by Raine Koh
Sato sighed again and crawled onto Mimi’s bed. Facing her back, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to his natural warmth, spooning her. Eventually, he felt her body stop quavering. He probably should have gotten back to his own bedroom by then, but he felt his body unable to move away from her. Maybe I should just stay here for one more hour, he thought as he closed his eyes and buried his face in her hair.
Since you came here, my nightmares have faded away. This apartment will miss you, Sato thought, holding her closer. That night, he never once let go of the girl beside him.
The next day, Mimi woke up to find a warm hand over her. She slowly rolled to the other side and came face to face with a sleeping Sato. This was the man whom she had stayed with for six months. Every day in those eight months had been precious to her. She was able to shine because of him and now she had to leave. In a way, he saved her. But Mimi hated goodbyes and even though they would still see each other in the studios, she was sad to leave. Any minute now, she expected her manager to arrive at the parking lot to give her a lift to her new place. Mimi leaned over Sato and landed a gentle kiss on his cheek.
“Thank you,” she whispered and got out of bed, and out of the house.
Dragging her pink trolley suitcase with her, Mimi walked to the ground floor of the apartment. Kenta had texted her earlier, saying that he would be driving up soon. She dialed her brother’s telephone number on her mobile phone. “Roy, where are you?”
“At the guesthouse, Mimi, you’re back?” answered Roy. He sounded as if he’d just woken up.
“Yeah, come and meet me.”
“What? Where?” he mumbled feebly.
At that moment, Mimi saw her manager drive up at the front of the apartment block so she just hurriedly told Roy, “Right, I’m moving into Comforia Harajuku today, that’s Shina apartment block too, so I will see you there. I’ll meet you on the first floor.” She walked towards Kenta and got into his car.
Mimi arrived at her new apartment to see her brother waiting outside. She ran to him and gave Roy a tight hug. “I missed you! You’re here early,” she said, ruffling his hair.
“Yeah I took a cab. Where’s all your stuff?” he asked, looking at Mimi. She was only carrying a trolley case with her.
“My guitars are in the studio so this is all I have. I probably have to shop for furniture later on, which means we may have to sleep on the floor tonight. My manager is parking the car, he’ll be here soon.”
Kenta soon came up and shook hands with Roy. “Mimi’s brother right? I’m Kenta, Mimi’s manager. Will you be staying with Mimi for a while?” he asked in English.
“Yes, for a while. Nice to meet you.”
The manager nodded and turned to Mimi. “Let’s go, I’ll show you your new home. I usually don’t do this for my artistes, but I suspected you were getting too comfortable in Sato’s house, if I didn’t do this, you will never leave,” said Kenta as they entered the elevator.
“What?” exclaimed Mimi glaring at him. “You are in charge of my schedule, you knew how busy I was.”
“I was just kidding. Anyway, here we are.” He unlocked the brown door and revealed the interior, which was just an empty space with white walls and a light brown wood floor. There was a kitchen, a small balcony and two bedrooms.
“I love it!” Mimi said, and with her hands outstretched, she spun around the living room.
“Here is your key. You’ll need to do some furniture shopping so you get the day off. Remember your debut single is going to be released soon. On top of that, you’ll have a fan meet at Shibuya HMV the week after.”
Mimi stopped whirling around and said, “What? Fan meet? What if no one comes?”
“Can you please read your schedule and not look so shocked at everything,” chided Kenta. “In the worst case scenario, there’s always me and Ayaka. We can ask the Niji staff to come too.”
“Are you serious?” Mimi asked, scratching her head.
“Of course he is kidding, sis,” said Roy, laughing at his sister’s expression. “And I’m sure a lot of people will come. Didn’t you see the response at your debut performance?”
“I think your brother’s the one with the brains in the family,” said Kenta with a smirk. He passed Mimi her apartment key and schedule for the month. “I need to get going. I think there are some tatami mats in the bedrooms, so you can sleep on those for the time being. I will see you at Niji tomorrow and we’ll plan your fan meet in further detail.”
“Okay. Thanks Kenta, for arranging this apartment for me,” said Mimi. Kenta waved and left. Turning to her brother, she said, “Let’s go and grab something to eat.”
They made their way to a sushi restaurant, the type where the sushi was served on a conveyor belt. Mimi clasped her hands together and looked on delightedly at the steady stream of sushi moving towards her. “You know Roy, I’m really happy to have you here with me, but shouldn’t you be starting your new school semester soon?” she asked, taking a seat behind the counter.
“Actually sis, I was thinking of pursuing music again, so I was thinking of studying here. There's a lot of good music colleges here.”
“What? Really? This is the first time I’m hearing you talk about this. I thought you grew tired of the violin.”
“Yeah, I want to be serious about the violin now. But my travel visa expires at the end of this month, so I’ll have to return to Singapore first.”
“I think you should talk to your previous violin teacher too. He has loads of experience and can tell you which music colleges to aim for.”
