by Staci Hart
“What? I have priorities. Sue me.”
Dita sank into the couch, pouting. “She is so delusional.”
“Duh. Hera does not live in reality.”
“She actually thinks that love and commitment are mutually exclusive. Like, I’m actually baffled.”
“Well, what can you do about it? There’s no changing Hera.”
Dita perked up. “You’re right about that, but that doesn’t mean I can’t give Katsu something to live for.”
“What are you gonna do?” Perry asked as she shoveled a monstrous heap of ice cream into her mouth.
“I’m going to find Katsu a match.”
———— Las Vegas ————
Kim stood backstage, waiting for her act to go on. She and about twenty other girls stood with their feather hats waving as they chattered. The beads on their costumes twinkled under the lights while they waited for their number.
A stage hand stood nearby, and she could feel his eyes on her. She’d been trying to ignore him, but his ogling was starting to make her uncomfortable.
“Hey,” he whispered.
She didn’t move.
“Hey, baby, I’m talkin’ to you.”
She turned her head, feeling the tall balance of her feathered hat as she glanced over at him with an eyebrow up. “Yeah, I know.”
He wound a rope around a peg and stepped toward her. “Now, now, no need to harsh. How about after the show we go get a drink? I’d like to show you a thing or two.”
“I bet you would,” she said with her eyes on the stage.
He laid a meaty hand on her bare back. “Come on, don’t be like that, baby.”
She didn’t pull away, but her whole body went stiff as her gloved hands balled into fists. “Get your hands off me.”
His hand moved to cup her ass. “Aww, now, don’t act like you don’t want it.”
She looked at him squarely and brought her heel down hard on his foot. He screamed just as the music changed, and she smiled, twiddling her fingers at him as she followed the girls out onto the stage.
Katsu sat in the back of the club sipping his drink. Nakano sat near the stage with a few friends, drunk and laughing. Katsu sighed and recrossed his legs as the music changed and a line of showgirls trotted onto the stage, smiling and sparkling. His spirits lifted, marginally.
As they performed, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of one dancer in particular, even though they all looked so much alike in costume. His gaze followed the curve of her hip, the line of her bust, and up her long neck to her pouty, rosebud lips. Her eyes were bright, lined with dark kohl. She was breathtaking.
She seemed to notice him, too. Her eyes would catch his and hold them before snapping forward again as she kicked and shimmied. When their number ended, all the light seemed to follow her as she left the stage.
The show rolled on, dull in comparison. Nakano and his posse flashed cash and made a spectacle, and Katsu watched quietly. When they stood to leave, Nakano slung his arm over the shoulder of a giggling girl, and the group left the club in a loud pack. Katsu tossed a fifty on the table and followed them out.
He walked out of the club, waiting in the shadows as he scanned the lot, catching sight of them climbing into a car at the far end of the parking lot. His eyes didn’t leave them as he stepped out onto the sidewalk.
Kim rummaged blindly through her bag for her keys, staring into the cavernous hole for some hint of their shape, and when she slammed into the man standing in her path, she almost fell flat out. Her purse hit the ground, and the contents spilled out onto the sidewalk.
“Shit,” she said under her breath as she bent down, snatching a tube of lipstick as it rolled away.
“My apologies, Miss. I did not see you.” A man crouched eye level with her, and when she glanced up, she momentarily forgot where she was. It was the man who she;d seen sitting in the back of the club … the one she couldn’t stop staring at through the show. His deep, velvety brown eyes looked into hers, and his full lips inched into a smile, his teeth sparkling behind them. She felt herself smile back.
“It, uh … it wasn’t your fault. I wasn’t paying attention.” She dropped her eyes back to the chaos of her bag and began scooping up the contents again, dumping them into her purse unceremoniously.
“Neither was I. May I help you?” His accent was thick, and she wondered where exactly he was from.
“I’ve got it, thanks,” she said as she dropped her checkbook into her purse, then picked up her keys. “I was just looking for these.” She jangled them before closing them in her hand around them.
