That Dinner in Tokyo [Dubredo]

III. The Plan

Third Person POV

We watched the Japanese coverage of the courtesy call of the President with the Japanese prime minister. I translated to her as much as I can as she listened intently. She took notes on the agreements. I took notes on where to eat in Tokyo late at night. She looked on and laughed.

“Ano yan?”

“Utos ni bossing. May preference ba kayo?”

“Nung huli kaming pumunta dito, nagustuhan niya yung sashimi. Ok na daw siya dun.”

“Okay noted. E ikaw?”

“Ok lang din sa akin un. Gabi narin kasi.”

“Sukiyabashi. Doon ba kayo kumain dati?”

“Hindi.”

“Okay, papareserve na ako dun ah.”

“Ang mahal naman. Baka magreklamo yun.”

“Sabi niya sakin kanina, kahit magkano daw. Ano ba okasyon ngayon?” I smiled at her. She blushed.
“Wala naman.”

I called a close Japanese colleague who helps “get through” things. The reservation for the restaurant is already closed until the end of the month as expected and we had to haggle as much as we can without “dropping the bomb”. We got through when my colleague called a VIP and convinced them to cancel their reservation for a “better reservation elsewhere”.

“Nahihiya ako. Nahirapan ka pa, sorry.”

I laughed and smiled at her. “May magagawa ba ako? Magagalit siya kapag di kayo nakapag-dinner mamaya.”

“Puwede naman kasi bukas, mas marami ata siyang oras bukas.” She looked at his itinerary.

“Ma’am, aware ka naman na dito ka sa akin default di ba?”

“Oo, bakit?”

“Ok. Mabuti na sure. All eyes tayo e. May lusutan itong room sa isang private lobby to his room if ever.” We looked at each other. We laughed.

“Puwede ba, Mia.”

I laughed loudly. “Hay, wag ako.”