SIMPLE PRAYERS

Mei Zuo glanced at his wristwatch, and once more returned his gaze to the door of the restaurant, wondering what is taking William so long.

Relief settled over him as the familiar sight of his American PI friend appeared on the doorway. It didn't take long for William to locate Mei Zuo and he walked straight towards the table.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, tapping Mei Zuo on the back with an apologetic smile. "Some last minute stuff at the office had to be taken cared of."

William sat down across the table. "It's alright," Mei Zuo said, letting William give his orders first, then continuing, "I am calling in a last-minute favor myself so I totally understand."

"Would you mind if we eat first before talking this over? I'm starving."

Mei Zuo nodded, thinking there's no harm in doing so.

Throughout the meal the conversation between friends as jus that: a simple conversation between friends. It has been quite a while since the two of them got together, what with Mei Zuo getting embroiled in the family business and William's detective agency picking up.

It was only afterwards, when their table was cleared and the two of them were left with glasses of tonic, did William broach the subject.

"Ok," he said, sipping some tonic. "You didn't quite make a lot of sense over the phone last night. What is it you wanted me to do again?"

Mei Zuo cleared his throat, his mind made up. "I want you to look for someone."

"Yeah, yeah, that part I know. A girl, you said. Is there anything you can tell me about her that might help?"

He tried to dig through his mind for what little facts he knew about Aisha. "Her name is Kozuke Aisha. She's about 20 years old now, and she's in Japan."

William stared at his friend, his left brow raised, obviously waiting for more. When Mei Zuo seemed to have stopped talking altogether, he said, quite caustically, "That's it? That's all you've got?"

"What more do you need?"

"Anything more than those basics you've told me!" William shook his head in mock amusement. "Do you have any idea how many girls named Kozuke Aisha could possibly exist in Japan? And where in Japan exactly?"

Mei Zuo thought for a moment, trying hard to remember what tiny details she might have left, then shook his head. "Just...Japan."

"Great." William sighed. "This is going to make my job a whole lot easier."

"I remember Kozuke is her mother's maiden name. Her mother's name is Kozuke Erina." He threw his hands up. "That's all I know."

William downed the remaining contents of his glass and shook his head when a waiter moved forward to refill it. He glanced back at Mei Zuo.

"If I may be so bold to ask, why are you looking for this girl?"

Mei Zuo shrugged, not really knowing how to fully explain his reasons to William. He just felt like he had to do this…somehow. "I just need to find her."

"And when you find her...what then?"

Mei Zuo shook his head. "I don't know."

William gazed at his friend thoughtfully for a long while, then flicked back his brown hair from his eyes. In a cautious tone, he said, "I heard about your upcoming engagement to Yin Xiao Qiao." At Mei Zuo's look of surprise, he hurried to explain.

"I know the news is not out yet, but I am in the PI business, remember? Most of my clients are the elite and rich. Along the way I caught wind of the engagement."

"I see," was all Mei Zuo could say. After a long pause, he said, "I want you at the engagement party. And I want word of this by then."

"You are giving me only less than six days to browse through a Japanese haystack!" William exclaimed. He shook his head. "All right, I don't know what you're up to but this seems to be really important to you."

"It is," Mei Zuo confirmed with such vehemence that William blinked at him, not bothering to hide his curiosity about this Kozuke Aisha that Mei Zuo seemed so bent on finding.

"All right," William said mildly. "I'll fix my papers immediately. By tomorrow afternoon I will be in Tokyo."

"Tokyo?" Mei Zuo echoed.

"Heck, the capital is always a good place to start." William remembered something. "Wait a minute...is this Kozuke Aisha in any way related to the old woman you had me look for before? I seem to remember her surname was Kozuke as well."

Mei Zuo nodded his reply and William nodded slowly.

"When was the last time you heard from this...Aisha?"

"Never," Mei Zuo replied flatly. "I hired someone to look for her before, but they didn't come up with anything."

