Queen of Love

Chapter 36

GenevievebypassedherShibuya apartment and went straight to Aya’s. Although it was Sunday, she wasn’t there. Nor was there any sign of where she had gone.

Unlike Aya, Genevieve did not have a key to her girlfriend’s apartment to wait for her. So much for the element of surprise. Should she text Aya and ask where she was? Or would that be too suspicious? She must be out running errands. Or at her parents’ house. Or with friends. For all Genevieve knew, she had sent Aya chasing off after other women.

No, she wouldn’t allow those kinds of thoughts to enter her head.

She went to her apartment and dropped off her bags and changed into more comfortable clothes. Genevieve searched for signs that Aya had been there at all, but the most she saw was a slightly rumpled comforter and the closet door opened. That could have also been the cleaner Genevieve had hired to come in and dust things for her before she arrived, though.

The walk from the subway station to Mango’s wasn’t as refreshing as Genevieve remembered. Was it the Japanese rainy season making her uncomfortable? For every patch of rain that drizzled against her skin, there was a sweltering heat that reminded her of Singapore without the sun. Genevieve had brought an umbrella but didn’t have the heart to cover her hair as she walked through the mist.

”Ms. Liu?” A man popped out from the gay bar on the first floor of her building. He startled her enough that Genevieve clasped her hand over her heart. It didn’t help the man hadn’t shaved in a few days, and his stained baseball cap was slightly askew on his head. “You’re Ms. Liu, right?”

“Hai,” she confirmed, after regathering her bearings. “What can I do for you?”

If her tenant was impressed with her Japanese skills, he only slightly let on. “I’m Toumo Asada. I own this bar and rent from you.”

“I see. Oh! Asada-san, you were the one with the water issues.”

“Yes! I wanted to let you know that everything seems to be working since the plumber arrived a couple weeks ago. Thank you so much for your timely response to my maintenance request.” He respectfully nodded but did not remove his greasy baseball cap.

“That’s wonderful to hear. Do let me know if there are any other issues. I also received word the Japanese maintenance request form should be operational by the end of the month, so you won’t have to wait as soon as there’s a problem. Ah, here.” Genevieve opened her purse and handed Toumo a card for the Singaporean property management company that oversaw her global enterprises. “If the maintenance company here isn’t responding promptly, phone my assistant in Singapore at this toll-free number. She will take care of everything.”

He accepted the card with both hands. “Thank you. Best of luck with the opening of your new bar, Ms. Liu.”

“Many customers to you, Mr. Asada. It was lovely to finally meet you.”

Movement from up above caught her eye. Genevieve glanced in the direction of someone walking back through the front door of Mango’s. As soon as she excused herself from her tenant’s presence, she climbed the stairs to the third floor.

“Let me guess,” she softly said as she walked in and beheld Aya standing behind the counter, a laptop opened before her, “Nyla gave you the key.”

“You did, actually.” Aya closed the laptop lid halfway. “With your apartment key.”

Genevieve didn’t recall that, but wouldn’t put it past herself. “It’s good to see you.”

The bar remained between them. Aya braced her hands against the edge while Genevieve maintained her distance. This isn’t how I imagined it. Instead of fantasizing about better days, however, she looked around the bar. It was one thing to see everything in Nyla and the contractors’ pictures. Quite another to take in the lighting, décor, and new paint smell for herself. “The photos Nyla sent me don’t do the job justice. It looks chic and cozy in here.”

“You should see it with the sign on.”

Genevieve approached the back wall, where three bar-height tables and their respective chairs lined beneath the giant orange MANGO’S sign. Genevieve plugged it in and watched the neon come to life. It didn’t have much effect in the daylight, but she knew it would look great at night.

“Worth every penny,” she said with a half-contented sigh. Eventually, she turned around. Aya leaned across the bar, her plaid shirt sleeves rolled up to her elbows. The tank top beneath had a small stain from her lunch. Her hair was slightly mussed from the humidity. Genevieve had to look away before she was sucked into such a familiar face. “Aya, I’m…”

Her girlfriend motioned for her to come over to the bar. “We can do that later. Right now, I want to show you something I’ve been working on.”

Swallowing her words, Genevieve sat on one of the reupholstered stools at the bar and waited for the laptop to turn around. She kept her hands to herself. And her eyes. The longer she gazed at Aya, the more she remembered Nyla’s words from two days ago.

“Your social media manager here in Japan is good…” Aya began, tapping on browser tabs that brought her across the gamut of LINE, Instagram, and YouTube, three of the most popular social media apps in Japan. “She’s been posting fantastic pictures and whetting some whistles out there, but I had an idea I didn’t bother running by her.”

Genevieve folded her hands before her face. “I’m afraid to ask.”

Aya focused on the Instagram tab. “You’re getting good traction across the Facebook sites, but I threw a Hail Mary pass and did this.” She clicked on the latest post. Beneath the illuminated MANGO’S sign was an explanation behind the name, as well as its connection to Genevieve Liu, the Singaporean businesswoman who knew what it was like to have her sexuality used against her.

“I told the media manager to not reference the hack in any way.”

“I know you did. So I did it. Oh, and…” She scrolled down farther. One of the oldest posts for Mango’s new Instagram account was a picture of Aya and Genevieve taking a selfie together in front of a Singaporean café. Genevieve had forgotten all about it, but she would never forget the caption Aya had written beneath the post in both English and Japanese.

“Hello, this is Aya Sugiya. You may know me as the woman dating Genevieve Liu, the new owner of Mango’s, a chic lesbian bar opening this July in Shinjuku Ni-chome. Genevieve has been working diligently behind the scenes to ensure future patrons will have a pleasant and relaxing experience in her new bar. She has a strong history in the hospitality industry. Don’t let the press fool you. She’s a hard worker who puts her employees and ventures first, her personal life second. Maybe you’re wondering what that means for me, a woman who has been getting to know her for the past few months. I know a lot about hard work, too, and what I love about Genevieve is how much of herself she puts into everything she does. She isn’t only a pretty face or a girl of privilege. She expects the best out of herself and everyone around her. She wants her guests to enjoy themselves. It’s my sincerest hope this is also a place where she can be herself, too. Without the media. Without people who only want to poke fun at her private life. I stood by Genevieve before the hack, and I still stand by her today. We are not ashamed of anything but the people who thought it their right to butt into our personal lives. I hope you will understand and give Mango’s a shot when it opens in one more week.”