Twilight Express Chapter Seven: Melina's E-mail

To: powderpuffgurl@io.com
From: mel_reilly@yahoo.com.jp
Date: Sept 19, 2004
Subject: my trip to Sapporo and more

Greetings Cathie-san,

Sorry it's taken me a while to catch up with you, but I've spent the last weeks bouncing to and from the Tokyo and Osaka offices while trying to pack up for the Sapporo setup and config. Plus, my romantic life has suddenly improved in a major way.

The romantic bit is convoluted so here's the Readers Digest Condensed Version. Two nights ago I was on the sleeper train to Sapporo and I met someone.

He - his name is Shinichi, by the way - had spotted me at a drinks party several weeks beforehand when I was in Osaka, and had decided to come over and meet the foreigner. But I had plans to go out with some of the Osaka office gang and left before he got the chance. But then we met in the bar car on the wonderfully named Twilight Express sleeper train, of all places, several weeks later. Coincidence, fate, luck, I don't know how to describe it. You know I don't believe in luck so take your pick of the other two.

So he apologized for staring at me and explained he'd seen me before, which was a relief as I was beginning to think he was some well-dressed stalker. We ended up tipping a few and I took quite a few $$ off him with my marked deck of cards (yep, I still have them after all these years). I liked him more and more, and I only had two small drinks so I knew I wasn't hankering for him because I was liquored up.

Turns out he wasn't going to Sapporo, he was actually going to his country home that he designed himself as he's an architect. (Yes, a country home suggests he's very well off, although I still have a near-phobia of rich boyfriends after two years of Nigel.) And he invited me for a visit.

He was so cute and shy when he asked me, even though I'm pretty sure he's in his 50s. He kept insisting I could stay in the guest room, he'd drive me all the way up to Sapporo if I decided it was time to leave, he'd take me sightseeing ... on and on. I finally had to stop him so I could say yes.

If you're wondering what happened after we got to his place, all I'll say is yes, I misbehaved on the first date. Misbehaved quite a bit, to tell the truth: it started on the back porch and never made it past the living room sofa. But it was absolutely mind-boggling and I don't regret it. Shinichi is quite a passionate one; those quiet types usually are.

You know I always believed in holding out for at least two or three dates, but something about the situation was so right for lack of a better word. And all those rumors about Asians not being good kissers are just rumors.

I don't have any photos of Shinichi to send you, but he looks like a slightly taller version of a local actor named Sonny Chiba. Well, that's who I think he looks like - I've never mentioned this to him, so he probably doesn't see any resemblance at all, or has never heard of the actor. If you Google a movie called Explosive City and look for stills, Sonny Chiba plays the character Otosan (the bad guy I'm afraid). Shinichi looks a lot like Otosan except he has longer hair and is taller. And he's a good guy, not a bad guy. :D

We're going hiking today so hopefully I can send you some photos. That is, if I don't get, well, distracted by my new squeeze.

Say hi to Matt, Jenna and the rest,

Mel