Unplanned

They entered the restaurant with no problems. As soon as they were seated Taka flagged down a waiter and ordered some of the restaurant’s finest wine. He quickly shooed away the waiter and turned to Cherry.
“So, tell me about yourself.” He softly demanded.
“What do you want to know?” she asked shyly.
“Not a lot, you know, just the where you came from and where you’re going, kind of things.” He smiled as the waiter returned and poured the yellow liquid into their glasses.
She sighed deeply, “I was born in Hemet, California, and lived there most of my life. When my parents divorced, my mother took me out to Sanborn, Iowa, where I finished school and began college.”
“What did you study?” he asked as though he were truly interested.
“Um, not a lot really. Just some minor biology.” She answered.
“What happened?” he asked thoroughly concerned.
“I fell in love,” she rolled her eyes, “Or at least, I thought I did.”

She took a sip of her wine and continued.

“Yes, I met Chad in one of my classes and got totally swept up in everything about him. I found myself wanting to be with him always.”

Taka nodded and snickered a bit, however he quickly righted himself when he saw how much she was offended.
“This was the man you left?” he asked quickly.
“Yes, it was.” She answered sharply, “What about you?”
“I was born in Kyoto but I moved to Osaka when I was eleven. There I finished my schooling, I never went to college, but I did as my father told me and found a well paying job to make myself a more ‘desirable’ man.” He snickered.
“And have you ever been in love?” she asked slightly annoyed.
“Yes, her name was Sachiko. She was the most beautiful girl to me. I knew her in junior high, talked to her, but that was about as far as it ever went. We went to the same high school but I didn’t pay much mind to her after that. We had different classes and all.” He said.
“What happened to her?” Cherry asked.
“Last I’d heard; she was in a violent car accident when she was pregnant. She lost the baby and is now in a coma.” He answered as he stared off into the distance.

There was quite a bit of silence between them. After a while the waiter returned and took their order. They ate slowly before Taka decided it was time to start a new subject.
“So, how long have you been a fan of ours?” he asked after eating a bite or two of his meal.
“Well, not long actually. My friend had introduced me to your music.” She confessed.
“Do you have a favorite song yet?”
“I think I enjoy quite a bit of them; maybe Teary Eyes. Even though I don’t know what it’s about.” She went on.
“Do you not know Japanese?” he asked.
“No, I don’t.”
“I wrote that as a senior in high school. It’s about being in love with someone who doesn’t return you’re affection.” He said as he blushed.
“Really? I would have never thought that’s what it was about.”
“Not many would who aren’t familiar with my language. Our bassist, Naota, wrote the music for it when I met him years ago. All those years I went without a good sound for it. And, did you know, it’s still one of our best selling songs to this day? I’m not really surprised you liked it.”
They both smiled at one another as the conversation picked up. The hours flew by so quickly and before they knew it the restaurant was closing around them. They found themselves continuing the night in the limo, just driving around the city until they couldn’t think of anymore to say. When Taka asked Cherry where she wanted to go, she mentioned that she had to get Amanda back from the arena. The limo pulled to a stop in the parking lot and T.K. decided to walk Cherry to her car. There they found Amanda fast asleep in the passenger seat.
“I guess I better get her to bed,” Cherry said as she turned back to Taka, “We’ve got some traveling to do tomorrow.”

Taka smiled at her and she felt her stomach turn circles, “I bet you should. Can I see you again?”

There went her stomach again, “Um, yeah, We are actually going to be at all of your shows,” She motioned to Amanda, “It was all her plan, and I’m rather glad I came with her.”
“I had a great time tonight. Do you know where you are sitting at the next show?” T.K. asked.
“No, I don’t. At least not without looking at the tickets again, which are back at the motel room.”
“Well, that’s too bad.” He frowned, “I’ll leave your name with the security guards backstage, and I expect to see you backstage after the show.”
She smiled and nodded, opened the door to her car and back away waiving as she drove away. Taka sighed and looked up to the sky.
“Sachiko….”

He admired the sky for a few minutes and then returned to his band mates backstage. Once they were all ready and packed up they went to their hotel and slept until it was time to leave for the next show.

Cherry drove in silence listening to an old Collin Raye song on the radio as low as she could. When she parked in the spot in front of their room she unlocked the door and dragged Amanda in and laid her on her own bed. She set the alarm for nine in the morning and scooted in bed under the sheets. She was so excited she almost couldn’t fall asleep but it soon drifted over her and she dreamed of her night with T.K.