The two stood and observed each other for a long moment before they both spoke at once.
“I should really go,” she said.
“I must be going,” he said.
She tucked her blond hair behind her ear, not wanting to leave and not understanding why. There was nothing left to say, though, so she shook her head and smiled. “Well, then … see you around,” she said, and turned away.
“Wait, what is your name?”
Her heart skipped as she faced him again, her cheeks a little hot. “Kim Riggs.”
“I am Tanaka Katsu,” he said, and bowed slightly.
She grinned and stuck out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Katsu.”
He laughed as he took her hand, and she felt his touch all the way to her feet. When he let her go, she missed the sensation almost immediately.
“Tanaka is my surname. In Japan, that is how we address each other, although I like the way my name sounded from your lips. Please, call me Katsu.”
She wondered if he meant to say mouth, or if he had used the word ‘lips’ intentionally, a word that felt like a promise. Her stomach fluttered, and she hesitated, not wanting to leave. She couldn’t fight the urge to stay right where she was, even though she couldn’t think of a response. They watched each other, and her mind filled with questions about him, who he was, why he was there, if he were single. Her gaze dropped to his left hand, and her heart sank when she saw his wedding band. Her smile fell.
“Oh, um, well … it was nice to meet you, Katsu. I really should be going.”
Katsu saw when she noticed his ring, and he sucked in a breath. He wanted to stop her from leaving, wanted to explain, though he wasn’t sure why. He just knew he didn’t want her to walk away. But he had a duty to his wife, and Kim seemed to have the same feelings on the matter. So he let her go.
“It was a pleasure to meet you, Kim.”
Her smile was sad as she lifted her palm to wave goodbye, and he felt his own sad smile pass his lips. He watched her leave, not breaking his eyes away until she was out of sight. Katsu took a heavy breath and walked to his car, wondering where Nakano may have gone, even though he no longer cared.
Pleasant Surprises
“I WISH WE COULD WATCH this in the theater room,” Perry said and took a long pull of her Slurpee.
“Yeah, right. And risk Hera walking in? She’ll eventually figure it out, but I’m not about to send her a formal invitation.”
“So far, so good, right? Their attraction is off the charts.”
“Duh. That’s my thing. Getting Katsu to the club was easy. Those jokers he’s tailing will follow their boners wherever I want.”
Perry laughed. “I want to see that. Can you show me that?”
“This is almost too easy.”
Perry looked into her unnaturally red frozen beverage and sloshed her straw around. “Hera’s gonna be so mad when she figures out that you’re messing with him.”
“I prefer helping him. And anyway, who gives a shit about Hera? Not me.”
“What’s your next move?” Perry scooped out a tiny spoonful with the end of her straw and stuck it in her mouth with her eyebrows up.
“It’s already in motion,” Dita said, amused. “Watch this.”
Katsu walked into the casino at the Flamingo and made his way to a poker table off the walkway. Nakano was at a Craps table in the middle of the
casino, laughing and yelling with his friends and a group of women with big hair, sparkling dresses, and high heels. One woman leaned over the table and kissed his dice before he tossed them, and when they came to a stop, the group broke out into cheers.
Up to that point, Nakano had only partied in the usual Vegas fashion: drinking, clubs, drugs, and gambling. After Katsu left the club where he met Kim, he caught up with the crew at their hotel and followed them to a nightclub. He was exhausted from being up all night while Nakano and his friends did enough cocaine to put down an elephant.
Katsu took a seat at a Blackjack table, and the dealer dealt the cards. He lifted the edge of his cards to peek at his hand and tapped the table just as a cocktail waitress walked up.
“A drink for you, sir?”
His brow quirked at the sound … there was something familiar about it. When he turned and saw her, shock shot through him.
Kim. Her name echoed in his mind.
She blinked a few times, her face full of bewilderment, and she smiled. Her bright green eyes sparkled at him from behind long lashes. “Hello, Katsu.”
