Pop Rock Love (15 page)

Rika, who currently had a thick
blanket wrapped around her, looked at Mimi and smiled, “I’m alright. I love
your song by the way. How do you get inspired to write like that?”

“Oh, I usually write them from
the feelings I have experienced in my own life,” replied Mimi, sitting down
next to her on the sea shore.

“Do breakups make good
catalysts for songs?” Rika asked, looking at her earnestly.

“I guess so, any event that
evokes a strong emotion usually inspires me.”

“I see. I actually went through
a breakup not long ago.”

“Oh? I am sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be. It was totally my
fault. Anyway, if you don’t mind, let’s be friends. I’ll pass you my email.”
She fished out her cell phone and passed it to Mimi. “Please key in your phone number
and email.”

“Sure. I guess you are done for
the day? The band and I still need to go to the Zakimi Castle Ruins for more
shooting,” Mimi said, taking the cell phone from her.

Rika nodded, “Yeah, I’ll be
heading back to Tokyo tonight. Let’s try to meet up next week?” As they
exchanged emails, Mimi thought, even beautiful women are not immune to
heartbreaks.

That night, Kenta knocked on
Mimi’s hotel room door, dumping a stack of newspapers and magazines on her.
“What’s this?” she asked. She glanced at the various news reports and noticed
her face plastered on them.

“These are reviews on your
debut performance,” he replied. Mimi was shocked to see so many. She also saw
that many of them had Sato’s face on the report too. “They are calling you
Sato’s new project. Anyway, besides that, I’ve got something important to tell
you. When we get back to Tokyo two days later, you’ll be moving into your new
house. Your friend Shina told me her neighbour who lives a floor above her just
sold her house, so I got you that one.”

“Sounds great, Kenta. Thanks.”

“No problem, good night and
good work for today.”

Mimi closed the door and walked
over to her bed with the stack of news reports. Sitting on the edge of her bed,
she looked through the pile of papers. Most of them seemed to label her
“promising” and also talked about how it was Sato’s first public performance
since his boy band days. She wanted to read all of them but it was now the wee
hours of the morning and tomorrow was another full day of filming. Her eyes
soon grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep.

*

“I have free tickets for a
violin performance. Come with me?” Shina asked, passing Roy the concert
tickets. Both of them were having lunch at a fast food joint – the MOS
Burger Ginza Café, which with wooden flooring and specially designed interior
by Dick Bruna (famed for creating Miffy the bunny), was classier than your
typical fast food restaurant. Roy, who had just bitten into his spicy beef
burger, was startled. He swallowed hard before saying,
 
“You sure you don’t have anyone else to
go with? I mean, will it be weird to be seen hanging out with me?”

“What do you mean? You are
kidding, right? We are hanging out now, what’s the difference when it comes to
going to a concert?”

Roy fiddled with the tickets
uncertainly. “But, it’s a gala event, right? I don’t have anything to wear.”

Shina snatched back the tickets
from him and said, “If you really don’t want to go then it’s alright. It’s just
that not many of my friends appreciate classical music like you do.” She
shrugged her shoulders and took a big bite from her own spicy beef burger. Roy
held his face in his hands and observed Shina’s face for a few seconds.

“What time is it? I’ll be
there,” he said, after thinking about it.

Roy waited for Shina at the
Foyer of the Suntory Hall. The Foyer was decorated with mahogany panels and
marble trimmings and there seemed to be a cocktail party happening at another
area of the Foyer. The men were dressed in tuxedos while the women wore formal
evening dresses. Roy was clad in black jeans, a t-shirt and a black sports
jacket. Despite his young age, he didn’t look out of place at all as he gave
off the air of a musician but he felt awkward and could not stop fidgeting. Roy
glanced at his watch for the fifth time and wished Shina would arrive soon. She
finally did, wearing a boat neck Chloe black sleeveless dress with stud
embellishments and flat black pumps.
  

“You look nice,” she said,
smiling at him.

“Not as nice as you,” said Roy,
finding it hard to take his eyes off her. He offered his arm to her, as a
gentlemanly gesture. She took it and they both walked arm-in-arm across the
lobby.

