Espresso Love (A Dystopian Japan Novel) #Wattys2014

Hole in the Ground

We head to what might be her office at the end of the brief tour - she asserts she has matters to attend to in about an hour's time. There are a few offices in this area, all tucked into one wing, the bridge of a warship, containing hefty mahogany desks and little potted coffee trees that are all set in the corners of the room. They look pretty similar to financial advising offices in a bank.

"Have you gotten what you've come here for?"

I admit that I don't know what I've come here for really, but I'm sure that it has been helpful.

"My secretary will be here soon with a sample Arabica coffee cherry for you," she says, "guaranteed to be of the finest quality, and absolutely, perfectly, ripe, from our best harvest season batch. We also do our own roasting after our hulling, grading and sorting, tasting, right here in the facilities. Our subterranean network is rather extensive - you have only been able to see a small percentage of it so far, which I apologize for. But perhaps you may see the rest at a later time. If you should require anything coffee related be sure to contact me." She offers me her business card which I smile a thanks for.

She seems to end the conversation here. The cold fluorescent lights clamp down with a decisiveness that catches me off guard. There are no windows here, since we are underground and nothing much on the walls or on the table. There is a single computer monitor sitting on her right, a nice brand new Apple product. A memo pad lays on her left with a pen over top of it. A conference phone next to that. Everything is still and empty, characterless. But still, there is something left in the air. A trace of thin strands like silk, suspended, unfinished and untouched. I can feel the urge to weave them in somehow.

The secretary knocks on the door three times and Kaneko beckons her in. The secretary is a young lady, working part time likely, not any older than me, short neck length hair brushed neatly. She wears a hairpin to keep her bangs out of her eyes. She looks at me for a brief moment but shows no expression or interest. "Here's the coffee cherry." The cherry is in a black case, like a box for an engagement ring or something. There's no label or logo on it.

Once the secretary has left us, Kaneko offers it to me. "There you are. Keep it safe."

I thank her. I would plant it later. I stand to leave but something holds me back.

"Do you have a husband?" I blurt out suddenly.

She is surprised and her eyebrows arch up for a moment. "Yes, I do. Why is it that you ask?"

I flush red. "I was just curious. Your house is beautiful but it seems rather... empty."

"We keep the first floor of the house generally untouched." She smiles pleasantly. "It's for guests after all."

I continue on. "Do you have any children, Kaneko-san?"

She shakes her head slowly. "No," she pauses, "we don't."

Her eyes flick to me and for a brief moment, I sense a disturbance within, like the passing shadow of some large bird of prey. Almost like a plea, a secret call.

"I thought that you might know of a Shizuka Kaneko." I study her face.

"No, I don't know a Shizuka Kaneko," she says quickly.

"I see." I tip my head in apology. "I'm sorry for asking. She's my girlfriend, who happens to be missing at the moment. I thought it was too much of a coincidence."

She is silent for a moment. "I hope you will find her."

"I hope so too."

None of us speak for a while. We stand there staring at nothing in particular. She opens her mouth as if she wants to say something. I wait for her until I can't wait any longer. Just as I step out the door, she says, "you best leave now, get as far away as you can. Deliver the coffee plant. You've asked something you shouldn't."

"What do you mean?"

"Something I've long forgotten." There's distress in her eyes. "Take care of her, Maeda-san. To us, she's been missing for many years."