‘So, I’m going to take one of the boat trips down the river here. And go to the bamboo forest at dawn, when apparently the light looks beautiful through the canes. And I want to go into the city and look around, get a feel of the place. Oh, and Ihaveto visit a cat café while I’m here of course. I’ve never been to one and I hear they’re really fun.’
I make a face. ‘Cats? Really? I didn’t know you were into cats.’
‘Yeah. What’s wrong with liking cats?’
‘Nothing.’
‘Apparently they often have kittens to play with too.’
I grin-grimace. ‘Cute.’
She doesn’t rise to my teasing.
‘And on completely the other end of the scale, I’ve booked myself in for Samurai training a couple of days from now.’
‘Whoa. Hold up. Samurai training?’
‘Yeah. They do it at a dojo in the middle of Kyoto. You get to wield a real sword at the end to cut through some bamboo or something. It looks like a lot of fun.’
‘That does sound fun,’ I admit. I quite fancy doing that myself.
‘How about you? What have you got planned?’ she asks, picking up her sake and draining the last of it from the glass.
‘Um… well, I’ll probably do a boat trip too and maybe visit some shrines and temples,’ I hedge. I don’t want to look like a boring bastard and admit I’ve not planned anything concrete to do with my time yet.
‘Ooh, yes,’ she says, her eyes lighting up. ‘I’d like to visit some of the temples too. There are a few other things I’d love to do if I can squeeze them in as well.’
I watch her talk as she lists her other plans for her trip in between mouthfuls of the food that’s arrived while we’ve been talking, marvelling at how effortlessly cool she is, how inspiring and proactive.
Katya never planned anything for us to do together, she always left it up to me to arrange things to do to entertain us. And she was a tough crowd to please. She expected the best of everything. Exclusivity. No expense spared.
Chloe seems to be the opposite. Full of life and fire, proactive and interested in everything.
I dig that.
My brain seems to be suddenly buzzing with the dopamine hits I’m getting off sitting here with her, listening to her talk in that animated way she has.
Which is wild.
The last thing I’d expected, when I decided to come here to get some space from my failed relationship with Katya, was to end up having cravings for an ex from years ago instead.
But Chloe’s presence here has lit a fire inside me.
I think her resolve to have a good time, despite being emotionally bulldozed, is inspiring.
It’s suddenly really important that she can see that I’ve changed.
And I want her to enjoy herself while she’s here – hopefully in my company.
She puts her chopsticks down onto her now cleared plate and gives me a satisfied smile.
‘Want to come back to my apartment for a night swim?’ I ask her.
5
CHLOE
I’m not sure why I said yes to this – something to do with the sake, I’m sure – but here I am, in Kit’s private pool, in my tankini, clinging to the side with my second, now mostly empty, glass of rice wine in my hand, while I watch him swim lengths.
