A Place Beyond The Horizon

13. GETTING ALONG

In Tokyo, Andrew has booked them all into two suites in an upscale hotel situated in the middle of Shinjuku. They lose a day in the flight, and it's late on Friday night as the private car weaves through traffic to their destination. Beyond the car windows, Shinjuku is a riot of colour and sound, lit up in screens and neon signs on all the buildings, the streets packed with people.

Mara is riding in the back with Aidan, and Andrew is sitting in front of them with Indi. The driver doesn't know who she is, and Mara seems to be thrilled by that. Andrew turns back in his seat to talk to them.

"We can get settled in and then try our luck out for dinner, what do you say?"

"You got somewhere in mind?" Mara asks.

"A couple places. The menu isn't in English though."

"How will we know what we're ordering?"

Andrew laughs. "We won't."

They pull up to the hotel, and Andrew strides over to talk to the bellboy, organising the luggage and checking them all in. The ride fifty floors up the elevator, into a well-appointed corridor with doors spaced widely in each wall. Andrew has booked two large suites and leads Mara to hers. It's big, with an entertaining area, kitchenette and two bedrooms to each side. A soft, low-lying couch is arranged in an L-shape in the middle of the entertaining area around a sturdy glass coffee table, looking out through floor-to-ceiling windows at the shimmering lights of the Tokyo skyline, with its landmark tower lit up in the night.

"Nice enough?" Andrew asks.

"It'll pass," Mara replies.

"Good. I do my best to please."

Andrew takes a look around the suite and nods to himself.

"How about you settle in and we regroup in the hotel lobby in fifteen for dinner?" he suggests.

"Maybe twenty. I need to overhaul."

Andrew laughs. "No, Mara, you don't. Trust me. You on your worst day is better than most people on their best."

Mara grins back. "So, you saying I'm at my worst?"

"Oh no. You're not gonna suck me into that. See you in twenty."

Andrew leads Indi out of the suite to his own, leaving Aidan alone with Mara. She gives him a look, and then flashes a smile.

"Aidan, relax. We're gonna have a ball."

"Yeah, I know."

"Get changed. Let's go see what Tokyo has to offer."

---

They find somewhere to eat in one of the towering, screen-wrapped blocks that line one of the main streets of Shinjuku, taking an elevator up to the sixth floor and being escorted into a booth by the window, overlooking the street. Andrew takes charge, ordering from the menu with a combination of pointing and holding up fingers which the Japanese waitress appears to understand. She is fastidiously polite, reciting the order back in Japanese, to which Andrew nods as if he's understood her.

"I didn't know you could understand Japanese," Mara comments after the waitress departs.

"Not a word," Andrew confesses. "Languages are not my area of expertise."

"Ever tried learning one?"

Andrew shrugs. "Apart from Spanish at school, no. I mean, there's a practicality to it, right? The waitress, it's easy for her, she just needs to learn English. I'd need to learn, what? Spanish, Japanese, Urdu, Chinese, German, French, uh...."