Revealed – Chapter 15

Sakai lifts the tumbler of Scotch to his lips and sips gently, letting the cold liquid roll over his tongue and down his throat.

He never gets drunk anymore, not like he used to, but tonight’s a night to sit and let the alcohol dull his brain for a short time. Cafe les pivoines is empty for the moment, the round tables lined up in perfect rows, the twinkling lights blinking asynchronously in the window. The lights flicker off in the pastry display case as one of Remy’s employees empties the last remaining delicacies. This cafe is one of Sakai’s favorite places in the ward. This quiet little spot is where he can relax and try to forget about life on the other side of his territory.

“Can I get you anything else, Mark?” Remy asks, toweling off his hands and turning the sign on the door to ‘CLOSED’ as his employee leaves for the night. Remy has run Cafe les pivoines for years and been a friend even longer. Remy married the quiet girl next door who always had a crush on Koichi until Remy came along. The French accent bowled her over.

“No, thank you. You don’t mind if I stay, do you?”

Remy waves his hand and scoffs. “You own the building. Your palm can open the door when it’s locked.”

“But I would never…”

“I know. Don’t worry about it.” Remy folds his arms across his chest and peers down at Sakai in the round booth. “Do you…”

A knock on the door jerks both their heads to the front of the cafe. A lone figure stands in the shadows on the other side of the glass, slender fingers waving at them both.

“I was going to offer to sit with you since no one should drink alone but…” Remy opens the door and lets Lucy in. She’s covered her head in a wrap and changed into comfortable dark exercise clothing, not something anyone ever sees her in outside of her apartment. Lifting onto her toes, she kisses Remy on the cheek and walks to Sakai as Remy leaves and closes the front door behind him.

Lucy sighs as she dumps her bag on the table and shrugs out of her jacket and head wrap. “You’re already drinking. That can’t be good.”

Sakai turns his glass and watches the melting ice cubes twirl in the tawny liquid. Leaving the front lights off, Lucy pours herself a glass of water from behind the counter and peeks in the boxes of leftover pastries Remy left out for her. She plates a delicate chocolate cake and brings both back to the table.

“What’s going on with you?” she asks, raising her eyebrows and forking a piece of cake into her mouth.

“We should really stop meeting like this in the middle of the night,” he replies. “Someone is going to catch us.”

“I take the secret exit and call a cab. No one’s caught me yet. And don’t change the subject.”

Sakai sips his Scotch and glances at the clock on the wall. Two-oh-three AM.

“Remember when I told you keeping Sanaa busy would be a cinch until we could reveal everything to her?”

“Yes,” Lucy says, spearing another piece of cake. “Not long after you changed to Plan D.” Lucy blinks her eyes at him, and he cringes.

“It’s a bit more difficult than I thought it would be.” He keeps his eyes on his Scotch even though he hears Lucy setting her fork down.

“Spill it. What’s going on? Last I heard, she was making great headway in the data theater, learning all the key players and her soon-to-be adversaries. You even said Jiro is making progress with her sword fighting skills. What am I missing?”

Sakai rubs his face and pinches his tired eyes. “Mariko cornered me the other day. Jiro says Sanaa is falling to pieces. She’s not sleeping. Her hands are shaking in training. I’ve more than overworked her… unfortunately.”

He glances at Lucy, but her expression gives nothing away.

“So I went to the dōjō to watch the videos and most of last week’s training sessions were gone from the system. When I questioned Koichi, he admitted deleting them. He said he wants to give Sanaa and Jiro the ‘privacy they deserve.’”

Lucy sighs and lets her hair out of the hurried knot in the back of her head. She massages her scalp with her fingers, and Sakai looks away. He can’t bear the disappointment she must feel, but she laughs lightly and reaches into her bag to grab her pot of lip balm.

“Boy, Mark. This is a right mess you’ve gotten us into.”

Sakai scowls and sips.

“Hey. I had no idea this would happen.” She squeezes his hand. “You’re so good at negotiations and making everyone happy or at least think they’re happy. I never expected this.”

“Yeah, well…” He raises his glass and toasts the air between them. His screw-up will be legendary in no time.

“That’s the problem here,” she says, stabbing at her cake again. “Your skills lie in making people happy, not manipulating them into doing something that makes them opposite of happy — anxious, angry, or whatever.”

Sakai never thought of himself this way. His job has always been to leave behind his own ego and serve those who need him. It would be against everything he stood for to serve his own wants and needs, yet he gains pleasure and satisfaction from negotiations where everyone leaves the table gratified and content.

“You can turn this around now. I’m sure of it.” Lucy sips at her water, the cake gone and only a pile of crumbs remaining. “It’s time to bring on the peace and happiness while still furthering our goals. Ease up on Sanaa. Plan some outings or parties. Show her she can relax amongst your family instead of being terrified she’ll overstep nonexistent boundaries. Let Jiro have his way…”

“You mean, do it your way.”

She shrugs her shoulders. “I always love my way. If you didn’t regret Junko’s death, this is how life would be anyway. You never would have done this the hard way. This whole venture has been a huge mistake, and why? Because you agonized over every decision and you hated yourself for it. I’ve never seen you act this way, even when Maeda is shouting down Miura across the table or some big project blows up in our faces.”

Sakai downs the last of his Scotch and pushes himself over close to Lucy. She smiles and drapes her leg over his under the table, taking his hands in hers.

“It’s killing you to see her suffering?”

He nods.

“You regret it?”

He nods again, not looking her in the eyes. He’s never been forthcoming about his emotions nor especially his mistakes, but Lucy gets the sides of him he never gives to anyone else.

“No more regrets,” Lucy whispers. “We’re too old for that.”

She hugs his arm and rests her head on his shoulder.

“Thank you,” he says, leaning back in the booth.

When his instincts are wrong, he just needs her to tell him what to do. It’s another reason he loves her so damned much.

“So tomorrow, you’re all off to Ku 10 for a tour, right?” She rubs her forehead slowly across Sakai’s shoulder, yawning and sighing. She must be exhausted like him.

“Me, Sanaa, and Jiro. I’m sure it’ll be a load of laughs.”

She laughs lightly. “Chaperoning two hormonal kids — how fun for you.”

Sakai reaches over and takes her hand. “Come back to my place tonight?”

She kisses him on the cheek. “I think it’s sweet that after two years, you still ask me to come over, but you know I can’t.”

They’ve never once spent the night at his place, but he never gives up trying.

“I can’t wait for you to see my apartment. My bedroom is bigger than yours.” He smiles up at her as she slides out of the booth and wraps her hair in a scarf.

“Someday soon. Walk me to the main street to get a cab?”

“Sure.” He stands up beside her, wraps his arm around her waist, and walks her out into the quiet of nighttime in Ku 6.