“Come on, let’s go sit in the
concert hall first,” she said, giving a quick glance to the crowd.

“Don’t you have to attend the
cocktail party?”

“Not really. I don’t like it; I
hate these kind of cocktail events where you have to mingle and pretend to know
everyone,” she said, wrinkling her nose as they both made their way to the main
hall. Roy looked around in amazement. “This place is amazing.” The hall had a
warm glow to it and a majestic pipe organ was placed in the middle, at the rear
of the hall. The pair took their seats near the front of the wooden stage. Roy
peered at the concert brochure. The programme for tonight was Tchaikovsky
Violin Concerto in D Major. It was one of his favourite pieces.

Shina leaned towards him and
whispered, “Don’t you miss it?”

“Miss what?”

“The violin.”

“Honestly when I hear someone
else play the violin, I feel like killing myself. It hurts when I play it, it
hurts when I don’t play it. I can’t help but wonder why music hates me so
much.”

“Isn’t that because you love it
so much?”

“Does love hurt this much?” he
asked.

“I’m no expert on love. But it
probably does.”

The lights on the hall started
to dim and the orchestra came on stage and took their seats. Just as he’d
predicted, Roy’s heart started to ache terribly when the violin soloist started
to play. He closed his eyes and allowed the music to fill his veins. The
violinist’s technique was flawless and Roy felt the violin crying out to him.

Track #12

After spending three days in
Okinawa filming her music video, Mimi arrived late at night at Sato's
apartment’s doorstep, exhausted. Earlier, her manager had given her a phone
call, reminding her that she would be moving into her new apartment tomorrow.
Mimi let out a loud yawn as she fumbled for her keys in her handbag and without
warning, she crumpled to the floor.

An hour later, Sato arrived to
find Mimi sprawled on the cement ground in front of his doorstep.
Panic-stricken, he quickly ran over, only to find her snoring loudly. “Mimi,
wake up!” he cried, shaking her violently. However, she remained oblivious to
her surroundings and continued to sleep. She was even drooling slightly. “I
can’t believe this girl,” he said as he continued looking on helplessly.
Figuring that it would be best to just bring her indoors, he searched for his
own keys and unlocked the door. Cradling Mimi in his arms, Sato carried her to
her bed.

“Really, I think you are the
most troublesome person ever,” muttered Sato as he placed her gently on her
bed. Mimi made no sign of waking up. Instead she just rolled to the side and
curled her body into a ball. Sato looked at the sleeping figure and sighed. He
took off her boots and was just about to leave when he noticed that Mimi was
shivering slightly. He carefully pulled the blanket over her. But she still
looked cold.

“Are you sick?” he asked,
placing his hand on her forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever.”

“Cold...”she answered in her
sleep.

“See, this is what happens when
you fall asleep outside,” he scolded, pointing his finger accusingly at Mimi.
Sato stared at the snoring girl and wondered what to do. Her shivering didn’t
seem to stop and she was unable to wake up.

Sato sighed again and crawled
onto Mimi’s bed. Facing her back, he wrapped his arms around her and held her
close to his natural warmth, spooning her. Eventually, he felt her body stop
quavering. He probably should have gotten back to his own bedroom by then, but
he felt his body unable to move away from her. Maybe I should just stay here
for one more hour, he thought as he closed his eyes and buried his face in her
hair.

Since you came here, my
nightmares have faded away. This apartment will miss you, Sato thought, holding
her closer. That night, he never once let go of the girl beside him.

The next day, Mimi woke up to
find a warm hand over her. She slowly rolled to the other side and came face to
face with a sleeping Sato. This was the man whom she had stayed with for six
months. Every day in those eight months had been precious to her. She was able
to shine because of him and now she had to leave. In a way, he saved her. But
Mimi hated goodbyes and even though they would still see each other in the
studios, she was sad to leave. Any minute now, she expected her manager to
arrive at the parking lot to give her a lift to her new place. Mimi leaned over
Sato and landed a gentle kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you,” she whispered and
got out of bed, and out of the house.

