North Wing 北ウイング - Akina's Story
Chapter 1 Anxiety
Akina had been staring at the door bell for more than 10 minutes.
“Ring it,” she urged herself. “Isn’t this what I’m coming for?”
“Ding-dong!” Akina hesitantly pressed the door bell. It was already 7 in the evening. “He should be home,” Akina thought. It was summer and the sun was not supposed to set this early. Nevertheless, the fog has slowly crept ashore, making the sky cloudy. The street lamps were already on and lights from neighboring houses started to sprinkle up one by one.
Twenty seconds of waiting felt like forever. “Why isn’t he answering?” asked Akina irritatingly. However, part of her was actually hoping that Satoshi’s not home. She had no idea what to say in front of him. Actually, that’s not entirely correct. Rather, there were so much that Akina wanted to say that she didn’t know where to start. She had tried to run through all possible scenarios on the airplane. She even asked the air stewardess for pen and paper, thinking that it would help her clear her thoughts. That paper was still blank when she landed.
“Let’s leave it to fate,” Akina thought with conviction.
The outside door lamp above Akina’s head lighted up. Her heart was throbbing heavily. She could hear her own heartbeat.
The door slowly opened. There was Satoshi.
“Hhh......Hhh......Hi......,” said Akina with a grin. She was trying hard to keep the smile on her face.
“A......A......Akina......!!!” Satoshi was seemingly taken by surprise totally. He’s not expecting any visit at this hour, let alone Akina’s.
“I......I just landed and hmmm....came here to......see you,” said Akina. Her voice was almost trembling.
Another thirty seconds past and that seemed to take forever.
“Come on in. It’s getting cold outside,” Satoshi finally said.
It was a 3-story Victorian style building in San Francisco. There were 2 units inside, one on the 2nd floor and another one on the 3rd floor. The ground floor was a garage. Satoshi was living on the 3rd floor.
“I’ll make some coffee,” said Satoshi.
Akina left her luggage in a corner of the living room floor. She walked to the bay window, and took a peek outside. It was quiet.
The living room was relatively unfurnished, with only a small couch, a bean bag chair, and a small round coffee table, making it look quite spacious. There’s an orange lamp hanging off the ceiling.
The sky was getting darker as fog was building up.
Akina had calmed down a bit, even though she still had no idea what to say next. The air was filled with peace and smell of coffee.
Akina sat on the small couch. Satoshi brought 2 cups of coffee over from the kitchen. He put one down on the coffee table in front of Akina. He took the other cup with him and slowly sat down into the bean bag chair. They almost started sipping simultaneously.
“I have been thinking a lot since you left Tokyo,” Akina started talking calmly. Her eyes were looking down on the coffee table though, trying to avoid any eye contact with Satoshi.
Satoshi was staring at his own cup, trying to avoid eye contact with Akina also.
There was a long awkward silence.
Chapter 2 Awakening
Akina went completely blank.
“......” Satoshi’s mouth was moving. He was murmuring something but Akina couldn’t discern.
“We’ll start our final descent into San Francisco...,” a voice buzzed abruptly.
“What is that? Why is he talking like a pilot?” Akina felt a little disoriented.
Akina opened her eyes slowly. The seat belt sign flashed once, accompanied by a little chime.
“Oh! It’s a dream,” Akina suddenly realized. There was a pen and a blank piece of paper on the tray table in front of her. She must have unknowingly fallen asleep.
“I wish I could just take whatever’s in my heart and stuff it into yours,” Akina thought. Sometimes, she thought like a small child. She put the pen and paper away and closed her tray table.
“Local time in San Francisco is,” the pilot paused, as if he’s checking his watch, “6:08 in the evening.” Noise inside the cockpit made the pilot’s voice sound hoarse.
“The weather is cloudy and it’s drizzling right now with a temperature of,” the pilot paused, “55 degrees Fahrenheit,” he paused again, and continued, ”or 13 degrees Celsius.”
“Flight attendants, prepare for final landing,” the pilot said.
Akina straightened her seat up. Her ear could feel the air pressure changing. Looking out the window, she could only see a blinking red light on the wing. A faint trail of white stream was visibly extending from the wing tip as it cut through the moist air of the night. It looked like the plane was buried in thick cloud as she couldn’t see anything on the ground.
