I knew without saying exactly who she was talking about. Nobu Toshikazu, president of Iwamura Electric Company. Everyone knew who Nobu was. I had heard over the years about the famous - and infamous - men who spent the most time in Gion, and Nobu was one of the most well-known on account of his important position, his unfortunate appearance from his war injury, and his very harsh personality (the first time he and Pumpkin ever met at a party, she returned home that night in tears, having made a fool of herself in front of him). Mameha couldn't have picked a harder task for me. Nobu could be mean to people he didn't like, and everyone knew he didn't like most geisha. He wasn't even much of a sake drinker, which often helped otherwise uptight men relax.

But I was so desperate to become a geisha, I dismissed the difficulty of the task. A dress rehearsal for the life I hoped was coming, and perhaps Nobu, who had never made arrangements with a geisha, could be my danna.

In the days leading up to the secret tea, I noticed how quickly the dynamics had shifted between me and everyone else. I agreed with Mameha that Mother probably knew that Mameha wasn't really interested in hiring me as a maid, but since Mameha was sending money for my time, she didn't care. I suspected she knew Mameha may be interested in mentoring me as a geisha, and while she would not have said anything about it, she was probably hoping for it, and her demeanor towards me had already become more pleasant.

Of course, to balance Mother's newfound generous spirit towards me, Hatsumomo had immediately begun acting worse. There is a political term, detente, that entered the mainstream when I was a much older woman during the cold war. I realize this term applied very much to the dynamic between Hatsumomo and myself in the years between when I was a child and when I met Mameha. I would never say her behavior was kind towards me, but we had more or less a peaceful existence where she didn't antagonize me and I stayed away from her. But after Mameha entered my life, that had shifted immediately. I waited for her to began lashing out at me the way she had done when I was a child, but instead, she was giving me a version of the silent treatment, where she stopped speaking to me but would give me unkind stares whenever I was around, her way of registering that she once again saw me as a threat (I would have preferred the lashing out, truthfully; the silence felt more ominous, as though she were planning something). Truly, time was more of a threat to her than anything; many years had passed, and it was hard to stay relevant as a geisha when you were beginning to get older, as she was (in the eyes of the world, women aged quickly, and any woman over 20 was considered getting "past her prime"). She knew this, and it was enough to make even the nicest of geisha bitter. I would have felt sorry for her, had she not been so unpleasant.

As I waited for Mameha to reach out to me, I decided I wanted to learn a bit more about Nobu, and thankfully, one day Mother asked me to run an errand to the Gion Registry Office, where I knew I could ask Awajiumi, the former sumo wrestler who now worked as a clerk there, about him. An elegant dresser and amicable man, he greeted me with niceties as always when I arrived.

"Why Chiyo, the prettiest maid in Gion! What a waste for such a lovely young woman not to be working as a geisha. You'd have every man in this city eating from the palm of your hand."

Awajiumi, or Awaji for short, was a well-known womanizer, and had not been subtle in his advances once I grew breasts and hips. Sex was very much a currency in are world, as it was everywhere else, and Awaji was one of many men who could and would happily make things go your way, for a small price, It was a never-discussed but well known fact that many women, geisha and alike, would trade sex for favors. It was a survival tactic, one I had considered giving into many times. But I had stayed vigilant about not doing any such thing, at least now. It was different with Mikio, who existed in another world. But I couldn't risk getting a hit to my reputation this early in my potential career.

"Awaji-san, you're too generous." After we finished with Mother's business, I gently prodded him for the information I needed.

"I have a question for you. Perhaps you heard of that time a while back ago when Pumpkin had that disastrous party with some people from Iwamura Electric."

"Yes, poor thing. Sweet girl, but not the best composed."

"Well, I bet she will have to entertain them soon again, and she wants to do better this time. I was wondering if you had some ideas about what to talk about with Nobu Toshikazu in particular, to please him," I lied. I couldn't risk Awaji repeating my business to someone else by saying I was the one who needed the information."

"Hm, well, he's a tart of a man, that one. You'd think a man would be more at ease around the beautiful women of Gion. But really, I think he loves his work, politics and sumo more than anything else. His business is his mistress, as they say of some men."

It was exactly the information I needed. "I see. Thank you Awaji-san, you've been most helpful," I said in a slightly higher-pitched voice with an exaggerated smile, a tactic I learned from Hatsumomo. It seemed to usually do the trick.

