It is sometime in May, I'm not sure of the exact date. I should be thousands of miles away in another country on another continent, sitting in my office and doing mind-numbingly boring paperwork. Instead, I'm standing in a hotel room in downtown Tokyo overlooking the urban expanse of neon lit skyscrapers. I had taken an extended leave of absence from work to be here; admittedly a rather irresponsible decision, but one that I don't regret for a second. But that's not the strangest part of my current situation. The strangest part is that behind me on the bed sits Emma Watson. This wasn't some girl who happened to share the same name as the famous actress; this was the famous actress. This was THE Emma Watson of Harry Potter fame.
As I looked out across the city, I thought back on how we got here. Officially, Emma was here to shoot a television ad for a popular Japanese soft drink which in her words tasted "pretty savage". Unofficially, we were merely using this as an excuse to escape from our respective lives. Emma was desperate to escape her celebrity lifestyle for awhile and a low key trip to Japan was the perfect way to do this. My situation was a bit more complicated. I was still a middle class working 23 year old trying to make ends meet. So after Emma and I rekindled our romance at a film premiere in Sydney earlier this year, she stayed at my quiet suburban house in Australia for awhile. But when the paparazzi caught wind of her presence, it got to be too much. I also suspected Emma wasn't really content with sitting at home alone all day while I continued to work 9-5, and so we left Australia after only two weeks. This wasn't a particularly wise career decision on my part but my job had gotten to be rather monotonous and just a tiny bit soul crushing. Also, when Emma Watson asks you to run away with her, you don't say no. We had been in Tokyo for a little over three weeks now, and so far, it was paradise.
"I finally checked my email today," Emma said interrupting my daydreaming.
I turned away from the window and faced her. She sat casually on the bed in her pyjamas reading from her iPad.
"Yeah? Anything interesting," I asked.
"My agent is still begging me to take on another project, my publicist is insisting I take part in a DVD/Blu-Ray promotion tour for my last film and Warner Brothers wants to fly me out to LA to have my face scanned for a new line of Harry Potter toys. Oh, and there was also a spam email about Viagra pills."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "You trying to tell me something Em?"
"There are a few things I would improve about you, but everything in that department is working just fine," she replied with a smile.
"So you gonna go?"
"Go where?"
"LA; you just said they want to fly you out."
"I think the world can survive without new Harry Potter toys. And I know for a fact Daniel won't be heading to LA anytime soon and without him, there's no new Harry Potter action figure and without a new Harry Potter action figure, there's new no toy line."
Even now with the level of familiarity and intimacy between us, it was still rare to hear Emma talk about anything Harry Potter related. Although coincidentally, one of the films was on Japanese television the other night, which resulted in us having a good (albeit drunken) time watching it and laughing at the overly enthusiastic Japanese dubbing. Still, it was strange to hear her mentioning Daniel Radcliff's name with such casualness. Although having recently found out that her contacts list on her phone reads like a who's who of Hollywood, perhaps it shouldn't have surprised me.
"Besides, you don't really want to go to LA do you? It's chaotic for people like me," she continued.
"That's okay, Japan suits me just fine. As long as you're with me," I said as I climbed on the bed and lay down beside her.
Emma leaned back and rested her head against my chest. I ran my fingers through the long hair and I thought the lazy morning we had spent in the hotel room.
"You want to eat out for lunch again?" I asked, "I found a good sushi place yesterday that's only a 10 minute walk away. It's near the train station"
"It's Japan Nate, every sushi place is good," she said with a smile. "Besides, I think I know the place you're talking about. The one with the big neon fisherman sign out front, right? There are betters sushi bars."
"You've eaten there have you?"
"No, but I can always tell," she said stubbornly.
"No you can't!" I exclaimed, while chuckling.
"Shush, I'm worldly and well-travelled, I know these things," she said jokingly in a typically posh British accent.
I shook my head and laughed before replying in a mockingly, "Okay, where would you like to eat then Miss 'Worldly and Well-Travelled'?"
"Why don't we just stay in and order room service instead? I want to finish my book."
I chuckled and said, "Again with the book. I can't believe you. You ask me to runaway with you so you could escape from your life, and on the second week, you enrol in a university."
"I've been meaning to complete my degree for ages, but work always got in the way," she said defensively. "Besides, it's only part time study online, not exactly the most demanding timetable."
This was something else I had learnt about Emma quite recently; she was smart. Like, really smart. Ivy League university smart. There hadn't been anytime to learn stuff like that when we were busy having sex in hotels during her promotional tours, but now that we had a chance to slow down and really got to know each other, I liked her even more. Emma had spent a lot of our time in Japan just reading and doing her assignments. It was interesting to see how much enjoyment she got from it.
"Okay, no sushi, but we're not ordering up again," I said,
"That sandwich they brought up to the room yesterday did taste pretty bad," she said, nodding in agreement. "But I am getting hungry so..."
Emma pressed a button on her iPad and suddenly the familiar Siri tone rang out. Emma said spoke into the microphone,
"Siri, where is the nearest 5 star restaurant?"
"There are several restaurants close to your location," said the robot-like Siri voice.
I tried to take a peek at the iPad screen but Emma had it angled away from me.
"Anything?" I asked.
"Fine, let's just go to your sushi place" she said as she sat up.
"That was the only result wasn't it?" I asked with a satisfied smile.
"No comment," she said with the tiniest hint of a smile.
"It was wasn't it?" I said as I wrapped my arms around her slender waist and began kissing her neck.