Twilight Express, Chapter Two: Shinichi

Last edit: 11/12/2006

He looked at his watch. Shinichi’s station was just over two hours away, but he was determined to not fall victim to the national pastime: karoshi, death from overwork. He decided to have a drink. He turned off his laptop, gathered up his overcoat and briefcase, and made his way through the narrow corridor past the sleeper cars. Since the tourist season was over and it was mid-week, all but one of the sleepers were unoccupied.

When he arrived at the salon car, Shinichi could not believe his luck.

At first he found it hard to believe that it was the same woman he'd first seen a month ago. She was dressed in a knee-length skirt and silk blouse, with her dark red hair loose around her shoulders. But she looked up at him from the half-circular booth, and her unmistakable green eyes confirmed her identity. She half-rose, bowed slightly and sat down again, tucking her pleated skirt under her thighs carefully. He sat down at the next booth, slowly exhaled, watched her turn the pages of her newspaper as if she were searching for something.

Shinichi had first seen the redhaired gaijin several weeks ago at a cocktail party in Osaka. The party had been held in the hotel next to his office building. His banker friend Hitoshi had invited him earlier in the day during their weekly lunch.

He had watched her from across the room as she politely listened to others, bowing correctly when introduced, presenting her business card when necessary. It was soon obvious that although she was younger than most expatriates, she was remarkably well-versed in local business etiquette. She never made the usual foreigners' mistakes like laughing loudly or bowing improperly.

The woman wore a dark blue business suit, low black heels and a high-necked white blouse. Shinichi guessed her to be in her late 20s. She wore no jewelry except pearl earrings and a tortoise-shell clip in her long hair.

As he studied her, he realized that she was not a conventional beauty. Her mouth, although delicate and curved, was not quite even; the lower lip being fuller than the upper one. She was fashionably thin but unfashionably pale. Her auburn hair was wavy and thick, and she had only partially succeeded in taming it into a loose French twist. But it didn’t matter, didn’t matter to him at all.

He began wondering how he might be introduced to her. Suddenly she looked directly at him, as if she had literally felt his gaze lingering upon her. Her clear green eyes studied him for several seconds before she returned to her conversation.

Suddenly Shinichi was determined to be introduced to her. He began to think of an excuse that wouldn’t sound ridiculous, only half-listening to Hitoshi’s business chat. But then another colleague joined them, and it took Shinichi several minutes to escape.

Still trying to think of a businesslike lie that would result in an introduction, he looked up, searching for her red hair in the crowd. She was gone.

Shinichi excused himself, walked quickly to the front door, looked around the plaza. The usual rush hour crowd of office workers and shoppers milled in front of him. He stood still, staring at the crowds, angry at himself for losing her. Then he returned inside.

The next day, he found himself at his drafting board, unable to concentrate on work. Instead he kept staring out of the window at the sidewalk below, half-hoping he would spot her among the pedestrians. Finally he closed the blinds.

During the next weeks, Shinichi kept telling himself that his attraction for the woman was nothing more than curiosity. He had never been intimate with a foreigner, and had never felt a particular desire for one. But he continued to think of ways to find, or at least identify, the redhaired woman while working at his drafting board or sitting through another meeting. Certainly he could think of a good reason to visit her office since Hitoshi’s company was responsible for her presence.

Late at night, he sometimes found himself fantasizing about seducing the young gaijin. He imagined removing her dark blue jacket, slowly unbuttoning her white cotton blouse, looking down into her green eyes before he kissed her.

Finally Shinichi decided to call Hitoshi's company and try to convince the receptionist to put him through to the foreigner, thinking he could waffle through any preliminary interrogation. But a new receptionist politely told him that there were no foreigners currently working in the Osaka office. He put the phone down slowly, feeling despondent.

Shinichi knew that the only way he might locate the woman was to ask Hitoshi about her. While he knew Hitoshi would not condemn him - after all, Hitoshi would certainly have been instrumental in hiring a foreigner - he would certainly realize that Shinichi's interest in her could not be described as professional. So Shinichi kept postponing his enquiry, not wishing to embarrass his friend.

He need not have worried. Three weeks later, he entered the bar car of the Twilight Express and found her waiting for him.