Roy nodded and reached out for the sushi. Mimi also started to stack up on the sushi plates. She said, “You know, I’ve been wondering about Sakura.”
“Yeah, I mean, we can’t keep it closed forever. And obviously you can’t be around to take care of it anymore.”
“I guess the right thing is to sell it, or at least rent it to someone. But I feel bad, it’s a gift from Daddy and I had so many wonderful memories of the place,” said Mimi, with a sigh.
“I’m sure he’ll understand. You’re living your dream now; he’ll be so proud of you. Both our parents will be so proud of you,” said Roy, putting his arm around her. “I know, we can turn Sakura into a Mimi café! We’ll put big posters of you and sell Mimi merchandise!”
“That’s ridiculous!”
“I’m sure dad would do that if he was still alive.”
Mimi sighed. “I do miss Singapore. I’ll need more time to think about what to do with the pub. Once my album promotions are finished, I’ll visit Singapore and see what needs to be done.”
“Sounds like a plan,” said Roy, wolfing down the sushi.
“Anyway, since it’s a rare day off for me, let’s get a cake and some drinks and invite Shina to our house tonight. Let’s have a housewarming party!”
Roy smiled and nodded. His sister poked at the tuna sashimi with her pair of chopsticks and groaned, “Anyway I can’t really be bothered with stuff like interior designing and furniture. Maybe we should just go to Disneyland!”
“What? No, you need to at least get a bed,” her brother protested.
“I guess you’re right,” she said, stuffing sushi in her mouth.
Later that evening, Shina arrived at Mimi’s new place with a bottle of champagne and a chocolate cake. Roy opened the door. “Happy housewarming!” said Shina. “Thank you, please come in,” he replied.
Mimi was in the kitchen preparing some food. “Can I help?” Shina asked, peeking over her shoulder. Mimi seemed engrossed in tossing a salad. “Shina, you are here! No, you’re our guest. Please take a seat on the tatami mat. I’m sorry but we haven’t bought any furniture.”
“Don’t worry about it. This place reminds me of when I first moved in.” She added in a low voice, “My ex-husband and I didn’t have anything either.”
“Let me pour you some drinks,” said Roy, suddenly appearing beside Shina. He glanced over at the champagne bottles she brought.
&
nbsp; “Are you sure you are of legal age to drink?” Shina asked.
“Well, he is in Singapore, but not in Japan,” Mimi said. “Roy, I’m sorry I forgot your birthday while I was away. I should have wished you or something. I’m such a bad sister.”
“No wonder you asked me to bring candles for the cake,” said Shina.
Mimi and Shina were soon donning party hats and singing a birthday song for Roy. The birthday cake held eighteen candles. “Make a wish first!” exclaimed his sister. He closed his eyes and after a moment, blew the candles out. Mimi asked, “What did you wish for?”
“Secret,” he replied. “Anyway, this champagne is good,” he said, pouring himself another cup. Mimi looked at her brother, amused. His face was gradually turning red. “Are you sure you can handle it? It tastes sweet but it’s rather lethal.”
“Sounds similar to women,” he commented, drinking from his cup. Before long, the alcohol kicked into his system and he was knocked out, sleeping with his body curled up on the mat. Mimi carefully placed a blanket over her brother. She looked at him and commented, “Roy is a genius.”
Shina was helping to clear the plates and leftover cake. She looked at Mimi in surprise, “You’re a genius too. Maybe it runs in the family?”
“Me? No, I was just lucky. Anyway, you look good. Is there a new man in your life?” she asked, passing a can of beer to her friend.
Shina pouted a little and said, “I’m going to stay off men for awhile.”
“I totally understand where you’re coming from. I’m going to do that too.” Mimi sat down next to her friend and opened her own can of beer.
“You know, I put my husband on a pedestal. He meant the world to me, and I couldn’t live without him. But he hurt me so badly, so maybe that is why I am finding it so hard to open my heart to someone else.”
Mimi took a sip of beer and pondered, “Sometimes I do wonder between men and women, if there's a clear line drawn between friendship and love? Is attraction the only thing that separates friendship and love? But then, attraction will die over time and isn’t it better to be with someone whom you can share your problems with?”
Shina looked at Mimi and grinned, “Are you talking about Sato? How are things between you and Mr. Producer? When the both of you performed on stage, it took my breath away. There was such an awesome synergy between the two of you.”
Mimi recalled the morning before, when she found Sato sleeping by her side. She wondered why she didn’t freak out when she woke up in the same bed with him. It was as if she trusted him completely. “Sato is someone whom I cannot live without. I treat him as a dear friend, but I think he just treats me as a trophy. He only cherishes me for my talent.”
“No way. I think he has a thing for you and remember when you first talked to me about him? You couldn’t stand him and now you care about him. Feelings do change, and maybe one day, you’ll realise that you are in love with him.”
“But at this moment, that is not possible,” Mimi said firmly.
“And why is that?” asked Shina, taking a sip from the beer can.
