When Jeff first introduced me to his wife Eri, you could have knocked me off my feet with a feather. I'd know Jeff since college and he was a nice enough guy. Anything special - well I'd never thought so! He played a bit of racket ball, occasionally tennis in the summer but he wasn't a jock, he wasn't really anything special in any department. He'd gone on to a reasonably successful career as an investment adviser and the last I'd heard he had been transferred from London to Hong Kong and then on to Tokyo, after which we'd kind of lost touch.
That is until I received an invite to his welcome back party . I think his PA had just gone through one of his old address books and tried to contact everyone with a London or South East address. It was a nice flat, verging on the luxurious just off the Brompton Road. Ringing on the fine brass door bell l was thinking he'd clearly done very well in the far east; I didn't realise just how well until I got inside.
The door was opened by an attractive formally dressed maid and, after she'd taken my coat, I was shown into a large spacious room with two large sets of french doors which looked out over the adjoining square. There were about twenty of so guests already there, some faces already familiar to me but their names had been forgotten. Jeff had been on his travels for about six years and his and my social lives hadn't really overlapped that much after college. I started talking to a couple and we tried to worked out how it was we both knew Jeff but didn't know each other. I was there alone as my marriage had broken-up some six months ago, though no one there would have known that.
Jeff was in an adjoining room and I could hear his voice on the phone and it sounded like a business conversation. I thought that there is a price to be paid for this glossy life style; he's never actually allowed off the company leash; Saturday night is no different to Monday morning when you have pressing business matters across the globe.
Several minutes later Jeff joined his party and strode across the room toward me with his hand out, we shook hands briefly and then at his move fell into more of an embrace. He seemed genuinely pleased to see me and as he gripped my shoulders in an amiable bear hug I recalled the days when we had shared a rather different sort of flat in a rather indifferent part of London, south of the river. I remembered that there had been times when late into the evening we had drunk ourselves to sleep on the rug - knowing that we'd be skipping classes again in the morning but with the recklessness of youth that really didn't seem awfully important!
'Glad you could come, I'm delighted to see you again, here you must meet Eri' he said as he then hauled me across the room and out onto one of the little balconies which overlooked the trees of the square, still visible as the summer evening drew in. 'Eri, meet Steve, one of my oldest and closest friends' he said as he led me to the most gorgeous looking woman I had seen in many a long while.
I was slightly surprised at the great build-up he'd given me but I was even more surprised by Eri. She stood about 5'3", her slim figure was well displayed by the very stylish and tailored dress she was wearing. Somewhat unexpectedly for one with so neat a figure Eri had quite full breasts the upper slopes of which were nicely revealed by her off-the-shoulder dress which was then drawn in quite tightly at her narrow waist. The dress was a scarlet silk and the bright colour brilliantly set off her beautiful clear skin and her jet black hair which was drawn up to the back of her head then tumbled in a cascade down her neck and shoulders. She wore a bright lipstick in a kind of cupid bow, her eyes were wonderfully decorated and highlighted with soft shades of gold and a double strand of natural pearls set off the fine lines of her neck. She looked stunning and sophisticated - I had to check myself to prevent my jaw dropping. The thought that she was Jeff's wife was to me almost inexplicable.
Eri offered her hand and as I took it Jeff at my shoulder said in a stage whisper 'Go on Steve give her a proper hello, a kiss on each cheek at least!' I didn't need a second encouragement but placed my hands carefully on Eri's shoulders and drew her slightly toward me to give a polite 'air kiss' to each cheek. As I did so it struck me how easily she yielded herself into my slight embrace and as I kissed her I inhaled her sweet perfume. There was no doubt as in this fine apartment with the great view Jeff appeared to have done very well recently his new wife being the jewel in his crown. I couldn't help but feel a little envious thinking of my own collapsed married the failure brought on by the tug of two demanding careers which left little time to also work on making our marriage work.
But Jeff didn't appear to have the confidence and satisfaction I would expect. Instead his opening comment really surprised me. 'Do you remember that waitress that you fancied at the So Lin noodle house' - Jeff was referring to a cheap place we used to eat at, it must have been 15 years ago. 'You must have the most extra ordinary memory Jeff' I said. 'I haven't been there in, it must be 10 years. I do remember the girl though, I thought it was you that had the crush on her. We never did find out her name. She's probably fat and happily married now with four kids - she was quite a doll though but, Jeff, if you don't mind my saying so, I think you done considerably better with Eri.'
'But Steve, what I remembered was that it was the waitress as much as the cheap food which used to make it your favourite eating place. Though I've been away from the dubious pleasures of the London nightlife I did find out something special in the way of eastern delights - I got to sample what we could only speculate about that little sweetheart at the restaurant.' While certainly true that I had had a certain affinity for oriental ladies and had in fact dated one or two while at college - it was a fact that the student population of London was very international, I didn't realise that it had clearly made an impression on Jeff when we had shared that flat in the early days - but it was even more amazing that Jeff would have remembered it after so long. But while we were engaged in what I thought was a little reminiscence and harmless banter I realised that Eri hadn't spoken.
'Eri, how did you meet this very lucky man?' I really just asked in an attempt to engage Eri in conversation and to gauge how good her English was. She looked first at Jeff, seemed to count a beat then answered in impeccable very slightly accented English, 'Oh, we were introduced by mutual friends at a club in Tokyo, but Steve I've heard so much about you, do tell what you're doing now in London?'. She clearly had no language problems and for the next half an hour we enjoyed a general conversation about life-style and comparing London to Tokyo and to New York which we both knew, but in my case not terribly well. Somewhere along the way Jeff had drifted off to his other guests but I notice though he circulated the room and seemed to be enjoying generally socialising he made no attempt to bring anyone else over to meet his wife. Perhaps they had all met before I arrived I concluded.
Several times I had wandered off to get a new drink during the course of the evening, each time Eri had refused another drink and continued nursing her single white wine. But each time when I returned Eri appeared to be waiting for me.
As it got later and people started to drift off I made several attempts to suggest that Eri might want to join Jeff bidding his guests good night at the door, I even indicated that perhaps it was time I thought of leaving. Without saying anything directly Eri suggested that she actually preferred staying on the balcony talking with me, and that it was also what her husband would want. Of course I found it very flattering to monopolise the most attractive woman in the room but I put the attention down to extreme Japanese politeness and perhaps the fact that Eri didn't really know anyone else there very well. I hadn't realised that our time talking together had been planned until most of the guests had left and Jeff returned to speak to us. 'I hope you two have had plenty of time to get to know each other now' Jeff said as he handed both me and Eri an unrequested glass of brandy. 'It's been a pleasure Jeff', I replied,'but I think I'd better be heading off myself now'.
I started in on the usual thanks for the invite lines when Jeff interrupted me,'Actually Steve, I was rather hoping you'd stay on for a bit', he said suddenly appearing slightly awkward. I didn't quite follow what he had in mind and thought that he might want to have some heart to heart about his job or his company or some such 'serious' topic which, after such a pleasant evening, I didn't really have the stomach for. I looked around and noticed that all the other guests had in fact gone. 'Look Jeff I really don't want to overstay my welcome, and I'm sure both you and Eri must be looking forward to a chance to unwind now the party's successfully behind you.
