Page 57 of Blossoms of the Heart
My mouth watered instantly when I saw she carried a brown paper bag that said Sozai Miyahara on the front in bold black letters. The Japanese characters for the name right underneath. I loved that deli. It was right in the center of the Tokyo Prefecture where it was always busy. Getting food at this time had to be a mission. One I would have gladly accepted for the divine food.
I’d been so engrossed in the journal that I hadn’t taken note of how hungry I was.
The aroma filled the air as she got closer.
I already knew she had tonkatsu in the bag. The deep fried, breaded, melt in your mouth cutlets of succulent pork called to me.
“Mitsuke.” I smiled.
“Hi, best friend. I thought we could be pigs today.” She beamed. Her cherry red six inch heels clicked on the wooden steps as she made her way up.
I stood up and gave her a quick hug.
“I want to be a pig.” Gladly. I couldn’t believe it had been two years since I had this heavenly food, or that I hadn’t put going to Sozai Miyahara on my to do list.
“I’m so glad you said that because I brought us a feast.” She nodded then frowned. “I’m in LA next week. Asako’s sick so I have to fill in.”
Asako was the senior editor. Mitsuke was always complaining about her.
“You say that like it’s a problem.” I laughed pretty certain this was one of those times when Mitsuke would get a chance to shine. She was great at her job but what I called settled so didn’t always like having to step up to show off her true talent.
“I wanted to take you to the Fujiwara Festival. It’s on Wednesday. I’m going to miss the whole thing.”
Oh I understood now. May had a host of festivals but the Fujiwara Festival was the one we usually started off with because of the period dress parade.
“It’s fine. I’m going to point out that you going to LA in place of Asako is a good thing. You love LA.”
“Lived there too long while I was studying and training.”
“But you love LA.” I emphasized because I knew she did. “You will also do an amazing job. There are plenty more festivals we can go to when you get back.” I’d already planned on dragging her along to the Yoshida fire festival in August but there were others, and tons of places I wanted to go to as well. “A weekend break would be nice too.”
She gasped like she just got the best idea. “Okinawa.”
I was nodding before she could even finish getting the words out. “Absolutely yes.”
She held up the bag and her expression brightened. “Ready to be a pig?”
“Just call me Miss Piggy. What did you get?”
When she meant to be a pig she really did mean it. Fortunately for her she never gained weight. I, on the other hand, could gain a pound just from looking at the food.
She rested the bag on my desk and opened it, releasing the aroma of deliciousness.
It immediately filled the air, overpowering the prior smell of furniture polish and books.
“Tonkatsu.” She said with emphasis looking proud of herself. “ Chicken katsu currey with sicky rice. Prawn and vegetable yaki soba and tubs of coconut ice cream.”
There was a chance I’d gain at least fifty pounds by the end of the summer but I didn’t care.
“Thank you so much.” My stomach rumbled as if to thank her too.
“You’re welcome. I figured I’d come by and see how you were on your first full day.” She handed me my carton of tonkatsu first and a pair of chop sticks. “Plus get the juice on what happened between you and Tai last night.” Curiosity flickered in her eyes.
Damn it. Of course that would be hidden in there somehow.
I couldn’t complain since I would have done the same or worse. Or actually I would have assumed she took her guy home and slept with him. So I would have made that phone call this morning the minute the sun came up.
“There’s no juice,” I lied.