Dragging her pink trolley
suitcase with her, Mimi walked to the ground floor of the apartment. Kenta had
texted her earlier, saying that he would be driving up soon. She dialed her
brother’s telephone number on her mobile phone. “Roy, where are you?”

“At the guesthouse, Mimi,
you’re back?” answered Roy. He sounded as if he’d just woken up.

“Yeah, come and meet me.”

“What? Where?” he mumbled
feebly.

At that moment, Mimi saw her
manager drive up at the front of the apartment block so she just hurriedly told
Roy, “Right, I’m moving into Comforia Harajuku today, that’s Shina apartment
block too, so I will see you there. I’ll meet you on the first floor.” She
walked towards Kenta and got into his car.

Mimi arrived at her new apartment
to see her brother waiting outside. She ran to him and gave Roy a tight hug. “I
missed you! You’re here early,” she said, ruffling his hair.

“Yeah I took a cab. Where’s all
your stuff?” he asked, looking at Mimi. She was only carrying a trolley case
with her.

“My guitars are in the studio
so this is all I have. I probably have to shop for furniture later on, which
means we may have to sleep on the floor tonight. My manager is parking the car,
he’ll be here soon.”

Kenta soon came up and shook hands
with Roy. “Mimi’s brother right? I’m Kenta, Mimi’s manager. Will you be staying
with Mimi for a while?” he asked in English.

“Yes, for a while. Nice to meet
you.”

The manager nodded and turned
to Mimi. “Let’s go, I’ll show you your new home. I usually don’t do this for my
artistes, but I suspected you were getting too comfortable in Sato’s house, if
I didn’t do this, you will never leave,” said Kenta as they entered the
elevator.

“What?” exclaimed Mimi glaring
at him. “You are in charge of my schedule, you knew how busy I was.”

“I was just kidding. Anyway,
here we are.” He unlocked the brown door and revealed the interior, which was
just an empty space with white walls and a light brown wood floor. There was a
kitchen, a small balcony and two bedrooms.

“I love it!” Mimi said, and
with her hands outstretched, she spun around the living room.

“Here is your key. You’ll need
to do some furniture shopping so you get the day off. Remember your debut
single is going to be released soon. On top of that, you’ll have a fan meet at
Shibuya HMV the week after.”

Mimi stopped whirling around
and said, “What? Fan meet? What if no one comes?”

“Can you please read your
schedule and not look so shocked at everything,” chided Kenta. “In the worst
case scenario, there’s always me and Ayaka. We can ask the Niji staff to come
too.”

“Are you serious?” Mimi asked,
scratching her head.

“Of course he is kidding, sis,”
said Roy, laughing at his sister’s expression. “And I’m sure a lot of people
will come. Didn’t you see the response at your debut performance?”

“I think your brother’s the one
with the brains in the family,” said Kenta with a smirk. He passed Mimi her
apartment key and schedule for the month. “I need to get going. I think there
are some tatami mats in the bedrooms, so you can sleep on those for the time
being. I will see you at Niji tomorrow and we’ll plan your fan meet in further
detail.”

“Okay. Thanks Kenta, for
arranging this apartment for me,” said Mimi. Kenta waved and left. Turning to
her brother, she said, “Let’s go and grab something to eat.”

They made their way to a sushi
restaurant, the type where the sushi was served on a conveyor belt. Mimi
clasped her hands together and looked on delightedly at the steady stream of
sushi moving towards her. “You know Roy, I’m really happy to have you here with
me, but shouldn’t you be starting your new school semester soon?” she asked,
taking a seat behind the counter.

“Actually sis, I was thinking
of pursuing music again, so I was thinking of studying here. There's a lot of
good music colleges here.”

“What? Really? This is the
first time I’m hearing you talk about this. I thought you grew tired of the
violin.”

“Yeah, I want to be serious
about the violin now. But my travel visa expires at the end of this month, so
I’ll have to return to Singapore first.”

“I think you should talk to
your previous violin teacher too. He has loads of experience and can tell you
which music colleges to aim for.”

Roy nodded and reached out for
the sushi. Mimi also started to stack up on the sushi plates. She said, “You
know, I’ve been wondering about Sakura.”

