Duskwood Legends [English Version]

Pounding Heart

Opening the door of the restaurant, we are immediately greeted by the typical oriental spicy scent that wafts through the entrance room. A fresh yet intense smell with exotic notes pervades my nostrils. It wraps us in an enchanting atmosphere and, together with the traditional Chinese furniture in red and gold tones, it's as if it had taken us and teleported us eight thousand kilometres away, on the other side of the world, in the streets of Beijing.

Am I misremembering or did he call it a Spartan place? No, because that's exactly the opposite of drab and anonymous.

But I'm not complaining, mind you.
I just find it... Perfect.

I look at him with eyes wide with amazement, smiling at him, happy to be in this place.

Here, together with him.

He smiles back, before mimicking the word 'surprise' simply by moving his lips, without making a sound. While our hands are still intertwined in a gentle grip, he lifts his arm to bring it around my body, placing both hands against my left hip. I feel his fingers caress my hip, gently, from above my coat and clothes.

I lean my head against his shoulder, while our gazes run across the room and we wait for someone to come and welcome us to the table.

After just a minute, we see a woman coming in our direction: a woman in her forties, wearing a beautiful red qipao. She positions herself near the counter, covering with her figure the Maneki neko that had attracted all my attention in the last thirty seconds: its little paw moving back and forth was something totally hypnotic.

"Good evening, do you have a reservation?" She asks, giving us a half-bow by just visibly bending her torso forward, gracefully. At the end of the sentence, I can detect the typical Mandarin accent.

"Good evening, no we don't..." I return the greeting, and just as I'm about to reply, I'm interrupted by Jake's voice.

"Yes, half past eight, table for two under the name Denforth."

I look at him in amazement, the moment the woman turns to check the name on the list. I laugh to myself, however, as soon as I hear his mispronounced surname. I wonder when he made the reservation.

Maybe when I was in the shower?

"Okay, please follow me" She smiles, indicating with a wave of her hand the direction. We follow her past the entrance, entering the room immediately to our left.

I look around and notice about ten tables in the room, barely half of which are occupied. I wait anxiously for her to point out which of the vacant ones is ours, but she doesn't. She continues walking towards the back of the room, where there is an archway leading to a narrow corridor. We continue to follow her in silence, beyond the vault. The passage is even more evocative and suggestive than the previous rooms: soft light and tatami flooring, white walls and shoji doors. The only touch of color comes from the green of the potted bamboo plants, which stand out clearly against the white walls.

Now, it feels like we've arrived in the Land of the Rising Sun.

He stops in front of one of the sliding doors, opening it and showing us the inside.

Wow.

"Private room, as requested." She waves us to go in, stepping aside to let us pass. We take a seat at the table, which is nothing more than a small square, barely forty centimeters above the floor. We sit on top of a pillow, but with our legs comfortably down, given the recess in the floor just below the small table.

"I leave you the menu." She hands us three booklets, taking them out from under her arm: two are the dinner menu, while the other is the wine list. "When you're ready, press the button." She points to a switch on the wall. "I'll be right over to take your order. Just ring whenever you need to."