“Hello, Kim.”
The dealer cleared his throat, and Katsu stood without even looking at his hand. He smiled down at her as he laid a hand on the small of her back to guide her away from the table.
“What a pleasant surprise to see you, Kim.”
“I’m more along the lines of shocked. Should I be concerned?”
“Concerned?” Katsu’s head cocked, confused.
“Yes, about how you’ve ‘accidentally’ run into me twice in the last eighteen hours?”
“Oh, no.” He couldn’t stop smiling. “This is a very pleasant coincidence. You work here and at the club?”
“A girl’s gotta eat.” She propped her drink tray on her hip.
His brow dropped. “Surely you would make enough at one job or the other to eat and live?”
“You sure are forward.” She smiled, but he heard the uncertainty behind her voice.
“I apologize. I am very curious about you, but I do not wish to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s all right,” she said, on the verge of apologizing herself. “I’m not used to anyone caring, really. No one ever asks.” She stood up a little straighter and lifted her chin. “I’m saving up. Being a showgirl-slash-waitress isn’t exactly my idea of a dream career.”
“I suppose not. May I ask what your ‘dream career’ is?”
“You really are nosy, you know that?” Her eyes twinkled alongside her smile. “I’d like to run my own dance studio. I’ve been dancing since I was a girl, but I’m nearing the end of my dancing career. So that’s what I’d like to do. Teach others something that has brought me so much joy.” She waved her free hand at him. “Anyway, enough about me. What do you do? I’m guessing you’re here for pleasure?” She nodded toward the poker table.
“I work in communications,” he said, not missing a beat. “And, no, I am here on business.”
“Must be a nice kind of business to land you at a Blackjack table.”
He smiled. “Sometimes it has its advantages.”
They observed each other, and Kim’s eyes swept across his face, coming to rest on his lips, where they lingered a bit too long. She shook herself from her daze just as her boss stormed up.
Chuck ran a hand through his wooly hair, and his lips pinched under his broom handle mustache. He grabbed Kim’s arm with his fat fingers and gave Katsu a sideways look, a fake smile on his chubby lips.
“Excuse me, sir. I need to talk to Kimberly here for a moment.”
Katsu’s posture changed. His shoulders tensed and straightened, and his back went stiff as he squared his jaw. He was a man of power — that was suddenly very clear. She didn’t know how she hadn’t noticed before that moment.
“Excuse me, sir. Would you mind if I had a word?” Katsu pulled the stocky man away, and Kim eyed them, wondering who the hell Katsu was and if he was about to get her fired. Her boss gave her a weak smile, then nodded and turned to walk back through the casino.
Katsu walked back up, his demeanor soft again.
“Communications, huh?” Kim raised an eyebrow.
His smile was sly. “In a manner of speaking, yes.”
She watched him again as they stood together in silence. “I’m not sure what to make of you, Tanaka Katsu.”
“I feel the same way, Kim Riggs.”
She took a breath and stood up a little straighter. This is going nowhere, Kim. Walk away. “Well, I’m glad we ran into each other again, though at least gravity wasn’t involved this time.”
He laughed, and her heart skipped at the sound, betraying her. She made herself think about who his wife was, if they had kids, and she found some resolve at the thoughts. “I really should get back to work. Thanks for keeping Chuck off my back.”
He bowed slightly and looked down at her, his eyes deep and soft and dark. “I hope we meet again, Kim. I could stand more pleasant surprises.”
Katsu watched her lips as she said goodbye, then her hips as she walked away, leaving him wondering if he’d ever felt like he did. He smiled in amazement as he realized he hadn’t.
Katsu stretched in his hotel bed and glanced over at his clock. It was early afternoon, but the room was dark and still, the only sound the hum of the air conditioner, and the only light peeking around the heavy curtains. He picked up the phone and dialed the operator.
“Front Desk, how may I help you?” Shinji, one of his Vegas enforcers, answered.