“Yeah, I mean, we can’t keep it
closed forever. And obviously you can’t be around to take care of it anymore.”

“I guess the right thing is to
sell it, or at least rent it to someone. But I feel bad, it’s a gift from Daddy
and I had so many wonderful memories of the place,” said Mimi, with a sigh.

“I’m sure he’ll understand.
You’re living your dream now; he’ll be so proud of you. Both our parents will
be so proud of you,” said Roy, putting his arm around her. “I know, we can turn
Sakura into a Mimi café! We’ll put big posters of you and sell Mimi
merchandise!”

“That’s ridiculous!”

“I’m sure dad would do that if
he was still alive.”

Mimi sighed. “I do miss
Singapore. I’ll need more time to think about what to do with the pub. Once my
album promotions are finished, I’ll visit Singapore and see what needs to be
done.”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Roy,
wolfing down the sushi.

“Anyway, since it’s a rare day
off for me, let’s get a cake and some drinks and invite Shina to our house
tonight. Let’s have a housewarming party!”

Roy smiled and nodded. His
sister poked at the tuna sashimi with her pair of chopsticks and groaned,
“Anyway I can’t really be bothered with stuff like interior designing and
furniture. Maybe we should just go to Disneyland!”

“What? No, you need to at least
get a bed,” her brother protested.

“I guess you’re right,” she
said, stuffing sushi in her mouth.

Later that evening, Shina
arrived at Mimi’s new place with a bottle of champagne and a chocolate cake.
Roy opened the door. “Happy housewarming!” said Shina. “Thank you, please come
in,” he replied.

Mimi was in the kitchen
preparing some food. “Can I help?” Shina asked, peeking over her shoulder. Mimi
seemed engrossed in tossing a salad. “Shina, you are here! No, you’re our
guest. Please take a seat on the tatami mat. I’m sorry but we haven’t bought
any furniture.”

“Don’t worry about it. This
place reminds me of when I first moved in.” She added in a low voice, “My
ex-husband and I didn’t have anything either.”

“Let me pour you some drinks,”
said Roy, suddenly appearing beside Shina. He glanced over at the champagne
bottles she brought.

“Are you sure you are of legal
age to drink?” Shina asked.

“Well, he is in Singapore, but
not in Japan,” Mimi said. “Roy, I’m sorry I forgot your birthday while I was
away. I should have wished you or something. I’m such a bad sister.”

“No wonder you asked me to
bring candles for the cake,” said Shina.

Mimi and Shina were soon
donning party hats and singing a birthday song for Roy. The birthday cake held
eighteen candles. “Make a wish first!” exclaimed his sister. He closed his eyes
and after a moment, blew the candles out. Mimi asked, “What did you wish for?”

“Secret,” he replied. “Anyway,
this champagne is good,” he said, pouring himself another cup. Mimi looked at
her brother, amused. His face was gradually turning red. “Are you sure you can
handle it? It tastes sweet but it’s rather lethal.”

“Sounds similar to women,” he
commented, drinking from his cup. Before long, the alcohol kicked into his
system and he was knocked out, sleeping with his body curled up on the mat.
Mimi carefully placed a blanket over her brother. She looked at him and
commented, “Roy is a genius.”

Shina was helping to clear the
plates and leftover cake. She looked at Mimi in surprise, “You’re a genius too.
Maybe it runs in the family?”

“Me? No, I was just lucky.
Anyway, you look good. Is there a new man in your life?” she asked, passing a can
of beer to her friend.

Shina pouted a little and said,
“I’m going to stay off men for awhile.”

“I totally understand where
you’re coming from. I’m going to do that too.” Mimi sat down next to her friend
and opened her own can of beer.

“You know, I put my husband on
a pedestal. He meant the world to me, and I couldn’t live without him. But he
hurt me so badly, so maybe that is why I am finding it so hard to open my heart
to someone else.”

Mimi took a sip of beer and
pondered, “Sometimes I do wonder between men and women, if there's a clear line
drawn between friendship and love? Is attraction the only thing that separates
friendship and love? But then, attraction will die over time and isn’t it
better to be with someone whom you can share your problems with?”