It's only 10 o'clock but it feels much later. It always does.
At the table, Joe has started his story.
'So we're talking about the vending machines but it was so hard to understand her cos her English wasn't too good. I don't even really know her name. It sounded like Injun or Engine or something.'
'Joe's talking about the Korean girl he met in Japan,' Cheryl explains to Peter as he puts down the beers.
'So yeah, we were talking and she tells me that it's her last night in Kyoto so I thought I'd better get a move on. So I ask her where she's going and she says Osaka. So I was, like, "Damn! I was just there". But we got talking more and she tells me she's sick of the cities already. And she says "I'll probably end up making a trip to Nara from Osaka to look at temples instead of staying in the city all week."
Peter glances over at Jess again and she's still dancing with the boys. They make brief eye contact and she sticks her tongue out at him. He smiles.
'… and she was working on some volunteer program thing in Fukuoka…'
'Dammit man,' Peter cuts in, 'so did you get to do anything with her or what?'
'Naw man. She left the next day. And when I asked her if she wanted to meet up in Nara she says that she's meeting a friend. I assumed she meant a guy. And so she says sorry and so left.'
Cheryl asks 'So that's it? Did you get her number or email or whatever?'
'Facebook…' added Peter.
'Nah she just left. But that's not the end of it. So I thought maybe I'll just go to Nara, right? And maybe I'll just bump into her.'
'So you stalked her is what you did?'
'Naw…well maybe a little.'
Cheryl is shaking her head. Peter feels restless. Then some guy bumps him and says 'Sorry, thought you were Ian.'
'So I go to Nara when she said she was gonna go. And all day I'm at all the touristy places, right? Cos, I mean, where else would she be going? All the temples and stuff are in this one giant park. And I'm all looking around and everything. But I don't see her. I mean, the temples were all really nice and all but I don't see her at all.'
'So that's it?'
'Naw! So I go back to Kyoto where I was still staying and I'm walking around looking for dinner and it's raining and everything, and there she is. I see her. She's trying to avoid all the puddles on the road and she's got this Hello Kitty umbrella and she's totally by herself. No "friend" in sight.' And Joe actually makes quotation marks in the air with his fingers.
'But I don't know what happened. I just kinda froze. I followed her up a street but then I went into one of the shops to make it not so obvious. And when I get out she's gone. I tried going into some of the other shops in case she went inside but I totally lost her.'
'That's a crap story, Joe,' Peter says.
'Are you sure that's what really happened?' says Cheryl. 'You didn't actually tap her on the shoulder and then went to dinner with her…'
'…and then ended up in one of those love hotels with her?' Joe finishes her sentence.
Cheryl laughs and finishes off her beer. Behind her, that guy is still looking for Ian.
'Maybe you should stick to your original story,' says Peter. 'I think I'm gonna go check up on Jess.'
And he gets up and walks over to Jess.
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