فصل 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

A friendly word of advice

Two hours later, after a delicious lunch, Hiro and Schubert took the lift back down to the ground. They climbed into Schubert’s BMW and set off back to the city centre. Schubert wasn’t in any hurry and this time he drove much more slowly, window down, enjoying the sunshine.

After the excitement of the meal and the money from Schmidt, Hiro suddenly felt strangely empty. He had the odd feeling that he was returning to real life at last. In one way that was good: to know that he was safe was wonderful. But returning to reality also meant remembering his breakup with Akiko. How he wished he could share Schmidt’s present with her!

It was as if Schubert could read his thoughts. The very next moment, looking across as he drove, Schubert asked, ‘So, my friend, have you decided how to spend the money?’ Hiro bit his lip. He looked away, out of the window. ‘I’m not sure,’ he said quietly. ‘I think I might save it.’

‘What?’ Schubert cried out. ‘Come on! Don’t be so boring. Enjoy part of it, at least. Fly somewhere! Go somewhere special! Take your girlfriend!’

It was the very worst thing Schubert could say. For a moment Hiro thought he might break into tears - the last twenty-four hours had taken all his strength. He bit his lip so hard this time, that he tasted blood.

Schubert noticed. ‘Hey, did I say something wrong?’ he asked more gently.

Hiro felt too tired to lie. ‘I broke up with my girlfriend just before I came here,’ he said at last.

Schubert looked embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry.’ Very quietly, he added, ‘And it was her decision, not yours?’

Hiro nodded. ‘I still don’t know how it happened. I thought we were really happy together.’ He closed his eyes as all the memories came back.

A hundred metres up the road Schubert stopped the car. ‘Why don’t you tell me about it?’ he said. ‘What happened?’ Hiro opened his eyes. They were next to a park. In the distance he could see a young couple walking hand-in-hand through the trees.

‘I just don’t understand,’ Hiro began. He shook his head again. ‘We had a terrible argument. We were planning a holiday together. Then, out of nowhere, this awful fight started.’

‘Go on,’ Schubert said.

‘Well, this is going to sound crazy, but it was about my dog. I have a dog, Yuki - she’s a golden retriever. Anyway, I have her photo on my phone as the screensaver. My girlfriend thought her photo should be there instead. I couldn’t understand how she could be jealous of a dog.’ Schubert made an odd face. ‘Really? It doesn’t sound like a good reason to break up. Are you sure there wasn’t something else?’

Hiro looked back at Schubert. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, people don’t always talk about things directly, Hiro. Come on, you know that. Girls are the worst! There was probably another reason.’

Hiro tried to think back. He could remember the whole argument perfectly. He’d come to her room to talk, to tell her that he’d asked Daijiro and Ayumu and their girlfriends to join the trip. And Akiko had been fine with that. She’d said, ‘Great, that’s lovely.’ She’d said, ‘The more, the better!’ She didn’t seem to mind… She didn’t…

Schubert broke into Hiro’s thoughts. ‘What is it?’

‘I’ve just thought of something. When we were planning our trip, I thought it would be nice if we invited some others. You don’t think…?’

‘Go on,’ said Schubert.

‘Well, it was a couple of guys and their girlfriends. You don’t think she was jealous about that, do you?’ Hiro asked. Just as he said it, a horrible idea came crashing into his head. Ayumu’s girlfriend was Risa. Risa was from Hiro’s college in Japan and he’d once invited her out. Perhaps Akiko had found out about that. Perhaps she thought…

Schubert looked at Hiro and shook his head. ‘Oh dear, my friend,’ he said. ‘You may be too clever for an international assassin, but it seems a young woman is too much for you. You were planning a romantic holiday for two, and then you invite another two girls along. I imagine the girls are pretty?’

Hiro felt suddenly very sick. ‘So-so,’ he answered, giving a small cough.

‘Well, of course, she was jealous!’ Schubert broke in. ‘She simply pretended it was the dog, so she didn’t have to admit it was the girls. What happened afterwards?’

‘She said she never wanted to see me again,’ Hiro replied.

‘So, you believed her, I suppose. And being a brave samurai, you’ve been too proud to call her again. I guess you didn’t apologise?’ asked Schubert.

Hiro didn’t say anything. He felt a mix of anger and sudden love for Schubert. The man had made him feel terribly stupid and small.

Schubert watched Hiro. For about ten seconds neither of them said anything. Then Schubert spoke again:

‘Right, my friend, you’ve done something for me. Now I’m going to do something for you. Get out your phone.’

Hiro didn’t argue.

‘Now find me her number,’ Schubert ordered.

Hiro’s heart had begun to beat very hard. He selected ‘Menu’, then ‘Phone book’, then found Akiko’s number.

‘OK.’ Schubert got out of the car. He walked round to the passenger door, opened it, then said very strongly, ‘Right. Get out.’ Hiro did as he was told.

Schubert pointed across the park. ‘Do you see that seat over there? You’re going to walk over to it and sit down. And then you’re going to press that number.’

Hiro realised his lip was shaking. ‘What shall I say?’

‘You’ll think of something,’ Schubert replied.

Hiro didn’t move for a moment or two. Then he felt Schubert’s hand on his back, pushing him away.

Hiro walked slowly up the path. His legs felt heavy, almost too heavy to move. The sun was hot on the back of his neck as well and he felt a little sick from all the food. At last he reached the seat and sat down.

He looked across at the car. Schubert was sitting inside again, watching through the window. Hiro felt nearly as nervous as when the Shark had pointed the gun at his head. He looked at the phone and the photo of Akiko. Then he took a deep breath.

A couple of seconds later, he pressed ‘Call’.