Chapter 7

Misaki was surprised. "That man… Ralph… is he the flight attendant you were talking about?" Takumi nodded. "He does look strong. I can see how an advance from him might make you nervous." Takumi nodded again. "I really wouldn't have pegged him as gay though. He has on a wedding band."

"A façade," Takumi interjected. Hoping to change topics, he asked Misaki if she was hungry. She hadn't given it much thought but yes, she was a bit hungry. Takumi was delighted. He loved to cook in general but more than anything he loved the idea of cooking for Misa.

She watched in amazement as Takumi demonstrated the art of cooking. She felt as though she was at a stage performance, as the maestro talked and laughed with his captivated audience of one, the knives rapidly dicing food into perfect cubes, the food began doing flips in the air then landing gracefully back in their pan, and heavenly smells filling the cabin. This was no ordinary air flight meal. This was no ordinary meal from a restaurant with four Michelin Stars. This was exceptional. So exceptional in fact, she recognized it. He had cooked for her before. He had cooked for her many times before.

He set a plate before her. "This is my favorite," she said astonished.

"Yes. I know" he replied.

She took one bite and a flood of memories swept over her. "Takumi! You and I worked at the same café didn't we? You would help cook."

Takumi. Not Mr. Walker. Takumi. She'd remembered something and it was enough to let her know that they had been on a first name basis. "I would sometimes, yes," he replied.

"Of course you must know this, but your cooking skills are incredible!"

He smiled and thanked her. "As payment for cooking for you would you agree to a game of cards with me? I recall you were rather good at cards."

"I'm still good at cards," she replied.

"Are you good enough that you'd be willing to place a little wager on a hand?" He asked. He knew he could use her competitive nature against her, "unless of course, you're afraid you'll lose."

Misaki could never back down from such a challenge, but she needed to know the stakes. "I won't lose, but before I agree, I need to know exactly how badly my victory will hurt you."

"Well," he replied, "should your prediction be wrong, I want you to show me around a town during my stay. It's been along time since I've been to the area and I need someone local that knows the area well. You would be perfect because I would also like to visit places that were important to me in my youth, like the café and the high school."

"And what will I be getting after I win?" She asked.

"Anything you want."

"In that case, I will decided later,". She picked up the deck and began shuffling. As the cards were folded together through a variety of impressive shuffle techniques the two agreed on a game and on the rules. "I must warn you, and consider this your last chance to back out, I do recall that I was the undefeated champion at cards at the café we worked at."

"Hummm," he smiled. "Undefeated. It's interesting the memories your mind has chosen to remember Misaki." They played a hand and had so much fun, they decided to make it a championship with the winner being the person winning four out of seven games. Takumi made sure to lose three games narrowly, but there was no way he was not getting a commitment to have her show him the City. Once he'd finally secured his victory, he reached into his wallet and pulled out a very faded photo of Misaki and him and flashed it in front of her eyes. "Undefeated? You seem to have forgotten one game that was played at the café."

Misaki was shocked. "Let me have that," she said hoping to get a better look.

"Never," Takumi teased, "its my lucky charm."

"I just want to see it," she protested.

"No. You've been trying to steal it since I've met you." Takumi said snatching the photo out of her reach every time she made a grab for it then he would return it to her view once he was sure she couldn't successfully steal his treasure.

"Why on a Earth would you be carrying around such an old photo?" She asked.

"I already told you that, it's my lucky charm." Takumi replied.

Meanwhile, Claire had called and explained to Ralph that he needed to act the part of man with unrequited love for Mr. Walker for the benefit of Mr. Walker's guest. Ralph took a big breath and sauntered in swaying his hips and speaking with a lisps. His acting was appalling and Misaki burst out laughing. Once Ralph had left the room, Misaki looked at Takumi still smiling "You lied to my about your flight steward didn't you".

Takumi gasped and gave her a look of incredulity. "What could possibly make you think that?"

"Right, every gay man transforms from a proper English butler to an flamboyant and effeminate butler once they are outside of British territory." She said.

"Okay," he admitted. "You've got me."

Misaki was finding the whole experience completely entertaining. While she thought she knew why he'd done it, she had to ask. "You don't still have a small high school crush on me, do you?"

"Small crush," Takumi mused, what an inadequate word to describe how he felt. "No. No. Every guy I know would jump off a building to rescue a photo with you and then carry that photo around for 15 years. It's completely normal. At least for us perverted space aliens."

Misaki's face fell. He'd jumped from a building. He knew that nick name. What was he saying. She felt a rush of emotions. Being with Takumi was causing her to remember things. This was exciting and scary. While she was struggling to remember specific, some of her deeply buried feelings for Takumi were beginning to surface, which was also adding confusion and guilt to the army of emotions attacking her senses. But the General of this army was betrayal. If that was Takumi on the roof. If that was Takumi that jumped… it couldn't be Tora. It had to be Tora. That was the first time she and Tora had kissed. "Mr. Walker, I hope you don't find me rude, but I need to go lie down now."

He could see her shift in mood and was worried he'd scared her away by being too forward. He nodded and called Ralph back into the room. "Ralph, could you please escort Misaki to her room and show her where she could find a fresh pair of pajamas," he asked.

"Anything for my little sugar pie," Ralph said trying his hardest to fulfill his duty.

"Ralph, it won't be necessary for you to continue acting."

A faint 'thank God' seemed to escape Ralph's lips as he walked Misaki to her room.

After Misaki had left the room, Takumi sent Claire another text. He needed to ask Claire to send the Chief of Operations out to Japan right away. Takumi had intended to handle the discussions over the acquisition and merger of a small Japanese based company and Walker Industries, but now he would be needing more free time while in Japan so he decided it was time to delegating.