Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 66993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66993 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Basically, his spot was the kind where stress felt like it should be left outside the door.
Too bad, Zo hadn’t gotten the memo this evening.
“We’re going to die!” Zo paced back and forth in his tiny living room, barely stepping five feet before having to turn around.
I sighed. “I wonder how I’m going to get my recorder back.”
He paused and scowled at me. “Really? That’s the only thing that’s on your mind? Word of advice? You needed a new one anyway.”
“I don’t need a new one.”
“Kenji is going to punish you for what you did.”
Oh God.
“I don’t think so,” I shook my head. “I believe that if he was going to do anything, he would have already done it.”
“Or he’s taking his time thinking of a proper torture plan.”
“Please, relax.” I flexed my bare toes and sipped my drink.
I’d learned from our years of friendship and short dating that Zo needed time to freak out. It took him minutes to travel on his darkened path of hysteria. Once he got to the mid-point, sweat dripped down his red-tinted face.
In those moments, I reeled him back into reality, calming sentence by calming sentence.
We'd dated for three whole weeks before mutually calling it off. If anyone asked me why we stopped, I would say due to his inherent ability to absolutely not enjoy himself.
He would say it all came down to my recklessness.
A perfect date for Zo was dinner and a movie in the safe confines of his home.
For me, jumping out of a plane rushed to my mind first. Afterwards, we'd just let the wind take us to the next journey.
God, I hope I’m right. Has Kenji forgotten my crazy behind by now?
I checked my watch.
It’s been three hours. We should be safe.
Zo shrieked. “We’re going to die!”
“Hey, please calm down. Stressing each other out is not going to save us.”
When Zo and I broke up, we stopped communicating for a week. Seven days without talking to him had been excruciating. He'd ended the silence by calling and saying, “we may not be compatible but you damned sure are something I need in my life.”
Then, he invited me over to his place for a quick chat and to watch one of his favorite shows. Soprano reruns if I remember correctly. Italian mafia drama and wine was how we began our friendship. After so many years, neither of us ever looked back or even tried to do anything physically.
“Did you have to knee him? Really!” Zo shrieked again, bringing me back to the present. “I should have never left you alone!”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“But you just couldn’t help yourself?” He stomped back and forth, back and forth, leaving prints of his long, bare feet on the thick carpet. “He's going to kill us.”
“It's going to be okay.”
“Never. We'll be dead by dawn.”
“Or fine and alive.”
“No way.”
“Yes, way.”
He raised his hands in the air. “You kneed the Dragon!”
“Really? The Dragon? Stop saying that.”
“The odds of us surviving are not in our favor.”
“We're full of luck, man. Nothing's going to happen.”
Zo raised his fists in the air and shook them. “You kneed the bloody Dragon! I had no idea it was really him until I got a good look at that face. I mean, who can forget a face like that? It’s like the devil himself chiseled it.”
“This sake is amazing, by the way.” I took another sip and crossed my legs. “Is this lychee?”
Zo glared at me. “You know damn well it’s lychee. You were with me when I bought the wine yesterday. You tasted it last night. You had a sip before we went out this evening. You know it’s lychee! We’re going to die and you’re talking about fruit-flavored sake.”
“You have to relax.”
“You kneed the Dragon in his groin!”
I hit my forehead. “Please stop calling him that.”
“Why?” Zo returned to pacing. “Everyone else in Japan calls him that!”
“I’m sure other people are referred to as the Dragon besides Kenji Sato. I mean, I see images of dragons all over the place, on book covers, titles in movies, shirts, and jackets. Surely someone else uses this name.”
Zo paused and stared at me with an open mouth. “Yes, but he is the Dragon. Google him!”
“No.”
“Are you afraid to see the news reports of unsolved murders? Gang activity? His name being brought up as they report shootings all over the red-light district?” Zo’s pacing increased as he grabbed the hair on the sides of his head. “Soon as we walked into the office, I recognized him from TV. He’s always on there. If not for crime stuff, then he’s walking around with actresses and attending big fashion events. He’s been photographed with every Japanese actress worth knowing. Rumor is, one of them disappeared right after they broke up, I had no idea he owned Castle in the Sky.”