Tokyo

🎶 Mmm, baby I'm so into you
Darling, if you only knew
All the things that flow through my mind

But it's just a sweet sweet fantasy baby
When I close my eyes
You come and you take me
It's so deep in my daydreams
But it's just a sweet, sweet fantasy baby 🎶

Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy” blasts from the Bluetooth speaker inside your hotel room as you button up your camp collar shirt.

Thank God you overpacked. If Mom were here, she would be saying “I told you so.” Always lecturing you about packing for any situation, no matter how unlikely it was to happen.

Even something as impossible as this.

 A date with Asa.

Somehow everything that happened on the plane yesterday isn’t some dream (well, the dream was, but that’s beside the point). Asa, to your disbelief, still wants to have dinner with you tonight. You look at your phone for the umpteenth time to make sure that’s what her last texts say.

Asa

Hey you 😊

Did your business meeting end up going well?

I hope I was able to calm your nerves a bit last night!

You definitely did!!

I’m glad we were able to talk for as long as we did

And yes it couldn’t have gone better. The deal is signed, sealed, and delivered!!

That’s GREAT! Guess we have to have our date at somewhere real nice so we can celebrate!

I think I know the perfect place!

Oh really?

Yeah I’ll call and make reservations for say 9 tonight? Sorry again that it’s going to be so late.

Blame the TV show for airing so late, too bad we can’t just prerecord the performance.

Don’t worry about it!! And let me make the reservations

You’re probably super busy right now prepping for the show and all that.

Just tell me the place and I’ll call!

I’ll do it!

This place is super impossible to get into on short notice but thankfully I know the head chef and can get us in.

Look at you with the connections

Haha

The industry sometimes has its perks 😂

I’ll send you the address and we’ll meet there right before 9. Sound good handsome?

Sounds great gorgeous, thank you!!

Can’t wait! My manager is going to kill me if I don’t put my phone down so see you then! ❤️

You’re going to do amazing!! Excited for dinner too!! 😘

That kissing face emoji has been haunting you since you sent it a couple of hours ago.

Of all the emojis to send in the moment, you chose that one. You haven’t even kissed her yet. What are you doing?

Yet?

You’re saying that to yourself like that’s going to happen.

That’s not going to happen.

Right?

“Snap out of it, man,” you say to yourself in the mirror, lightly slapping your cheeks. “Have some confidence in yourself. You just closed the biggest deal of your career with one of the hottest tech companies in Japan. You can do this.”

You pause for a second, remembering the phone call you had with Asa last night. Even though it was the first lengthy conversation you had with her, it felt so natural. It felt like you two had known each other for years.

It felt right.

“You can do this.”

You put on your watch and look at the time.

8:41 PM.

Fuck, you need to go. Can’t be late.

You check the address one more time. It’s a sushi restaurant in a high-rise that’s conveniently right across the street.

It’d be so fucking awkward if it were a restaurant in your hotel. How would you even say goodbye after dinner if that were the case? Knowing you’d have to take two different elevators with you going up and her going down? Or, there would be way too much pressure to invite her up to your room.

There’s no universe that would go well.

No way.