“Shinji, this is Katsu. Is Nakano still in his room?”
“Yes.” His voice took on a cheery tone. “Yes, sir. Our rooms are very quiet. You could sleep all day if you wanted to, with our black-out curtains. Party all you want, sleep all day. This is Las Vegas.”
Katsu chuckled. “Thank you. Call me if anything changes.”
“Yes, sir. Have a nice day, sir.”
Katsu slipped out of bed and walked through his suite to the window. He pulled back the curtain, and the harsh desert sun spilled into the room. Kim slowly took over his thoughts. He glanced at his watch as he walked to the bathroom, wondering if she was at the casino, or if she was at home. Maybe she was doing chores, or running errands. Maybe she was reading a book, and he wondered what kinds of books she liked. Or maybe she was taking an afternoon nap, he thought, picturing her asleep in bed, blanketed in sunshine.
He took a heavy breath and leaned on the bathroom counter, peering into the eyes of his reflection. Outside of schoolboy crushes and Yuki, Katsu had never been in a relationship. He had opened his heart to Yuki, but when she tried to carve it from his chest and lock it away, he built a wall to keep her out. It wasn’t the life he wanted, a life without love, but he had never considered that there would be an alternative.
Katsu lathered on shaving cream while he contemplated the how and the why of his infatuation with Kim. They had barely exchanged words, but he found himself thinking of her, wishing for her.
Months on months had passed since he had been with Yuki. He could barely be in the same room as her, never mind sleeping with her. All he could see in her was a twisted snake, black and full of hate. If he let her get close enough, she would wrap herself around him and squeeze until there was no light left in him.
And then there was Kim. Her face burned into his mind alongside the smell of her, like lilac. Just being close to her was overwhelming, like staring at the sun. It was almost more than he could bear.
But as much as he wanted Kim, he was bound to Yuki, to her family, and to her father. She was his duty, one that felt like chains, a burden he was no longer content to bear.
Katsu shaved a strip down his cheek, leaving an olive trail of skin through the foamy white as he considered his marriage. The higher-ups in the Yakuza all had arranged marriages. It was a necessity, a way to carry on your legacy if you had no male heir. A way to make ties and treaties with other clans. Sometimes, the marriages worked out. But mostly, they didn’t. There was
a code among the men: find comfort where you want, when you want, but take care of your wife. Katsu was responsible for Yuki, and keeping her happy, or at least her version of happy, was part of his obligation.
He was certain that an affair would not make her happy.
Katsu tapped his razor against the side of the sink, and he tilted his face to clear another strip of foam away.
If he were in Japan, he would only be able to make use of clan comfort women. Taking part in a relationship was frowned upon, not even a casual one that would last past a single night.
Somehow, he knew that one night with Kim wouldn’t be enough.
The American clans were far more lax than their Japanese counterparts, and Katsu wondered if any kind of relationship would be possible with Kim. Katsu’s boss had been raised in America, as had most of the American bosses, and their rules and codes were different from what he was used to.
As he rinsed his face, he wondered if he could be with Kim. Would he be crossing some line in the clan, some boundary that he could not take back? And he realized that he knew he would be, but not with the clan. That line lay in his heart.
The only way he could be with her would be if she knew what she was getting into. He would tell her the truth and let her make the choice. He would tell Tanaka the truth and hope that he would be allowed to see her still, if she even wanted him.
Katsu wanted to know Kim. Had to know her. He didn’t think he could walk away from the chance — the lost opportunity would haunt him until the end of his days. And so he made a decision.
Katsu walked to the hotel phone and punched in a series of numbers, taking fate into his own hands.
Just Dinner
KIM PRESSED HER BACK UP against the wall at the casino and leaned back on her heels. Her feet were killing her.
“You look beat, kid.” Diane propped her drink tray on her hip as she walked up, shaking her head at Kim.
“I am. It should be illegal to be on your feet this much.”