Be Careful What You Wish For (PUBLISHED)

(17) - An Unfortunate Sighting

Ken had hardly seen Ana this past week and he was inexplicably eager to see her. His schedule had been packed—he was in the process of shooting a new television series and had been on location in Nara. They had been shooting night scenes this past week, so most days he had slept in and had only managed a hurried phone conversation with her in the middle of the week.

He noticed that he grew grumpier each day that he wasn’t able to talk to her. He couldn’t seem to explain why, but the sound of her voice at the other end of the line seemed to relax him after a hard day’s work. He enjoyed their nonsensical conversations and sporadic verbal sparring. Unlike other girls, Ana didn’t cower when he frowned or raised his voice. She raised hers in turn. If she disagreed with him, she argued until he admitted his mistake. She never seemed to be in awe of him. He even secretly liked how she teased him about being too full of himself. He also liked how comfortable she was with silence; unlike other girls, she didn’t feel the need to fill in bouts of silence with idle chatter. This, thought Ken, made their conversations all the more meaningful.

Lately, Ken had taken to calling her or sending her messages on her keitai each day just to say hello. Ana was a good listener and he found that it was relaxing to talk to her about his work—the dramas he was currently shooting and the projects he was thinking of taking on. It was refreshing to speak to someone who wasn’t in the industry. She was alternately shocked, fascinated, and amused by his stories about the eccentricities and antics of some of his colleagues.

He had hoped to see her when he gotten back to Tokyo this morning, but his assistant Takashi reminded him that he was due to appear in a couple of shows. Late this afternoon, Ken had almost been at the end of his tether when Takashi informed him that the taping for the evening was cancelled due to his co-star being sick. Takashi had been surprised at the sudden grin that broke through Ken’s frown when he delivered the news. Ken had bounded up, grabbed his car keys, and headed out the door.

Ken didn’t bother to explain away the swift burst of happiness he felt. He walked down the corridor leading to the parking lot with a wide grin on his face. As he slid into his car, his bad mood had almost completely dissipated. He started the car and headed to Ana’s office with the intention of surprising her.

Although they had initially agreed to meet only a few times a week, Ken often went out of his way to see his pseudo-girlfriend. In the past few weeks, he had acquired the habit of dropping by to take Ana out to lunch or dinner. He even gamely signed autographs or chatted with the staff at the institute when he was there. Yoshi had jokingly quipped one night that since Ken was at university so often, he might as well try for a degree.

There was a noticeable smile on his face as he bounded up the stairs to Ana’s office. He hoped that she was in. He had tried calling her, but there had been something wrong with the connection. He smiled when he found her bag and coat in her office; it meant that she was still somewhere in the institute.

His gaze lingered on the array of items that littered her desk and the credenza behind it. A few weeks ago, Ken found a go-around for Ana’s aversion to receiving gifts from him. He saved the network giveaways he normally blew off and gave them to her instead. On her desk, a stuffed animal from Fuji Terebi sat beside a mug from Suntory that held an array of colorful pens from TBS, NHK, and other local television networks. On the credenza, a vase held the flowers Ken received from his last commercial taping a week ago.

Ken looked around and approached a couple of interns a couple of cubicles down. They eagerly told him that they saw Dr. Madrigal go into the cafeteria earlier. After getting directions and thanking them, Ken headed downstairs towards the cafeteria. He decided to join her since she was already eating. He smiled as he thought of how surprised she’d be to see him.