“Actually,” she gently corrected him, “I make 20,000,000 a year.”
“Holy shit! Are you kidding me? Maybe I should rethink that raise!”
Aya laughed along with his stupid joke. I’m not joking, though. Meguro was expensive. That $150,000 a year didn’t go very far, especially when real estate agents like her didn’t make commission outside of what went into their yearly bonuses. Aya definitely did well for herself, but she was only a few months of unemployment away from moving back in with Rika.
“Kidding, of course,” Takatani was on his computer, no doubt looking up how much he was paying his employees those days. “Kuso! When did you lot get so expensive? No matter. I want to keep you around, so I’ll increase your pay. Let’s say… 21 million… no, 220 million a year. How does that sound?”
Aya didn’t want to sound desperate when she thanked her boss for the consideration, but there she was, bowing her head again. “That is incredibly generous. Thank you very much for believing in me, shachou.”
“I believe in your ability to get me clients that make up for how much you’re costing me now. This Nick Cheng guy? He’s all yours. So are all the others banging down our doors now that all of Singapore knows their golden princess is dating one of our own! Ha! Who knew that such a conservative place wouldn’t give a crap about you guys being homos? Progress is really in your hands, Sugiya! I’ll be sure to tell my son. He’s a bit queer, if you ask me.”
She had no idea what to say to that. I’d wait until he’s drunk in the izakaya and asking me for advice. That was the only socially acceptable way to go about that with one’s boss.
“So, your Lady Liu has closed on the Shibuya apartment, and this Nick Cheng wants a pad in Chiyoda. Well? Take your lunch and then get back to work finding him a suitable place. He’s coming into town Friday. I want you there with Ishida. My best hands on deck!”
“Of course, shachou.” Aya stood up with another brief bow. “I’ll get right on it.”
“Call in Kenji, would you? I need him to help me straighten this office up while I have my cigarette.”
Aya showed herself out. Ishida glanced at her over his shoulder, a “Well?” in his aged eyes. Aya flashed him a smile before heralding the youngest employee to go see the boss.
“Do I have something to tell you,” Aya hissed at Ishida, “but not here. How about I buy you lunch at the sushi place?”
“You? Buying me sushi? What? Are you getting a raise?”
Ishida may have been joking, but Aya definitely wasn’t!
While she didn’t share the information with Genevieve yet, Aya sent a slew of flirty texts on her way home that evening. Her briefcase was full of printouts to go over for Nick Cheng, and her stomach was still full of enough sushi that she would probably grab a convenience store dinner to have at home. She could afford it now.
Yet her confidence was briefly put on hold when she approached her door and saw another hand-delivered postcard placed precariously on her handle.
This time, the postcard came directly from Taipei. Still no name, but now Aya knew who was sending her these mysterious messages.
“I hope things are well for you, Ms. Sugiya. Genevieve is the happiest I’ve seen her in a long time. I hope you can give her what I could not.”
That was it. That was all it said.
Aya tossed it onto her counter as she uncovered her convenience store dinner and plucked apart the disposable chopsticks. She tried not to think about it as she ate her fried rice and tofu dinner while scrolling through her phone.
She kept coming back to those photos she took of Genevieve the other night.
It was strange to look at them from a non-sexual perspective. Well, I am having some sexual thoughts. Those could not be helped as she discovered her girlfriend in such provocative positions, whether she was dressed or halfway to exposing her dirtiest secrets.
The video she kept coming back to, though, was one of Genevieve touching herself on the bed while talking dirty in Mandarin. Aya didn’t know what she was saying, but the gist was obvious.
I need to borrow one of the boss’s cigarettes after watching this. Genevieve had never been more vulnerable, more exposed on a camera before. Aya was sure of it.
She could really do something hot with this video. Something she had been thinking about for a while.
Aya closed all of her phone applications before reopening the chat window she shared with Genevieve. “Sometime this week,” she wrote, “I’m going to do something you never thought possible. Are you prepared?”
She didn’t wait for a reply. She turned over her phone and contemplated her dinner, as cheap and greasy as it was. A far cry from the nice sushi lunch she had treated her supervisor to in celebration of all her wins lately.
I’m about to have even more. Aya was quickly climbing to the top of the world. She was careful about falling – either off the mountain or in love. Either could destroy her if she wasn’t aware enough.