Page 23 of Summer Haze & Tokyo Craze

“Really?”

“Eve,” is all I say and his face turns solemn as he nods in understanding. “How was your evening?”

“Are you familiar with the concept of love hotels?” Felix asks me with a cheeky grin, and I burst into laughter. “What a wonderful invention.”

“Of course, I’m familiar with the concept,” I tell him, still giggling.

“You sound surprised, though. Where did you end up?” His voice lowers and he leans forward, hushing his next words right next to my ear, yet loud enough that Adam can still hear.

“Well, did you know that there’s one that appears to be an exact replica of one of the trains we rode in?” he asks, raising his eyebrow at me as I bite down a grin and shake my head. That’s news even to me.

“For real?” My voice is shaking with suppressed laughter.

“I’m not kidding. They had a whole area set up.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “With functioning doors! They even had the station announcements!”

“So you had a wild ride?” I ask him, still giggling, and he playfully hits my shoulder. It only takes watching Adam try to keep his laughter at bay from the corner of my eye before I burst into laughter again, followed by the two of them.

“God, I hate you,” Felix wheezes, making me laugh even harder.

Lily

There's one good thing about sleeping poorly after drinking: it means I sleep even better the next night. So I spend my Sunday sleeping in until noon and taking a walk around the neighborhood.

Well, a short walk with a large cup of iced coffee and my little portable fan in my hands to combat the temperatures. I don’t make it longer than half an hour regardless, because the heat and humidity are just sweltering.

After answering some e-mails and evading Lucy’s curious messages asking if I’ve run into Adam again and demanding to know all details, I go to bed early with the air-condition on high blast.

Is there such a thing as stocking up on coldness? I wish there were, because my plans for Monday are all outside.

When I wake up, I’m well-rested and ready to go, a wide smile on my face from the second I’m awake.

Finally. Today is the day.

From the very beginning, I knew I wouldn’t visit any lectures today. The topic of this fine Monday is the usage of AI to optimize cost. Which is an important topic, but the summary revealed that today’s lectures are all about cutting corners and replacing human creativity with artificial.

After a short conversation with Millie and Kayla, we agreed that it’s not a direction Siren’s Talent is going to pursue. I don’t need an algorithm to predict what beat is going to be the next big hit, thank you very much. Tomorrow’s focus is going to be how AI can improve tools for bookkeeping and make people’s job easier, which plays more into the area I can see Siren’s Talent utilizing it.

So, I decided to take this fine Monday off and have a weekday to myself.

Felix was also more than happy to extend his weekend. He decided to make a short trip to Kyoto instead, leaving by Shinkansen, the Japanese high-speed trains, on Sunday morning and returning some time this evening.

So now that I have the whole day to myself, with no assistant teasing me about my hobbies, what better way to spend it than at an amusement park?

The grin doesn't leave my face, even in the breakfast room. I’m here later than usual. With the amusement park only opening at nine, I figured I’d wait until most conference attendees were done with their breakfast. No dice, though; the room is still packed.

God, I'm so giddy I can barely stomach breakfast. I get myself a bit of everything and bite down a few pieces until I give up and decide to leave and get some breakfast on my way to eat in the park. Along with the obligatory iced coffee.

Adam shoots me a curious gaze as I walk past his table, but I act like I didn’t notice him, feeling his gaze linger until I round the corner to the lobby.

God, I'm excited. There’s a spring in my step as I pull my bag’s handles over my shoulder and make my way to the closest coffee shop, trusty portable fan in my hand and having a little Beyoncé flying hair moment.

The baristas hand me an iced coffee as soon as I step up to the counter – looks like I’ve made an impression – and I get myself a little pastry for the train ride before I make my way to the station.

Halfway to the station, I realize I'm being followed.

Damnit. I shouldn’t have gone to breakfast to begin with. Quickly, I take out my phone and take a selfie, showing Adam walking not too far behind me, before I pull up my chat with Lucy.

Lily: Told you, he's everywhere.

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