I had seen Awaji just in time, as Mameha sent for me the next day to join her that afternoon. I had felt so confident the night before the secret afternoon tea after seeing Awaji, but when the time finally came, and I was waiting with Mameha for Nobu to arrive, I was so nervous I felt as though I could have gotten sick. I had learned much in my days at the Nitta okiya, but I had never formally socialized with wealthy men, and I knew from the stories I'd heard how easy it was to make a mistake and offend even the warmest man, which Nobu was not. I knew I could and should let Mameha take the lead, but the point was supposed to be for me to shine, and I didn't know how to do that.

When Tatsumi finally escorted Nobu in, and he saw me, it was clear he was surprised by my presence.

"Mameha, when you sent for me and asked me to be discreet, I was under the impression it would just be the two of us." The disappointment in his voice made me wonder if he had thought Mameha was inviting him over to engage in behavior that might have been more appropriate in Miyagawa-cho, and I had to stop myself from laughing, knowing that even the toughest of men could be weakened so easily by the promise of physical pleasure.

"Oh, I must have forgotten to mention we would have a guest," Mameha responded in a voice that clearly indicated she had not forgotten such a thing. "Chiyo, allow me to present Nobu Toshizaku, President of Iwamura electric. Nobu-san, this is Chiyo, a maid for one of the top okiyas in gion."

Nobu's faced scrunched up, and I could only guess he was wondering why Mameha had asked him to join her for tea with a maid, but I ignored it, instead bowing deeply and said the formal pleasantries necessary for someone of my low station being introduced to someone of Nobu's high station. But I couldn't stop myself from adding, "And what a pleasure it is to finally meet the most famous Nobu."

"Famous, am I? My reputation as Mr. Lizard precedes me I see!" Nobu scoffed as he removed his Western-style jacket and handed it to Tatsumi, who promptly walked away.

"Maybe more for Nobu's behavior than appearance," I said in jest.

"And who would tell you such a thing? Who are the geisha you live with who have told you such fun stories about me?" Nobu sat down next to us right as Tatsumi returned with tea, eyeing everyone curiously. I believe she wanted to stay and see what was happening, but Mameha gave her a quick stern glance and she hurried away.

"Pumpkin has talked about you and how you made her cry."

"Pumpkin! A fool if I ever met one. The first time I met her she spent so much time staring at me and my missing arm that she spilled sake all over my new expensive suit! She's lucky I wasn't meaner than I was! But I suppose you feel sorry for her now."

"Not at all. Poor Pumpkin is just as clumsy at home, just like a man who's had too much sake. Once she tripped over her own foot and spilled tea on one of our okiya's best kimonos," I said, and was relieved when Nobu laughed. I noticed he was staring right at me, first into my eyes, and then looking down at the rest of me, like he was appraising an item at auction. For a moment there was a silence I was hoping Mameha would fill, but she didn't, perhaps wanting him to get his look at me.

"So Mameha, you have the pretty girls in Gion working as maids now instead of geisha? How strange."

"Chiyo may become a geisha one day," Mameha said in a soft but suggestive tone.

"One day? You look certainly older than the age most girls start training to become a geisha! But that is just as well. I have always frowned upon how these young girls get put through all of this brutal training so young, just to be paraded around like meat. Chiyo, where are you from?"

"A small village called Yoroido," I answered.

"I've never heard of it. What kind of place is that?"

"A backwards place, where the girls hide behind trees to let boys play with their mount fujis."

Nobu let out a hearty laugh at this, and I breathed a sigh of relief, as I was worried for a moment I had been too direct. It was a brazen thing to say, I knew, and I saw Mameha's eyes widen. I knew that the younger girls (though I wasn't the youngest, I hadn't been an apprentice yet, so I was probably viewed that way) weren't supposed to speak so directly in public, but I didn't understand what the point was of pretending that there was no naughty to these encounters. Besides, I knew that geisha didn't flirt with Nobu because of his appearance and demeanor, so I thought it would be a way to get his attention.

I spent most of the rest of the time silent as Nobu and Mameha caught up on news of the world: how much Iwamura Electric was growing, and Mameha's popularity after being part of the Japan Travel Bureau advertising campaign a few years earlier, and so forth. It was not what I would have preferred, but I was heeding the words from Awaji and what I had already known about Nobu, to wait for the right opportunity to speak. I suspected he hated small talk, so I waited patiently for an opportunity to talk about something interesting. He was also telling Mameha news about his business partner, the Chairman (maybe the Chairman I had seen all those years ago, though I couldn't be sure), and was also complaining about a man who ran a new radio business that Nobu and the Chairman trying had been trying to secure a deal with, apparently to buy the business outright and absorb it within Iwamura Electric, but apparently this man hadn't been impressed with the offer and the ways Nobu, the Chairman and their team had tried to persuade him.

