Nobu's house was a study in modern at war with the old world.
The older structuring of the house kept it from being completely modern looking, but yet, as I looked around at it's furnishing, I could tell that much thought went into the placement of new Western chairs and tables. The doors to each room, instead of being traditional sliding doors were French double doors done in yellow oak wood.
The rug that I was standing on was a beautiful Western Persian style rug with tassels.
"Nobu-san's house is very beautiful," I said looking around.
"The maids keep it up. I am barely here," Nobu said, putting his papers done on one table and watching the chauffeur bring in the luggage.
"Bring them all to my room," he told his driver. Ringing one of the household bells, a maid appeared in the foyer.
"Sayuri, you bought your dresser, I assume?"
"He will be here on the afternoon train, Nobu-san" I said.
"Fine. Direct the maids how you want your things then. One of them will show you upstairs."
I bowed quickly and followed a maid upstairs to Nobu's bedroom.
This room, unlike the rest of the house, was strictly Japanese in it's style and furniture. The traditional red tones of plank floors were muted here, but the rest was the same as any other Japanese bedroom .
I directed the maid as to the arrangement and hanging of my Kimono. I asked her to show me a guest bathroom so that I might arrange my make-up and perfumes there instead of cluttering of Nobu's personal bathroom.
This done, I went downstairs to find Nobu.
Mameha had told me several things that she had done for the Baron. Mind you, these were not manual things. Geisha are not wives. Instead, she had drawn baths for the Baron, supervised his flower arrangements and of course delivered conversation as well as provided an ever open ear to any of his.
She surmised that these were probably things that Nobu would want as well.
"After all, he is a man, like any other, Sayuri. Every man wishes to be comfortable," she told me.
Reaching the main floor, I asked a maid to direct me to Nobu-san. It turned out he was having a light lunch in his dinning room.
Another thing that Mameha had done for the Baron was supervising his lunch.
"Did the maid make herself useful?" Nobu asked when I entered the dinning room.
"Yes," I told him, taking my place at his side.
The maid was placing small dishes containing pickles, soy sauce, salted fish and braised tofu in front of Nobu as well as a large bowl of rice.
I immediately placed the smaller dishes in neat rows in easy reach of Nobu.
Nobu raised his eyes and gave me a look but once again I proved successful at ignoring him.
I was surprised however when the maid brought in a second bowl of rice and placed it in front of me.
Nobu must have read my puzzlement because he spoke.
"I wish that you would eat with me. You must be hungry after that long trip."
It was unusual for a geisha to dine with her customers. She might go to a restaurant to entertain there but she would never eat. It was considered the height of bad manners.
"If Nobu-san wishes it," I murmured.
"I do" he said.
A maid had also placed a pair of chop sticks at my right as well as a folded napkin. I took the napkin and unfolded it in my lap. From the corner of my eye, I watched Nobu as he deftly picked up his food with his chopsticks and ate with one hand.
Although I had seen him eat before, it never failed to me amaze me how well he did things with one arm. Physical deformities were not rare in Japan. Rather they were a normal occurrence because of the lack of medical care available. Still this did not stop others from making cruel jokes and calling Nobu Mr. Lizard.
I never had the courage to ask him if he minded these taunts. A self- made man, I doubted that much ever bothered him, especially what people thought of him.
We ate in silence for several minuets. I was still uncomfortable with my role eating at Nobu's side. Frantically I searched for something that I might do.
"What Nobu-san like some tea?" I saw a fresh pot of tea steaming away in front of me. Nobu nodded.
Remembering my earliest training with Mameha about how to seduce a man, I reached for the tea pot, allowing my long sleeve to fall back and reveal the underside of my arm. I set the tea pot down with a deliberate flourish.
In a silky motion, I curled my around the tea cup and handed it to Nobu.
His dark eyes glanced at my exposed arm. It was almost snow white against the rose of my Kimono. His gaze deepened, making me blush.
That had never happened before. Suddenly I felt like a fool for thinking that I could tease Nobu like any other paying customer.
Nobu reached for the cup and I felt his fingers touch mine. It was like an electric jolt.
The cup fell, and tea puddled on the floor.
In one smooth moment, Nobu dropped his chopsticks in his bowl and leaned over and grabbed my waist with his one arm.
I could feel the taught control of his muscles in that one arm. It was like being encircled by a tough chord of rope.
With my obi pressed against the dark lapels of his business jacket, he kissed me.
It was my first kiss.
I had always imagined my first kiss with the chairman. In my mind, I saw the two of us beneath a cherry blossom tree by the Shirakawa Bridge. His lips, I imagined, would be soft like a butterfly's wing. His touch would be gentle and unsure, like a boy's.
Nobu was not a boy.
His kiss and his touch told me that he was indeed a man. It was fiery and cold at the same time. I would liken it to a winter's freeze that leaves your limbs burning with the cold.
I was burning inside.
When I at last drew back, I was breathless. Nobu's dark eyes found mine and searched there for something.
It seemed that whatever he saw pleased him.
"Are you still hungry?" he asked. I shook my head no, afraid to speak because I knew my voice would waver.
Taking me by the hand, he gently led me by the arm upstairs. His fingers threaded loosely through mine.
I think he was giving me leave to pull back if I wanted to.
I did not. I followed him.
We went inside his bedroom. I went forward to help him off with his jacket but he held up his hand.
Just as deftly as he handled his chopsticks, Nobu's undid the buttons of his business coat and threw it on the bed. He unbuttoned the two top buttons of his white shirt and then was still.
I still there, still fully dressed trembling.
"Are you afraid?" he asked. His voice was uncharacteristically gentle.
"No," I said. My voice shook.
"Then what is the matter? Are you repulsed by my body? My scars?"
"No...it is just..."
"Yes?"
"When my mizuage happened..."
Nobu's face darkened.
"Yes?"
"I just thought that you were not interested in that," I told him.
"I did bid against the Doctor," he admitted. "But it lost it's appeal to me. Having you at a price for money... Ours is a relationship where I keep you financially, but I do not pay for the pleasure of lying next to you, treating you like a common prostitute."
"I see," I said. "And now? How is to be?"
"I give you the choice," he told me. " I would never force you."
"Nobu-san is an honorable man" I said.
"Honor has nothing to do with it" he told me almost angrily. "Do you wish to sleep away from me?"
I would have stepped towards Nobu-san and let him touch me out of pity. He had been my patron from the beginning. I owed him much.
And yet it was not pity that moved my hand to touch his face.
My fingers grazed his lips, gently like I was playing the shamisan. Gently I touched his lips and then his chin and then the edge of his face. I did not notice the scars. I did not notice that he was missing an arm beneath his pinned shirt.
My curiosity to know this man moved me closer to him.
The strength of Nobu's body once again astounded me. With quick steps I was encased in his arms and my Obi knot was being undone.