“Because there is someone else in my heart now. I can’t love another man until my love for Yuki dies.”
“So what will it take for you to forget him?”
“I don’t know.”
Track #13
On a late Monday morning, two guys roamed the streets of Shibuya with huge shopping bags slung over their shoulders. Despite wearing beanies (the taller one with black curly hair was wearing a dark green one while the other one with brown hair wore a maroon one) and covering their faces with sunglasses, it wasn’t hard to detect their celebrityhood. Since it was a Monday morning, the shopping streets were not as crowded as the weekends, but it would still be best for them to get off the streets before lunch time.
“I can’t believe the company gave us a whole week off! A whole week! The last time we had a break was two years ago!” remarked Jiro to Yuki, as they walked up the steps leading to the entrance of the HMV Shibuya building. “Tell me about it. I guess we’re doing well then,” replied Yuki, maneuvering his way around the CD shelves.
“Is there an album you’re looking for?” Jiro asked, following his member’s lead. He bumped into Yuki who had abruptly stopped in his tracks. “Yuki?” he asked, tiptoeing, glancing over Yuki’s shoulder.
“Wow, it’s Mimi!” Jiro cried, pointing at the stack of CDs arranged neatly on a shelf. There was also a poster announcing Mimi’s debut single “Maybe” and an upcoming fan meet. “She looks really pretty,” said Jiro, looking closely at the poster. Mimi was clad in a black tattered short Victorian-inspired dress with a pink electric guitar hung across her shoulder. Yuki, looking at her CD single and smiling softly, whispered, “I’m so proud of her.” He reached out and grabbed ten copies.
“Wow, ten copies? Me too!” said Jiro, as he went on to do the same and followed his fellow group member to the cash register.
“Hey, why must you copy what I’m doing?”
“Why not? She’s my friend too.”
“But Mimi sings rock songs. You only listen to anime soundtracks!”
“So what? I can distribute it to the members of my knitting club!”
“Jiro...” Yuki said, as he placed the CDs on the cash register.
“What?”
“Thank you,” said Yuki, placing his hand over Jiro’s shoulder and giving him a tight squeeze.
“No problem. Hey, you can actually catch her fan meet at Shibuya later this week,” he said, looking at the promotional sticker on the CD case. The first hundred people with the CD could attend Mimi’s performance at HMV a few days later.
“Jiro, am I being selfish? I haven’t seen her since that day at Yoyogi Stadium.”
Before Jiro could answer, a loud “click” was heard, making both of them turn around sharply.
Yuki eyed his surroundings suspiciously and remarked, “Do you get this feeling that someone has been following us, besides the small smattering of fangirls who skipped school this morning?”
“You mean the tabloid reporter from Chi Chi? Although I don’t think us shopping together would make much headline news, unless it’s a slow day in showbiz scandals. There he is behind that Ayumi Hamasaki cardboard cutout,” said Jiro in a low voice, giving Yuki a nudge. Sure enough, there was a middle-aged man crouching behind the life size poster of the Japanese diva clutching onto a camera. Jiro glared at him and stuck his tongue out.
“What are you, five?” Yuki asked in disbelief.
“I don’t like snoopy reporters intruding on our precious day off! Come on, Yuki, let’s get out of here. I’m hungry!” he cried, dragging Yuki away after paying for the CDs.
They got into Yuki’s white Audi, safe from the prying eyes of tabloid reporters and fangirls. “Jiro, can I ask you something? What’s the deal between Mimi and your elder brother?”
“How did you know about Sato and Mimi?”
“I read news reports of her stage debut with him. Are they only in a working relationship?”
“You know my brother never tells me anything. Are you jealous?”
“I am, but I don’t really have a right to be. I mean, we are not even together and I was never nice to her.”
“Yuki, why do you like to make things so complicated?”
“What do you mean?”
“If you love her, just tell her while you still can. I think it’s a privilege to find someone to love but if you take her for granted, you will lose her. I mean, what are you really afraid of?”
“Why is the guy who has never dated before giving me advice on love?” he asked, smacking the back of Jiro’s head.
“Ouch!” he yelped, rubbing the back of his head. Jiro turned to see Yuki smiling. “But I’m going to try and take that advice of yours anyway.” Yuki’s mobile phone started to ring. “It’s Jun,” he muttered.
“Why is he calling on our day off?” Jiro groaned.
“Hello, Jun?”
“Yuki, you need to
pack now. You’re catching the next flight to Los Angeles. The American film company wants to see you for a screen test.”
“What?!” cried Yuki.
Track #14
Mimi often mused to herself: even if she were to stay perfectly still, time would still pass her by. However right now, it’s crunchtime. Her debut single was already out in stores. She had already seen her music video playing on online video portals and music channels. Everything was moving so fast that she was soon faced with her fan meet slash showcase at HMV Shibuya. She had been continuously whining to her manager about it. She simply had no confidence in herself and was feeling overwhelmed by the pace of her schedule.