"And you are actually trusting me to be able to locate her." William paused. "What if...just as with the old woman, we find out that Aisha is - "

Mei Zuo shook his head heatedly, not even willing to contemplate what the American is implying. "No. That's not possible."

William leaned back. "All right, forget I said anything." He sighed. "Do you have a picture of her?"

Slowly Mei Zuo drew something from his pocket and slid it towards William across the table. "That's the only copy I've got, so I would really appreciate it if you return that to me."

"Fine, I'll just make a copy for me and return it to you ASAP." He stared at it, a smile quirking at the picture Mei Zuo and Aisha made. "Cute. The girl, I meant. Not you."

Mei Zuo merely shook his head with a grin.

The PI stood up. "I'll have my papers processed right now. I'll keep in touch." He tapped Mei Zuo on the shoulder. "Be cool, man. And give my regards to your fiancee."

William had long left the table but Mei Zuo remained seated there, staring at his half-empty glass of tonic.

What the hell are you doing? his conscience seemed to scream at him. Why are you doing this?

His mobile phone rang on top of the table and he picked it up. His fiancee.

Her feet are threatening to give up on her, screaming in pain from having stood for five straight hours since she got to the recording studio this afternoon. The only break she got was the whole lunch hour, and that was not enough.

But, looking through the glass and into the control room, where the sound engineers and Sachiko and a few other musicians were busy and hard at work, she resolved not to whine or make any complaints.

They are doing the tougher work of putting the record together. All she does is to sing. It did not seem fair to be a primadonna.

Mark spoke through the microphone. "Let's do the last bar again, Ash. That last part, where you go up. Try to hit it a notch higher."

Aisha nodded. "OK," she said and waited as the first strains of the bridge rang through. Just as Mark instructed, she sang the last part a note higher, hoping this time she gets it right.

When the last notes died away Aisha opened her eyes and saw Mark smiling while the others nodded in approval.

"Good one, Ash," Mark said through the microphone. "Now to finish it off, I want you to hit the last note and hold it for about two seconds more, then fade. But let's do that after a five-minute break."

Relieved to finally sit awhile, Aisha removed the headphones and walked out of the studio, nearly colliding with someone who was standing by the door, hidden from view from the inside.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, and was about to say sorry when she recognized the hands that came to clutch at her shoulders to keep her from falling back.

A smile formed in her lips as slowly she looked up to meet Hua Ze Lei's small grin.

"Still so clumsy," he remarked.

"Lei!" she said and gave him a quick hug, careful to let go before anyone else inside the control room notices anything else. "When did you arrive?"

"This morning," he replied. "I was listening to you the whole time. You sound magnificent."

She felt herself going hot at the cheeks and silently berated herself for blushing so in front of Hua Ze Lei. "Really? I don't feel magnificent, though. One whole day was spent in this one song. I am about to drop dead on my feet!"

"Don't worry." His voice was soft, and his eyes equally tender. "Mark promised he'd let you off after you do that last bit he said a while ago."

"Thank God!" she breathed.

"But you won't be free for an hour or more yet. I've reserved a table at this Italian restaurant."

"Italian!" Aisha exclaimed.

Mark must have heard her because he yelled from where he was seated. "Before you start waxing Italian love verses there, let's do this, ok?"

Aisha threw a laughing glance at Mark who quirked his brows at her in amusement. With a small nod at Hua Ze Lei, she turned back to the room, putting on her headphones.

Behind the door, Hua Ze Lei moved to stand beside Mark and silently watched as Aisha, her forehead knotted in concentration practiced the final bar of the song, intently listening to Mark's voice and instructions.

His hand slid in his pockets and his fingers encountered the small plastic packet where the bracelet was kept.

Beside him, Mark slid an upward glance and noted Hua Ze Lei's small smile with a smirk.

"It's a good thing she had been really good today, or I won't be letting her off so early today, not even if you're the boss."

