Be Careful What You Wish For (PUBLISHED)

(15) - Reconnaisance

“What do you mean?” Ana asked.

“Well, as you can imagine,” Tessa started, “Marga let slip that she’s close friends with the girl that Nakamura is currently dating,” Ana started laughing and Tessa went on, “She also told everybody that I room with you, so everyone thinks I rub elbows with the stars too.”

“What was her reaction when you told her that we actually had dinner with two of them two weeks ago?” Jon asked, referring to their dinner at Barbacoa Grill a couple of weeks ago that Ken and Yoshi had ambushed. He was surprised when Ana turned up with them in tow, but it resulted in a fun evening for all. Jon was still amazed at how they were able to get extra seats when the restaurant had told him that they were booked through for the night. Ah, the fringe benefits of stardom.

Tessa giggled, “It was priceless! She tried to be nonchalant about it, but then she asked if she could tag along the next time we go out.”

“I hope you didn’t agree,” Kaye gave her a piercing stare.

Tessa avoided meeting her gaze, “My co-teachers have also asked if I’ve met any of Ken’s friends, particularly those from Johnny’s,” she added, referring to a company famous for managing male singing groups. She cocked her head to one side, “Actually there’s this guy I’ve been crushing on…the guy who plays Jiro on that new Fuji Terebi drama… I wonder if Ken knows him,” she wondered.

“Do you want Ana to pass him a note through Nakamura?” Jon teased, “What are you, twelve?” He ducked as Tessa made to throw the saltshaker at him.

“Personally, I feel as if I’m your agent or something,” Kaye told Ana, ignoring the antics of the other two.

“My agent?” Ana asked.

“Exactly,” Kaye agreed, waving a chunk of garlic bread for emphasis, “Some local Filipino groups have heard of your association with Nakamura and they’ve been bugging me to ask both of you to attend or guest in one of their events. Ha! As if!” she said as she broke of a chunk of bread and put it into her mouth. Kaye was very involved in a lot of events involving the local Filipino community and often liaised with people from the Philippine Embassy as well as local NGOs.

“C’mon, admit it—you’ve been thinking of inviting them to that ballroom party you’re organizing,” Jon chided.

Kaye turned to him, “Well it’s for a good cause and it would certainly increase ticket sales,” she guiltily defended, “And when I mentioned it to Yoshi, he seemed interested.”

“Whoa! It seems that Ana is not the only one to get involved with a Japanese actor,” Tessa kidded. She couldn’t help but notice that Kaye and Yoshi had hit it off that time when they had dinner. She tried to eavesdrop, but she was completely lost when they had switched to Japanese. Tessa’s Japanese language skills were mainly confined to polite greetings. Although Kaye and Ana frequently pointed out that her skills drastically improved when she was shopping.

“You’re off the mark on that one,” Jon told her.

“What do you mean?” Tessa asked.

“Well, I think that Kaye and Yoshi are too much alike to be romantically involved. They’re both sharks,” he told her, “and it was evident from the first moment they met that they were thinking of ways to exploit their connection,” he turned to Kaye, “I couldn’t get all of what you were talking about, but it seemed geared towards unromantic things.” Although Jon studied Japanese language at university, as an expat he hardly used it, and was only marginally better than Tessa.

Kaye shrugged, “Ok, ok, so I got him to introduce me to some potential sponsors for the ballroom party.”

“Told ya,” Jon grinned.

Kaye smacked his arm, “Hey! I promised to find him a new personal assistant and housekeeper in return.”

 “The news of you and Nakamura has reached the ni-chome community as well,” Jon told Ana, referring to an area in Shinjuku that housed some of the more popular watering holes for the discreet gender-challenged population of Tokyo, “But since I haven’t let slip that I am personally acquainted with you, no one’s asked me anything. But the most interesting stories have been going around,” he informed Ana as he wiggled his eyebrows.

“What sorts of stories?” Ana asked.

“Well, the most interesting point of debate I heard last weekend,” Jon announced, “Was if Nakamura wore briefs or boxers. I personally thought—briefs. I don’t suppose you’d care to enlighten me, hmm?”

Ana was surprised as three pairs of eyes suddenly impaled her with laser-like intensity.

“Of course I wouldn’t know!” she said heatedly.

“Just checking,” Jon said under his breath.

“Oh by the way,” Ana said, wanting to change the subject, “Ken asked me to ask if you guys would be free Saturday after next.”

“Why, what’s happening?” Tessa asked excitedly.

“Well, if you’re not busy, Ken has some tickets to spare for an event over at the Tokyo Budokan in Kudanshita. Ken and Yoshi, as well as bunch of other people are supporting the Earth Day fundraiser concert,” she paused for effect, “And he asked me if you were interested in coming.” At the excited gleam in her friends’ eyes, Ana went on, “He got us prime tickets and we’re also invited to the uchiage party afterwards.” In Japan, uchiage parties were normally held to celebrate the completion of an event. Since this particular event involved a ton of people from the local entertainment industry, Ken had told her that it would be held at one of the bigger clubs in the Azabu area.

Ana covered her ears when Jon, Kaye, and Tessa started screeching in unison. Nakano and Tanaka had reacted in much the same fashion when Ana had told them earlier about the concert. Ana had been surprised when Ken called her this afternoon and asked her if she’d like some tickets for her friends and assistants. He had told her that he thought she might want to have someone with her in the audience since as one of the hosts he wouldn’t be able to sit with her. She had been truly touched by his thoughtfulness.

“Well, will you guys be free? What should I tell Ken?” Ana asked them mischievously.

“Yes!” the three of them bellowed at her.

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Thanks again everybody for reading! I hope you liked this chapter, I always enjoy conversations between Jon, Kaye, Tessa, and Ana, it sort of grounds the whole story ... for me at least ;-)

Exciting stuff coming up soon! Wait for it! ;-)

Love it? Hate it? Let me know ;-) Comments and votes make me uber happy!

xoxo