"We've made him a more than generous offer with very agreeable terms for stock ownership and management of the division. We've taken him to some of the finest teahouses in Osaka and here, all expensed to our accounts. And he's still refusing!" Nobu was practically yelling at Mameha.

I had been thinking of something helpful to say when Nobu interrupted my thoughts.

"You've been quiet, Chiyo."

"I'm surprised Nobu-san has noticed, as he likes to tell so many interesting stories himself."

"Ha! Well I suppose you're right, I do like to talk, or complain more likely. Well, you want to be a geisha, yes? Do you want to tell me another naughty joke or some poem to put me to sleep?"

"I was actually trying to think about something to help Nobu-san with his business problem, maybe something from iThe Art of War.i/"

"You read that well? And what on earth does a pretty maid know of such matters?"

"Being a geisha and being in battle are often quite similar."

"Go on. I don't ask women for help with my business matters, but maybe I should. Do you have advice for me, Chiyo?"

"Oh I could not presume to know of business…"

"It's too late. Spit it out. Tell me what you'd do."

Mameha was watching Nobu and I go back and forth like she had never seen such an interesting discussion. I wondered for a moment what to say next, then a thought occurred to me, that perhaps Nobu had failed to do what I had done with Awaji.

"Well, I was just wondering how much you knew about this man personally."

"I know he's a hard-head."

"I'm being serious, Nobu-san! If a man is inclined to refuse the generous financial offer you and the Chairman have made, it would help to know more about him so you can understand why."

"Alright, alright. He seems to be something of a simple man. He grew up in a poor family I think, probably in a backwards village similar to yours, and spent a lot of time working in apprenticeships before he could start his own business. He seems like a traditional man, always complaining when the Chairman and I take him out to parties. Insists he would rather be at home with his family or going to temple. He almost acts offended by the rich."

"If he doesn't like parties, why are you making him go to them?"

"That has always worked in getting clients in the past. Really, I don't know why he is being so uptight about it, acting like he doesn't like us and is too good for our leisurely ways."

"Maybe this man feels like Nobu-san doesn't respect him and where he came from. I know Nobu-san would want another man to respect his experience that has helped him build his fortune. Maybe this man wants the same. Have you thought about asking him to take you all to his village to pay respects to his heritage?"

Nobu actually paused to consider what I had said. "Actually, that is good advice, Chiyo."

"Know the enemy," I responded. "Though hopefully this man will soon no longer be an enemy but a friend."

"Indeed, that is very important insight from Sun Tzu. Something I really should have thought of myself." Nobu shook his head in disbelief. "Today was not what I expected at all, Mameha. What an unusual one this girl is."

I remained silent for the rest of the time. Nobu and Mameha spoke for a little longer before Nobu announced he had to hurry back to Osaka. As Nobu began to leave and Mameha summoned Tatsumi to get his jacket, I realized I was holding my breath. I felt like a student who had just finished a very difficult exam, and I dreaded how long it might take for me to know if I had passed.

But it turned out I would get my answer immediately.

"Well, you should hurry up and get this one to becoming a geisha," he called out as Tatsumi started escorting him away. "It'll be nice to have a sensible girl around to talk to during these parties."

Author's Note: A quick note on ages: Chiyo is the only person I've changed the birth year of in this story, from 1920 to 1910. Everyone else is still the same age they would have been in the book at the time. Unfortunately, and unless I'm mistaken, it doesn't seem like Mameha and Hatsumomo are given precise ages in the book (if anyone knows better, let me know), and thinking about Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li in the roles is throwing me off even more (I love them both, but they were both north/south of 40 years old in the movie, which is much older than their characters were at the time, especially when Chiyo was a young child).

Also, I know some of the content in these chapters is treading very closely to Chiyo's journey in Golden's book, and that's intentional, but it won't last. I had three immediate goals for the first part of this story. The first was to age up Chiyo, because I thought it was unfortunate in the book how we don't see as much of what Chiyo's life as an adult may have been as a geisha if it weren't for the war, and I also wanted to explore how she would have been different if she had entered her training as a more worldly teenager instead of an impressionable child (it also conveniently allows us to totally bypass that awful mizuage situation). The second was to remove that strange Chairman storyline from the book and her obsession with him. The third was, absent the chairman storyline, change how Mameha and Chiyo's relationship would have been different if Mameha was motivated by her own reasons to help her instead of by request of the Chairman. I plan to have Mameha and Chiyo's relationship anchor this story in a way I wished it had in the book, and I wanted to make sure I put in that foundation early on. The story will take its own course soon!