Hua Ze Lei ignored his teasing and instead asked, "How is the recording going?"

"So far, very good. We're making really good progress, and she's quite a trooper, never complained once. We still have to record one more song before I let her off for a short vacation."

"What of the collaboration with Abby and Xiao Qiao?"

"That will be a bonus track, so we'll work on that when the two of you get back from your trip."

Sachiko spoke from behind. "You better make sure she gets back here in good shape, Lei, or you'll have to answer to everyone."

"Yeah, especially to the fans," Mark added, turning in his chair. "Tomorrow limited advanced copies of her single will be released, but already the feedback is good." He grinned. "We're in for a good thing, boss."

Hua Ze Lei merely nodded in satisfaction, returning his gaze to the studio, watching Aisha. Mark tapped on the microphone.

"Perfect, Ash. That's all for today. See you the day after tomorrow. I hear there'll be a press conference tomorrow. Break a leg."

"Break a leg." Aisha's frown deepened. "Break a leg," she repeated, twirling the wineglass stem and watching the light brown liquid swirl. Her eyes flew up to meet Hua Ze Lei's amused ones. "Why do they use that phrase?"

"It's just an expression."

"Well, yes, I know it is, but it does sound rude, right it? Especially for one who is about to dance, they would go, 'Break a leg!' It's like wishing the dancer to have an accident or something."

Hua Ze Lei searchingly looked at her, knowing for a fact why she is saying these things. All throughout dinner she had been the chatterbox, but tonight she looked a bit more hyper than usual.

"You're nervous about tomorrow, aren't you?"

Slowly Aisha nodded, finally admitting her nerves are all bundled up about tomorrow's single launching and press conference. "I'm terrified."

"Why?"

"What if they don't like me? What if nobody buys the CD single? I'd be really embarrassed."

Hua Ze Lei shook his head with a smile. "The people love you. Haven't you realized that by now? Besides, you have chosen the perfect songs for this EP. There's really no need to worry."

Before she could say anything she was surprised when one of the uniformed waiters with an Italian chef's cap came forward and gave her a bouquet of flowers.

"Buona serra, bella Aisha," the waiter said as she stared at him, wide-eyed in wonder. When she looked at Hua Ze Lei, he was silent, as though waiting for something.

Her answer came when the usual Bach-inspired music playing on the background inside the restaurant stopped and switched to a local FM radio station. The radio disc jockey spoke in a cool clear tone.

"...and for tonight, Tokyo, I am giving you the very first single from one of our very own. To be launched tomorrow, this limited release CD single will include two tracks, and this is one of them. Tokyo, for the first time in Japanese airwaves, I bring you SIMPLE PRAYERS by Ash, Mimura Aisha."

Her eyes were round as plates, fixed on Hua Ze Lei as the first strains of the song welled throughout the restaurant. All of a sudden she became oblivious to the smiles from the other diners as they looked at the singer. When he stood up and bowed before her, she was smiling.

"May I have this dance?"

Aisha nodded and laid the bouquet down, letting Hua Ze Lei lead her into the middle of the restaurant, between tables. He took something from his pocket and took her hand.

When she looked down to see what it was he had in his hands, her heart almost stopped. Surprised, she looked up at him.

"I saw this while I was in Taipei and instantly thought of you." He put on the bracelet on her right wrist and smiled at her.

Slowly Aisha looked down at her wrist. The bracelet. It looked exactly like the one Mei Zuo gave her before. Like the blue bracelet she lost when she moved from place to place...

Hua Ze Lei's voice broke into her thoughts. "It's real simple, and it isn't much but I hope you like it."

Aisha smiled up at him and put her arms on his shoulders. "I love it. It's beautiful. Thank you, Hua Ze Lei."

His smile made her forget all others and they both danced to her song.

She closed her eyes and laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart beat, letting the chorus drift into her ears.

...a simple prayer is all I need to speak
a simple prayer is all I have
you are all I need to see
you are all I have
you and my simple prayer...