Asleep in Nara (Short Story Series, Pt. 2)

“Name’s Sebastian.”

As he took a seat, the woman eyed him up and down. He couldn’t tell if she was sizing him up like a piece of meat or if she was looking for a fight. None of her signals quite made sense to him. He considered returning to his table of newfound friends, but with every awkward glance back, they were only encouraging him further. On his third of fourth look over his shoulder at his old table, the woman introduced herself.

“Jael,” she said.

“I’m sorry, what?” Sebastian said, scanning his memory for any remotely similar-sounding Japanese word. He had nothing.

“My name,” she said before enunciating: “Ya-ell.”

“That’s a weird name,” Sebastian said. Jael glared at him.

“As much as I’d like a free drink,” she said, “I don’t need your shit.” She turned away and motioned to the bartender. He was already nearby, however, and was about to engage Sebastian in conversation.

Sebastian didn’t realize how much of a faux pas it was to approach another patron. Jael knew, of course, but she had half-expected Sebastian to approach her from the moment she saw him waltz into the bar and ignore the bartender’s suggestion of where he should sit. His American-ness oozed off him.

“I’ll pay,” Sebastian told the bartender, motioning to both his and Jael’s drinks.

The bartender poured them both drinks, with another extra splash to top off Sebastian’s. Sebastian awkwardly thanked him and sipped on his drink.

“You’re an awkward as hell little fuckboy, aren’t you?” Jael asked, as she carefully inspected each of his eyes, comparing the normal one to the misshapen one.

“You know, maybe I made a mistake in coming over here,” Sebastian said, turning his head to obscure his face in shadows.

His mind was already drifting back to the cute Japanese girl at the table he’d left. Sure, he was desperate for a fellow English-speaking conversationalist, but Jael was even more abrasive than Logan--plus she wasn’t even American.

“No. Stay,” she commanded. “I’m getting the next round.”

They drank in silence for a few minutes. Jael finished her drink while Sebastian still had a quarter of his left. She stared at him impatiently, and he gulped down the rest. The room was getting blurry. More drinks arrived, and Jael seemed satisfied to continue drinking in silence. After a while, Sebastian decided potential berating was preferable to silence.

“So what are you doing in Japan?” Sebastian asked.

“What are you doing in Japan?” she fired back.

Sebastian, taken aback, sat there with his jaw hanging open. Jael sighed.

“My boss sent me here to take a vacation,” she said.

“For being on vacation, you don’t seem very relaxed.”

“Picked up on that, did you?”

“You’re testy,” he said.

“Hmph.” She took a long, slow sip, finishing off her drink. She swished the ice cubes around the bottom of the glass again. Sebastian recognized the tick, but wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Jael was debating another drink and whether or not she should ditch this guy. She decided to stay and set her glass back down.

“Turns out I’m pretty bad at leaving work behind,” she explained.

“What do you do for a living?”

“It’s the same conversations, isn’t it?” she asked, clasping her hands together.

“I’m sorry. What?”

“Hey. What do you do for a living? Do you like it? Oh, that’s neat. Where did you study? Blah blah blah.”

“Well, yeah...” Sebastian fumbled for words. “I mean, people have to get to know each other somehow.”

“Do they?” she asked. When Jael noticed him looking over his shoulder at his old table, she decided to stop antagonizing him so much. “I work in accounting,” she said with a smirk.

“I see how that might be stressful,” Sebastian said, although he really didn’t. It felt true in the moment, though, so he went with it.

“Yeah…” Jael said. She was lost in thought, deep in a numbers game: assets, risk, reward.

The bartender reappeared and asked if they wanted another drink. Jael shook her head, and Sebastian heaved a sigh of relief. He wouldn’t be able to keep up much longer. Jael caught him studying her hair. It was jet black, but the tips were alternately dyed deep blue and fire engine red.

“I like your hair,” Sebastian said, which was his original intended opener to the conversation.

“Thanks,” Jael replied disinterestedly. “I’m not sure I like the body.”

“The...body? You mean the volume?” Sebastian asked.

“Yeah, that.” She squinted at him. “Do you ever find yourself forgetting simple words? You know, because you’re speaking a foreign language so much?”

“All the time,” Sebastian said, thankful he wasn’t the only one. “This one time, in fact--”

“So you’re a student?” Jael asked, cutting him off.

“Uh, yeah, how did you know?” His mouth was hanging ajar again.

“You look the type.”

He wasn’t sure what that was supposed to mean, but he was afraid to ask.

“What are you studying?” she asked.

“History,” Sebastian said. “Right now, I’m taking classes on feud--”

“Do you want to get out of here?” Jael asked him impatiently.

“Um...uh…”

Jael raised her eyebrows, encouraging him to hurry up and make a decision. Sebastian took one last look at his old table, but the group had completely forgotten him now.

“Sure,” Sebastian said.

Jael and Sebastian stood up and left. Neither even bother pushing their chairs in. It was only after they were out the door that Sebastian realized he didn’t remember paying for the drinks. He hoped Jael had because he sure as hell wasn’t going back in there to make a fool of himself. He figured he would be back maybe the next week and could settle it then.

“Is your place far from here?” Sebastian asked.

Jael stopped abruptly and turned to face him. Sebastian nearly ran into her, but somehow he was the one who lost his balance.

“A little presumptuous of you,” Jael said.

“Okay… So, where are we going?”

“A funeral home.”

Before he could ask any more questions, Jael had already turned and walked away. Again, Sebastian had a choice: stay or go. He chose to follow.

***[The photo is my own, taken along the entryway to Wakamiya Shrine in Nara Park]