Short Kings Anthem

Part 29

"Do you think I should see someone for my plane anxiety?" Lauren asked as they started to walk through the airport, she felt the familiar sick feeling in her stomach, what she didn't know was today Chris was feeling the same.

"You manage to do it so I don't see how it would help?" Chris answered starting to steer over to the right.

"What are you doing? Check-In's this way," Lauren then pointed to the desks over to the far left.

"Not for us," Chris stated and continued walking to the right hand side, Lauren followed and soon she saw the sign for British Airways First. "I upgraded our flights," he admitted. Lauren stopped momentarily and opened her mouth with a smile before walking again to catch up with him.

"You're sneaky! What other surprises await me hey?"

"Nothing." Chris replied trying to get rid of the croaking in his voice.

After check in the pair sat in the first class lounge champagne in hands as they toasted their trip.

"Here's to the best holiday yet," Lauren smiled as they clinked their glasses.

"I think it might be hard to top this, but we'll keep trying," Chris uttered.

The Formula one was just as Chris wanted it to be, he had spent so long thinking about the end of the holiday that he forgot about the whole reason why they were going which was for the racing. Lauren enjoyed it also, it was impossible not to get swept up in the atmosphere of it all. The cherry blossom trees were in bloom and looked beautiful, Lauren was simply walking round with a sense of wonder and whimsy, exactly the mood Christopher was going for.

When they had made their way to Tokyo it was almost like being on another planet . What struck them both was despite some forward thinking and different technology the people were reserved and traditional in many aspects like two different cultures had smashed together somehow. They took many walks in many parks and gardens, saw a sumo match, and ate a lot but on their last night found themselves at one of the best restaurants in Tokyo. Chris was wearing a white shirt and tan coloured khaki's, on seeing her boyfriend make an effort Lauren changed into a mid length black dress.

"Are you sad to be going home tomorrow?" Lauren asked taking a bite of her fish. Chris simply nodded before taking a drink.

"I thought as much, you've been quiet all day," she added with a small smile. Chris mentally kicked himself, he didn't realise he had been quiet all day, he wanted the day to be perfect so he didn't want to ruin it by being nervous and off.

"Have you had a good day so far though?" Chris asked. Earlier that day they had gone to Sanrio Puroland, otherwise known as Hello Kitty land as Lauren was a fan of the brand. They then went back to their hotel for a freshen up before coming to the restaurant, their hotel room now was hopefully in the process of being decorated for their return.

"It's been brilliant, the whole trip has. You were right back at Heathrow, this will be hard to top," Lauren gushed, Chris smiled and took another swig of his drink, trying to stay on the right side of dutch courage and not tip over into drunk territory.

They finished their meal and as they stepped out into the slightly chilly air Chris wasted no time in wrapping an arm round Lauren.

"Did you want to go for one final walk before we go?" He asked, knowing a night walk was something Lauren usually appreciated.

"I'm quite tired, do you mind if we just go back to the hotel?" Lauren asked feeling exhausted from the trip and already feeling exhausted from the travelling to come the following day.