I was soon offered a cocktail, which I readily accepted, and we all sat on the floor around the table getting acquainted with one another. I soon had confirmation of what I had suspected when I first saw them, that Ali and Fiona were a couple. Fiona and Victoria were life-long best friends and Ali was merely the boyfriend who had come along for the trip. Victoria hadn’t met him until a few days ago. And with that knowledge came the realization that this was essentially a double date. Everything made a lot more sense now. Victoria had invited me along today so she didn’t have to be the third wheel all night. And I knew that significantly increased my odds of hooking up with her before the night was done.
After a couple of drinks, we decided to get some dinner. We ended up going to a sushi place down the road that had one of those conveyor belts that snaked throughout the restaurant delivering little plates of sushi, always a hit with visitors. I was really enjoying myself. Ali and Fiona were charming. Easy to talk to. Funny. Ali, it turned out, was of Jordanian descent, though he’d spent his whole life in London. He had served in the British navy and was now studying to be an engineer. And Fiona was just gorgeous, the kind of person who got even more attractive as you got to know her. She did public relations work for a British bank.
Victoria was really growing on me too. She was very impressive. An Oxford grad who had already been accepted to a prestigious law program and the planned to enroll in the fall. She was incredibly articulate and witty, highly skilled in the art of small talk. And while I’d always thought she was attractive, before I’d had no sense of her personality. But here, in the company of her best friend, she seemed a little more at ease. She still seemed reserved, a bit of an introvert, but it was clear that there was another side of her that at least her close friends got to see. And I was getting a glimpse. She was giggly and even made a few off-color remarks. Her hand brushed my thigh under the table more than a few times, clearly intentionally.
Our next stop was karaoke. There was place a few blocks away where you could rent out private rooms. On our way, we ran into a Canadian guy who chatted us up and offered to share some pot. Fiona was quick to accept and for the next few minutes, we passed around a joint. I was certainly no stranger to marijuana, but I hadn’t had any since I’d been in Japan. I’d almost forgotten what it felt like to be stoned. And judging by the look of her, it had been even longer for Victoria. By the time we got to the Karaoke place, we were feeling no pain.
We ordered several rounds of drinks and went through all the karaoke standards: Livin’ on a Prayer, I Love Rock N Roll, What’s Up (4 Non Blondes), Total Eclipse of the Heart, Baby Got Back, Like A Prayer. I did a solo rendition of Tainted Love, which I was actually kind of proud of. But then Fiona and Victoria put my performance to shame with a legitimately impressive rendition of Hold On by Wilson Phillips, alternating vocals throughout. I was really seeing a different side of Victoria now, relaxed and fun.
The last song was the most memorable, though. Fiona did a solo performance of Criminal, by her namesake Fiona Apple. It was sexy and sultry and performed with such confidence. She was mesmerizing. Toward the end of the performance, I looked over at Victoria and noticed something different in her eyes. It was jealously, though not the spiteful kind. She clearly loved her friend, but she was envious of her, envious of her confidence, envious of the way she was able to command the attention of everyone in the room, envious of her lack of inhibition and effortless sexuality. As the song ended, Fiona approached Ali and started kissing him passionately, but just for a few seconds. Not long enough to make things uncomfortable for the rest of us, but long enough to make me envious of what Ali had in store for him tonight. I looked over at Victoria and sensed that she was feeling the same way.
On the walk back to the house, we lit up another joint. Apparently Fiona had bought it from the Canadian guy when I wasn’t looking. After taking a few drags each, Ali and Fiona lagged behind a bit. Ali had his arm around her and they lean in and kissed every once in a while. Victoria and I walked ahead of them, finishing the last bit of the jointing and talking. Between the alcohol and the pot, we were both pretty buzzed. The topic of her boyfriend back home finally came up. Victoria gave me the short version of their history together. She and Paul had been together for nearly four years. They’d met during her second year at university. He was two years older, and now training to be a barrister. She loved him; he was handsome and kind and charming and intelligent and their families got along splendidly. He was everything she wanted in a future spouse. But she confessed that she often felt that she had met him too early, that if she had met him after university, they could have just gotten engaged and lived happily ever after, with no regrets. But she met him after just one year of college and they’d essentially be living like a married couple ever since. This past six months in Japan was the first significant amount of time she’d spent away from him since then.
Though she didn’t come right out and say it, it was clear what she was implying. Her chief regret was that she hadn’t had more “fun” during her college years, that she hadn’t been with more guys, carved a few more notches on the bedpost. She knew she had a very good thing going and didn’t want to blow it, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of regret. She’d settled down too early.
I sympathized with her. I told her I’d broken up with a serious girlfriend prior to coming to Japan and one of the main reasons I’d done so is that I didn’t want to do the long-distance thing and have guilt be a factor in every potential experience I had here. I told her I didn’t want to say no to someone out of loyalty to her and then resent her for having robbed me of that experience. That comment hit pretty close to home, I think. Victoria just nodded and stared ahead.