“Hey, Richard, do you have a moment?”
We stopped in the spot where the heart of the museum ended and the next exhibit began. The beautiful man turned to me. That alone dazzled me.
“Yes? What is it?”
“Could you give me your hand?”
“Whatever is this about?”
“Nothing. Come on, please.”
“At least tell me what I am giving you a hand with.”
“Not a hand, your hand!”
He was being too slow, so I grabbed his hand—not by the wrist, by the hand itself—and I kneeled down. And I kissed him.
…Right on the spot where Henry wore his signet ring, the little finger of the right hand.
“Long live the jeweler. Please. Do live a long life. And a happy one, too. I’d like that for you.”
A group of people came around the corner and squealed when they saw us. Oops. I’m so sorry. Of course they squealed at a grown man down on one knee—I was blocking the path! They couldn’t get around me!
Richard might have let me off if it had only been a kiss, but holding his hand a little too long was just rude. I stood up, laughing to hide my embarrassment, and brushed the dirt off my knees. Richard looked almost like he was sulking.
“Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t resist after what happened earlier.”
“…That almost sounded like a farewell.”
“No, I really meant it. Like a ‘Thanks for everything, and I hope you don’t mind if I keep bothering you.’”
“Yes, I am perfectly aware.”
“Man, you know what? It would make me so happy if we could be together forever.”
“Why, are you planning on leaving? Ridiculous. I’d chase after you.”
“If any one of us is doing the chasing, it’s me. Seigi Nakata, the Narita-to-London globe-trotter, ain’t afraid of nothin’.”
And then—
Then I forgot everything I was about to say. Completely. I just couldn’t speak at all.
Richard had s-s-something in his mouth. Something. I couldn’t even register that it was. My. Finger. The spot at the base of my little finger, trapped between a bivalve of flesh.
A few seconds passed before I whimpered. Richard flashed me a look of triumph.
“Now, shall we be off?”
“…Y…Yes.”
“I am quite looking forward to this cake. I hear there is a rainbow cake available for a limited time only.”
“Rainbow, huh? That’s, uh, nice. Do they—um, do they have royal milk tea?”
“I am afraid not. It shall have to be water and cake.”
“Water, huh? That’s…nice.”
“Yes, it is.”
“The source of life.”
“Indeed.”
“And, uh, tasty.”
“I would agree.”
We walked as stiffly as a pair of robots. I wanted to ask what the hell that was all about, but I knew Richard just meant it as payback. I didn’t need to ask. But I was curious about one thing: Why me? No, I didn’t need to wonder that, either. It must have been his way of wishing me a long, happy life, too. Yeah, it was that kind of thing. That kind of kiss. Had I been a dog, I would have pelted out into the yard and rolled all over the place, but unfortunately, I was neither good boy Taro nor good boy Jiro. I was good boy Seigi, so no rolling for me.
I thought about Jiro in an effort to escape from reality. Jiro… I hoped he was doing okay at the neighbor’s. Was he eating enough? Sleeping well? Howling from loneliness? And just what the hell was that kiss about? Oh, shoot. So much for the escape from reality.
We walked through this endlessly labyrinthine and beautiful museum in an uncomfortable silence before we eventually found the stairs leading outside. Just then, I heard a ringtone. It was Richard’s. I figured it was Jeffrey or Henry calling to ask where we had vanished to. I owed them an apology, I thought, just as Richard’s face morphed into one of surprise.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Maya.”
Huh? Maya? As in, like, that Maya? The memory itself felt like a blast from the past. Why on Earth would she have been calling Richard now?
Well, for whatever reason she had to be calling, I heard that familiar breezy and teasing voice sing out a “Hello there!” It was faint, but I could still hear. “How are you, darling? Remember me? It’s Maya Hamada, the brilliant jewelry designer from Kyoto.”
“How could I ever forget you, Maya? Now, what is the purpose of this call?”
“Just you listen,” she said, “There’s to be a big party, and—”
And she went on to tell a story we couldn’t have dreamed up in a million years.
The Perahera festival made August the most festive time of year in Kandy. I hadn’t been able to go to the last one because I was in Provence at the time. Saul showed me photos: costumed elephants and their handlers parading through the streets, touting a relic casket carrying the tooth of the Buddha. It looked like fun, with lots of bright colors and a cacophony of percussion instruments.
It was October now, and Sri Lanka’s rainy season was just around the corner. Fortunately, the weather behaved, and Saul’s house in Kandy was as festive as the height of Perahera.
“Yapa, could you take the biryani into the garden?”
“Thank you so much for all the help, Kumara. Why don’t you go relax now?”
“Rasin, can you grab another pack of ginger beer from by the back door?”
The garden party took over the whole yard. We had put up three umbrellas, set up a squadron of tables, played music, erected a cover over the tables in case of rain, and served enough food to feed the partygoers for several days straight. I couldn’t have done it all myself. Aside from Kumara, who came here every day, I paid some of the neighbors to lend a hand.
Ms. Darling’s shocking news was to blame.
“Say what? You’re their lead designer?”
“I know! I was stunned!” Maya giggled. “Of course, I won the competition fair and square.”
“But it’s Gargantua. You agreed to work with Gargantua?”
After the cruise ship incident—which still angered me to think about—the world-famous jewelry brand Gargantua was accused of sweeping sexual harassment under the rug and underwent huge layoffs. Even I, as out of the loop as I was, heard about it. The news mentioned something or other about plans for an external audit—but anyway, I knew next to nothing about it. I tried to forget all about that brand and hoped that was the end of it. I had never expected their new designer to be…well, her.
“Well, I hear they’ll continue to use other top designers for their luxury jewelry—for the flagship models, you know—but that’s only a fraction of their big billboard work, now isn’t it? As for the rest… You can think of it like a supermarket. They need lots and lots of designers for all the milk, sugar, soy sauce—all the daily essentials, no? Besides, all of their most promising talent quit.”
Daily essentials were basically the flagship offerings of any supermarket. If the company succeeded in losing its shady reputation, it could be reborn as the “new” Gargantua and establish a firm foothold for itself in the industry. To that end, Gargantua held a competition for the position of lead designer, with each entrant required to submit a design of a necklace, a bracelet, and a ring. Anyone could enter, regardless of experience and resume.
And Ms. Darling won. She destroyed the competition.