Queen of Love

Chapter 21

“Nowthat’salovely view.” Genevieve walked ahead of Aya, who placed her briefcase and phone on the empty kitchen counter. Don’t care about the décor, but I do care about this view. “You can actually see Tokyo Tower and Tokyo Skytree from here! My goodness. Was this place a recent listing?”

Aya leaned against the counter. She was diabolical in her two-piece, silver-hued suit and the silky black tank top beneath it. “Not really. I’ve been waiting for the right time to show it to you. I had a feeling you’d be in love.”

I’m in love with more than one thing. Genevieve stepped away from the window and approached Aya with her teeth chomping on her bottom lip. It was either that or smile like a serial killer because she was so excited.

“Tell me it’s only the two of us today.” Genevieve snaked her arms beneath Aya’s jacket and attempted to pull her into an embrace. Aya, however, scooted back. Genevieve didn’t take it personally. Aya was, technically, on the clock, unable to get that one lone Monday off work for Golden Week. “Or are we expecting one of your kouhai to walk in and catch us necking in the kitchen?”

“I don’t know what ‘necking’ means, but I like it already. Anyway, no, it’s only the two of us. By the way, nice use of the word kouhai.”

“I’m really making strides in my studies. I told you I’m a quick learner when it comes to languages. Japanese isn’t that difficult if you already know Chinese dialects and English.”

“That’s because you’re a pro at languages.”

“I’m a pro at a lot of things.” Genevieve deployed her favorite Aya-getting flirtation: she shimmied her whole body against her girlfriend, making sure her skirt swished and her hair got in the way of Aya doing a damned thing. “Ugh, I’m so sorry I couldn’t get here before late last night. I really tried to make it over the weekend.”

“Half of Golden Week is better than no Golden Week.” Aya brushed her fingers against Genevieve’s face before stepping away. It’s like she’s playing hard to get today. Genevieve had been despondent when a work-related emergency came up in Hong Kong and she had to travel there before finally making it to Tokyo. The emergency wasn’t even that important. There had been a fire in one of her Hong Kong bars. When she heard the news, she assumed the whole thing was toast. Instead, she discovered it was one of the back rooms that got scorched. While important, it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle over the phone!

Genevieve grasped the bottom of Aya’s jacket and attempted to bring her back over for a kiss. They had shared cheek kisses in the lobby of this building, where they met for the first time since Singapore. “I feel like we’ve missed out on some time.”

“Let’s get this out of the way, huh?” Aya approached the floor-to-ceiling windows broadcasting what was to the west-by-northwest of Shibuya. “I have a feeling you’ll like this place enough to buy it.”

“Hmm, we’ll see, huh?” Genevieve resisted the urge to smack Aya on the ass. I’d rather she smack mine. Ugh. Wouldn’t that be great? They hadn’t explored spanking enough in this relationship. Genevieve was ready to level up from the light taps and giggling smacks. It’s about time I trained her to spank me right.

Before her brain could be completely absorbed by fantasy, she humored Aya with a tour of the two-bedroom apartment that came with such mind-blowing amenities like a washer and dryer, as well as a big, Western kitchen and a gym on the first floor. Things like 24/7 concierge were a given at Genevieve’s level, but appliances and total square meters could go either way, depending on the country and city.

This place was certainly decadent for a locale she would only visit once a month, if that often. Yet Genevieve knew, without even looking at the files, that she could afford it. The only matter was how much she cared.

“No whirlpool,” she lamented as they walked through the master bathroom. “For a Western-inspired building, it’s rather silly that the bathroom is so… small.” She liked that the toilet was in a separate closet, as was standard in many parts of Asia including Japan, but she liked some moving room when getting in and out of the shower.

“The kitchen makes up for it,” Aya said. “Did you see the size of that oven? The microwave comes included. Surely, even you use a microwave.”

Genevieve snorted. “Sometimes I crave leftovers. Or popcorn. Otherwise, I don’t cook that much. I’d rather order in or hire a local chef to make me my dinners. You know, to keep it healthy. Takeout can be so greasy and full of sugar.”

“Sou.” Aya leaned against the kitchen counter once they were back in the main room. “That’s the thing. This is the place you’re going to buy. Which is why I saved it for today.”

Genevieve almost misinterpreted Aya’s tone. How bossy!

Kinda sexy. Especially if Aya were going to do it in those work clothes.

“Are you imagining us in this place or something?” Genevieve could play this game. She would even do it with her back turned to Aya, aware that such a stealthy gaze attacked the back of her head. “Do you think I’ll give you a key? Are you going to move in? Will you be my Tokyo wife, keeping house for me while I’m away?”

“Now that you’ve put the idea in my head…” Aya stood right behind her. Although she didn’t touch Genevieve, her mere presence – and the hot breath now exhaling against the back of Genevieve’s neck – was enough to make a woman melt. “It’s a very nice place, but I don’t know if you’ll buy it because I like it, but because you like it. I know you well enough by now, Genny.”

Genevieve tucked her hair behind her ear instead of twiddling her fingers in girlish love. “Do you?” she squeaked. “What makes you think this is the perfect place for me? Out of all the apartments in Western Tokyo?”

“Let’s see…” Aya walked ahead, standing in front of the windows with her hands behind her back. “I know you want a view. I saw what you had in Singapore. You’ve shown me pictures of your place in Taipei so I could get a better idea. You love a view with landmarks. This one has the two biggest landmarks to dot the Tokyo skyline. You could stumble in after traveling for twelve hours and not forget where you are.”

“How thoughtful of you.”

“You like your Western amenities. We’re not so different. Unfortunately, a lot of the really nice apartments that are available around here are a bit older and more traditional. Smaller kitchen, cramped bathrooms – worse than that one – and barely enough room to do anything but sit on the floor. That could work for me, but not for you.”

“Hmm.”

“Then you have the spare bedroom. Personally, I see you making it your office. Or if you think you’ll host overnight guests, stick them in there. No problem.”

“A spare bedroom here in Tokyo would be a step up from the one-bedrooms I currently have in Taipei and Hong Kong.”