The shriek I let loose must have woken up a few folks in business class; in the whole aircraft, as a matter of fact. I leapt out of my seat and into his arms.
"How could you do that to me?" I demanded in a very loud voice. Heads turned, looks of concern abounded.
A flight attendant hurried up the aisle. "Is everything all right here?"
"More than all right! I'm so sorry, I'll be quiet now."
She frowned at me, but walked away.
I pulled Sasha down into the empty seat next to me and we kissed hungrily. Abruptly, I moved my head away, took my fist and punched him as hard as I could on his upper arm. "How
could
you do that to me?" He had on a leather jacket and I didn't make much of an impact. He laughed, rubbing his arm. "I am
so
mad at you!" I exclaimed. "So what the fuck
are
you doing on my plane?"
"Sweetheart, I'm sorry! I just wanted to surprise you, which apparently I did. As soon as I got your itinerary, I started plotting how I could join you. I was able to talk my boss into letting me go to Tokyo to meet with some people there about an exhibit. But our travel budget is small, so all I could get them to pay for is my airfare; coach, of course. I told him I had a friend to stay with and could live cheaply. Pretty smart, huh?"
"So, who
will
you be staying with?" I asked him with a smile.
"I don't know, I'm sure I could sleep on the subway..."
I grabbed his head again for another round of kissing.
I clung to him tightly while he stroked my hair or my arm. I needed the physical contact to assure me it was really him next me. I couldn't think straight. My mind was racing with excited thoughts I hadn't dared to imagine before.
We'll be together for all those days and nights! I can show him around Tokyo, take him to the places I'd discovered in my many visits there. Make love to him on low Japanese futons and in big bathtubs. Hold him close throughout the night.
I had been through four weeks in hell since I last saw him, and now I was flying to my heavenly reward. I kept looking up and smiling at him.
"You must have been a wreck when I didn't show up to meet your flight," he said. "I'm sorry, maybe that wasn't the best way to handle this. I thought it might be too distracting to your work if you knew I wanted to come along."
Oh shit, my work!
I'd completely forgotten my reason for going to Tokyo. I never hated my job so much until that instant. It was going to interfere considerably with my plans for a week of carnal bliss.
"I've got so much to do when we're there, I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to play with you much, especially during the day. Even at night, I am expected to join my hosts for dinner; it's part of the negotiation ritual. This really sucks!"
"That's OK, sweetheart, I'll entertain myself during the day. I've contacted a mutual friend from school who lives near Tokyo now - remember Stan Kenzo?" I immediately pictured him: Stan was Japanese-American, a very friendly guy, the life of the party when we were students. But my heart sank as I remembered that he also had been Dylan's suite-mate for a semester. I was sure it would fun to get together with him, but I was fearful that word would get back to Dylan.
"Sure I do, but Sash, you can't let him know that we're together here!"
"I know, I didn't say anything. Maybe we could say we just bumped into each other on the flight. It would be fun to see him."
"We'll see - he roomed with Dylan, you know."
"Yes, I realized that," he said with hint of sadness in his voice. "We'll just have to be discreet."
"Oh, God, yes," I said seriously. "We must be very careful. I can't possibly let slip what we're doing. Even at the hotel, they know me. Please remember that!"
He took my hand. "Don't worry, I won't say a thing, no matter how much sake they make me drink!"
I got out my Palm Pilot and looked at my schedule of meetings. We would be arriving in Tokyo on Saturday evening, which left us all day Sunday free. But starting on Monday morning, I had a full slate of meetings and presentations through Wednesday. I had planned to make courtesy calls to existing clients on Thursday and Friday.
I got an idea.
Thursday would be a great day to come down with a nasty stomach bug. I'll have to cancel my appointments to spend the day in bed. Instead, we can take the train up to Samayoko at the foot of Mt. Fuji and spend the night at that inn! My turn for a surprise!