pushed her spoon into the weakest part and unleashed a stream of rich caramel, and what looked like a…brownie.
“Oh my gosh,” she gazed in fascination, her mouth watering at the sight.
“Yes. They always put another flavor in the center. Mine is strawberries and cream.”
“This is the best day ever,” Savannah gushed. She took a huge spoonful and pushed it in her mouth. Mixed with the coconut, mint, and chocolate, the caramel and brownie tasted even more delightful. She closed her eyes to savor the burst of each flavor as each tickled her taste buds. It reminded her of happy days with happy things. Like summer time with lush open fields covered in daisies for picnics, and chocolate, and coconuts. Mint, caramel, she was in heaven.
She opened her eyes gradually, bringing herself out of her ice cream reverie and found herself looking right at Hiroshi, who was standing at the door watching her with an amused expression on his face. One corner of his sensual mouth was pulled up into that sexy half-smile that displayed his gorgeous dimples.
She felt her pulse in her throat, and her heartbeat quickened as awareness filled her of the luminous green mask on her face. And the family-sized tub of ice cream she held to herself with the tablespoon dangling between her fingers. The whole Piglet thing came to mind and she stiffened, thoroughly abashed.
Her face suddenly became so hot she feared it would crack the mud, and her breath caught somewhere between her heart and sternum. Why, oh, why was she destined to have one ridiculous encounter after another with this guy? First the other night with the whole death mask thing, and now this. And she didn’t do herself any favors whatsoever by losing her confidence around him. Like now by saying, “I’m not a pig.”
It would have been better if she said nothing and just played it cool, like Sakiko. Although, unlike Savannah, Sakiko wouldn’t care if Hiroshi thought she was a pig. The irritating thing about it was, if he did think she was a pig, she shouldn’t have let it matter to her so much. But it did.
She watched in further humiliation as his smile widened.
“I wasn’t thinking that,” he said with a slight chuckle. His eyes grew openly amused, and he turned up his smile another notch. “But now that you mention it.”
Savannah bit the inside of her lip mentally scowling at herself. Why couldn’t he ever do something embarrassing? And, did he always have to look so perfect? Look at him now. He’d had a haircut. One of those cropped cuts with the sides closely shaven, making his features look more defined and sharper. And as usual, his clothes showed off the definition in his muscles and complimented his long, athletic legs.
“Savannah, you don’t have to explain yourself to him,” Sakiko said, raising her hand dismissively. “He’s here to annoy us, and just jealous because he didn’t get the ice cream first.”
“Why would I be jealous when I can just do this?” He walked over to them and snatched Sakiko’s tub.
“Hey, that’s mine. It already has my germs on it,” Sakiko protested, folding her arms.
Hiroshi gave her a mischievous smile and merely skimmed the top layer off with her spoon, then handed the heaped spoon to her. “It’s fine now,” he laughed.
She took it and grimaced, turning back to Savannah. “See what I have to put up with.”
As uncomfortable as Savannah was, she couldn’t help but smile a little.
“So what are you guys doing, preparing for a Wicked audition?” Hiroshi teased.
“Wicked?” Sakiko narrowed her eyes at him, looking at him askance.
“It’s a musical.”
Sakiko shook her head in exasperation. “I know. I’m just surprised you even know what that is.”
Savannah was surprised, too. He didn’t strike her as the musical type.
“Well, you’d be surprised to know what I know.” He blinked and looked at Sakiko pointedly.
“You are so annoying, give me that.” Sakiko tried to grab the ice cream back again but failed.
“Too slow, girl.” He moved away and laughed. “Night ladies.”
He looked at Savannah and winked at her, causing the knots in her stomach to tighten and her nerve endings to tingle. It was a good thing she had on this mask because she knew she was blushing. She watched him walk away with that cool, confident stride she’d observed the other day. His powerful, well-muscled body moving with easy grace. Her gaze took in his strong legs and the way his jeans moved across those sharp muscles.
“Brothers,” Sakiko huffed. Her voice broke Savannah’s focus. “No matter how old they get they still aim to drive you crazy.”
Savannah pushed her tub of ice cream over to Sakiko. She shouldn’t have anymore. “Have the rest of mine. I’ve had way too much.”
“Oh, take no notice of Hiroshi. He was just messing around. He doesn’t think you’re a pig. Look at you,” Sakiko motioned at her. “You’re a piece of stick.”
“Thank you, so are you.” Savannah laughed.
“Thank you. Oh my go
sh,” Sakiko gasped. “I know what you can do. How about motorsport, like car racing? That’s a very big thing here. You must have seen Tokyo Drift.” She laughed.
Savannah nodded and smiled, intrigued by the idea.
“We have this whole street racing, car drifting culture,” Sakiko continued. “Of course it’s entirely up to you, but everyone goes crazy over it, and you have your very own know-it-all, resident nutcase right here at your resource.”
“Resident nutcase?” Savannah laughed.
“Hiroshi, he used to race cars all the time,” Sakiko stated, widening her eyes. Savannah immediately thought back to the stuff she’d read on him. “You should see his collection.”
Collection? “Hiroshi has a collection of cars?”
“Oh yes.” Sakiko nodded. “His prized collection of the very best super-hot race cars, and sports cars, that you’ve ever seen in your life. I swear he has like ten Porsches and something ridiculous like five Lamborghinis.”
So it was true, he really did like fast cars.
Car racing did sound like the very thing of interest that she needed to complete her article. It was different, exciting, and would give her article the creative edge she wanted. But she didn’t know if she could ask Hiroshi about it. Or about anything for the matter. Look at just now. And the other night/morning.
“That’s a really good idea, Sakiko.” Maybe she could just go to the library or the information center.
“Glad to help, but you must ask Hiroshi for info. No one knows more than him. He’s kind of like a rogue driver that did a bit of everything. We all hated it, and then there was that accident. He was fine, though.”
Savannah gasped on hearing that. “Hiroshi was in an accident?”
“It was one of his crazy stunts.” She shook her head and rolled her eyes in disdain.
“What did he do?” She was intrigued to know.
“He jumped his car across a lake.”
“What?” Could that even be done?
“I know, he’s crazy, right? Who even does that?” Sakiko shook her head.
I Only Have Eyes For You Page 8