“You're waiting for me beneath the clouds, aren't you?” Akina thought, as if trying to convince herself.
Chapter 3 Calling
(12 hours earlier at a Tokyo downtown office)
“With much regret, today’s Akina’s last day with us. She joined 4 years ago as my assistant. Since then, she’s been involved with a number of highly visible projects, most recently being the collaboration with Kleiner Perkins of Silicon Valley. Both me and Mr. Watanabe were trying everything to convince Akina to stay. Unfortunately, it looks like she has made a pretty firm decision, a personal one. Let’s send her off with our best wishes. Akina, good luck and best wishes to your future. My arms are always open if you ever want to come back,” said Mr. Fujiwara in front of the whole team.
“Thank you, Mr. Fujiwara. I’m sorry to let you guys know that today’s my last day. Some people here may not know but this is actually my first full-time job. I’ve always considered Mr. Fujiwara to be my second father. I’ve grown a lot under him during the past 4 years. I love my job and I very much wanted to continue my career here. However, there’re moments when you hear a calling, a kind of mysterious force, that you know you should follow, or otherwise, it seems that happiness may slip through your fingers. Ultimately, I’m answering to that call and have made my decision to leave,” said Akina, her tears pouring through her eyes.
She continued, “it’s been a privilege working with every one of you, particularly Mr. Fujiwara. Thank you and I wish everyone best of luck as well.” Akina took a ninety degree bow as she bid farewell to her fellow colleagues before walking out the office.
In the elevator, Akina wiped away her tears with her hands, although her eyes were still red. It’s been a busy day. This morning, she took a last glance at her empty apartment and checked out with the landlord. After arriving at the office, she’s been talking to people non-stop all day, transferring her work. She also skipped lunch in order to purchase the airport limousine ticket for tonight.
Two weeks ago, Akina could not have imagined that she’s leaving everything behind and going to San Francisco, alone.
4, 3, 2, 1, the elevator door opened. Akina walked out of the building and went downstairs into the subway station. She needed to take out her suitcase that she put into a locker earlier this morning.
“Passport, air ticket, limousine ticket, cash. Ready to go!” Akina went through the absolutely necessary items in her handbag. She looked at her wrist watch. It’s 8:02. Her flight was around midnight. “Better early than late,” she thought, and went straight for the limousine.
Chapter 4 North Wing
Narita International was packed with people. Akina arrived at Terminal 1 and couldn’t believe her eyes.
The 80s saw a huge wave of Japanese tourists roaming all over Europe and US, as Japan entered a period of miraculous economic growth.
It took more than an hour for Akina to check in and get her boarding pass. The gate was in the northern section (aka North Wing) of the terminal. She took no time and hurried through departure security and inspection. She wanted to make a last phone call before taking off.
“Dad, it’s Akina. I’m at the airport right now. Where’s Mom?”
“We’re all wondering if you’re going to call tonight. Mom is in the bath. Did you bring enough clothes with you? Even though it’s summer, I’ve heard San Francisco can be quite chilly,” said Akina’s Dad.
“Don’t worry. Hey, I think they’re calling me now. Say hi to Mom and Akiho for me. You take care of yourself. I love you, Dad,” said Akina.
“You take care of yourself too. Call us when you get there,” Akina’s Dad took a pause. “Just remember, you can always come back,” he continued.
“Bye Dad,” Akina hung up. Her heart started to feel the weight as she looked at the boarding status flashing beside her flight number on the monitor.
Chapter 5 Midnight Flight
The jet engine was roaring. The plane began to thrust forward. Akina’s body was thrown backwards, pressing her back against her seat. The objects outside the window moved away faster and faster. Soon, the plane got off the ground.
Akina looked outside her window. It was a clear day in Tokyo. The city lights grew smaller and smaller. Her journey had begun. It felt surreal.
“It’ll be a brand new day on the other side of the ocean. No more regrets, no more sorrows,” Akina thought to herself.
(To be continued…)
The above short story is a work of fiction. Unless otherwise indicated, all names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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