‘Okay. You’re on,’ he says, this time with more enthusiasm.
‘Great, then it’s a date.’
10
KIT
Pontocho Alley looks exactly the way I envision old-school Japan used to, with traditional machiya dark wood townhouses crammed together down a narrow street, which bustles with tourists, their path lit by the soft glow of paper lanterns.
If it wasn’t for the modern dress of the crowds around us, all super-focused on finding somewhere to serve them their dinner, you could easily imagine you’ve time-travelled back a hundred years. In my mind’s eye, I can even see the ghosts of geishas gliding out of the doorways, it’sthatvisceral a scene.
The street is cobbled and uneven so as we make our way down it, we have to watch our step as we dodge between groups of people who regularly stop dead in their tracks to check out menus outside the many eateries.
When we finally decide on which sashimi restaurant we want to try – they all look so inviting it’s difficult to know which one to choose – we have to wait until they have room to accommodate us. It’s not long until a table comes free though and we’re taken to be seated by a large window that looks out over the Kamo river. The nightlights along the riverbank illuminate the slow-flowing water, making it glint in the darkness.
‘Well, this is pretty special,’ Chloe says, looking around her with an expression of happy satisfaction.
‘Yeah. It’s great,’ I agree, staring down at the menu, which has a huge range of colourful-looking sashimi dishes on it. Even though each one looks like a work of art, in all honesty, none of it looks particularly appetising, but I remind myself I’m here for the challenge of trying something new and different and shouldn’t judge it till I’ve tried it.
So when the server comes to the table to take our order I just stab at a couple of things on the menu, not really having much of a clue what I’m ordering.
Chloe seems to be taking a more thoughtful approach though, because she asks the server about a couple of the dishes before making her choices.
When we’re finally left alone, she leans in conspiratorially and surprises me by saying, ‘I have no idea what’s going to arrive. Fingers crossed it’s edible.’
I let out a laugh at that, feeling a sense of relief that I’m not on my own here, having to pretend I’m totally cool about what I’m about to encounter.
We’re in this together.
I never felt like that when I was with Katya. She always wanted us both to appear to be super confident at all times.
Warmth floods my chest and I take a long drink of the glass of tap water that was delivered to our table while we perused the menus.
‘Thanks for coming with me. I’d feel a bit strange about coming to a restaurant here on my own,’ Chloe says, the corner of her mouth twisting into a grimace.
‘My pleasure,’ I say, meaning it. ‘I’m very much enjoying playing the role of hot ex-lover who’s not only great in bed but an excellent dinner companion too.’ I flip her a grin.
She smiles back, but I can tell I’ve hit a troubled nerve.
‘Sorry,’ I say, ‘We don’t have to talk about that right now if you’d rather not.’
‘No, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to bring the mood down. It just keeps hitting me at odd moments that my whole life is going to be very different from now on. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. Just something I’m going to have to get used to.’
Picking up her own glass of water, she takes a sip. ‘I suspect there are going to be a lot of people wondering aloud why he did that to me, especially as he comes across as such a good guy.’
I nod in understanding.
‘I’m not looking forward to answering all the kindly meant but incredibly awkward questions about how I’m doing when I get back,’ she continues. ‘I wish I could just stay here where it’s simple.’
Yeah, me too, I find myself thinking.
Our food arrives then and we glance at each other and smile before picking up our chopsticks and selecting our first piece of raw fish to try. I watch her face as she chews, aware that the food I’m eating is actually a lot better tasting than I was expecting. In fact it’s actually pretty delicious. It seems Chloe’s having the same experience because she gives me a surprised smile and picks up another bit of food right away, dips it in the little saucer of soy sauce and eats it.
‘Pretty good, huh?’ I say.
‘Yeah. It’s actually really nice. Softer than I imagined it would be and less fishy, bizarrely.’
We eat in silence for another minute or so, but I seem to be incapable of sitting there quietly for long with all the questions I want to ask her buzzing through my head now that she’s started to open up to me.
