Pop Rock Love (11 page)

“Mimi. Can we meet?”

“We don’t need to meet. You
don’t have to apologise. It’s better this way.”

“Don’t say that...”

“You’re very busy, aren’t you?
I think I am going to be busy from tomorrow onwards as well. Let’s just forget
we ever knew each other.” Mimi switched off her phone and crawled into bed,
crying.

The next day she was woken up
by Yamada. Mimi looked at her and wondered how she would feel if she knew that
Yuki had called her. “Mimi, good morning,” she said brightly.

“Good morning, thanks for
waking me up.”

“Hurry up!” barked Sato from
the living room.

Does that mean that he is my
boss now, thought Mimi grumbling a little. She quickly went to get ready.

“Are you bringing that with
you?” he asked, pointing to her laptop. Mimi nodded. He took it from her and
tucked it under his arm. “Let’s go,” he said, unlocking the front door.

They arrived at his office at
7.30 am. He sat by his desk and gestured to her to take a seat as well.

“Here’s the contract, look
through it. It’s valid for two years. Basically it says that you’ll be under
Niji Music. We are an independent record music label and we manage rock bands.
We will be responsible for the promotion of your music and we will help you
produce your first album. Any questions?”

Mimi looked at Sato and then
looked at the contract. It seemed like a blur of Japanese words. She didn’t think
her Japanese was that good. “Will being non-Japanese be a problem?” she asked.

“No, but I think it will be
advisable for you to attend some advanced Japanese studies. We’ll assign a
personal tutor for you. And remember... We lied about you being my sister, so
we may need to deal with that.”

“Oh yes, what should I say?”

“On second thought, just don’t
say anything. People would think we lied to keep your debut a secret, so it
should not be a problem. Do you have any video footage of your past performances
at the pub?”

“I believe my drummer’s sister
may have recorded some of our performances.”

“Good, ask her to send it to
you and then pass it over to us. We will do some viral marketing.”

Mimi scratched her head and
said, “But what exactly do you need me to do? I mean... Right now? I am feeling
kinda overwhelmed by this...”

Sato said, “Right now, since
your ankle is not well, we’ll focus on recording your demo single and album.
I’ll need you to write more also and go through your songs with me. Once your
leg is
well enough, you can be the opening act for one of the
groups under Niji.”

“Sato... Thank you so much,
really...”

“No need to thank me. I would
never sign anyone if I didn’t think they had potential. Go through the contract
today, I’ll assign you a manager tomorrow.”

Mimi walked out of Niji
Building and looked up at the clear blue sky. Taking a deep breath of fresh air
she stretched out her hands and declared, “What a beautiful day! I should go
shopping!” Mimi couldn’t believe that she hasn’t even gone shopping once in
Tokyo. But since her leg is better, and she didn’t need those troublesome
crutches anymore, this was the best time to shop, Mimi thought as she hailed a
cab.

“Take me to Laforet, Harajuku,”
she told the taxi driver. The taxi driver headed towards the youth fashion
district, Harajuku, a place famous for cosplayers and lolitas. Mimi knew that
some of the quirkier mid-range brands were housed there too. From the taxi
window, she saw Takeshita Street, a place renowned for street fashion and
crepes. Mimi suddenly felt hungry.

“I’m sorry Sir, but can you
drop me off here?” she asked. Despite it being a Monday, the place was packed
with high schoolers and stray tourists. Mimi slowly walked along the street,
amazed at the colourful little shops that sold everything from cute lingerie,
cosplay items, to pop idol photos and merchandise. There were many posters of
the Fire Boys plastered outside the idol shops. Mimi stopped and stared at one
huge photograph of Yuki. He had a big smile on his face, which seemed to reach
all the way to his eyes. He looked exactly like how she remembered him. Her
hand reached out to touch his face but she stopped herself midway. “I must be
going mad,” she muttered to herself. But she continued looking wistfully at his
face and wondered if she would ever see his smile ever again. Mimi decided to
continue her pursuit of a dessert crepe store and pried herself away from the
photograph. She didn’t notice a small step in front of her and ended up falling
onto her knees.

“Ouch!” she cried. Her knees
were badly scrapped and it was difficult for her to get up to her feet.

“Are you okay?” asked a male
voice as he knelt down beside her. He was wearing a cap and he looked at her
wound.

“I think so,” she said and Mimi
looked at him. Their eyes met and Mimi felt the world around them come to a
standstill. It was him. Yuki was beside her, more beautiful in person. He
looked as surprised as she was.

“Is that Yuki? Isn’t he from
the Fire Boys? Quick, take a picture...” Hushed whisperings were heard around
them. Some schoolgirls had even started to whip out their camera phones, trying
to snap a photo of him, and of Mimi as well.
 
She looked on at Yuki, alarmed. He
swooped down to carry her up in his arms and leaving everything else behind,
started sprinting down the street. Mimi was so shocked that she just clung on
to him for dear life. She looked over his shoulder and saw a horde of school
girls and some office ladies – who had taken off their high heels –
join in the chase. And goodness, they were fast. Were they going to get caught
like this? But Yuki was pretty fast too, despite the extra weight (herself) he
had to bear. He ran across the street and sprinted towards Yoyogi Stadium. He
easily got pass security with Mimi in his arms, while the security guards
stopped the pursuing stampede from entering the stadium.
  

“Oh crap, it may actually be
more dangerous for you inside
here
than outside,” Yuki panted, his hair drenched with sweat.

“Yuki, can you put me down?”
Mimi asked, timidly.

“Oh sorry,” Yuki said, gently
releasing her. He squatted down and looked at her knees. “It’s quite a bad
scrap there. I’ll help you get some ointment. But first, let me see, where is
the safest place for you?”
 
He stood
up and looked around. It had to be a place where the managers and men in suits
won’t find her.

“Yuki, don’t worry about me. I
will be f...” Mimi started. But before she could finish her sentence, Yuki had
swept her up in his arms again. She yelped in surprise. He is rather strong for
his size, she thought. The pop star kicked open the door of the female toilet
and walked in with her. The place was understandably empty, and Yuki gently
placed her down a second time. “Thanks...” she muttered. He went inside one of
the cubicles and put the toilet seat down. “I’ll go and find some ointment for
your injuries. Please take a seat here first?”

“Yuki, you don’t have to, my
knees are fine...” Mimi protested, adding some hand gestures for effect. Her
words seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. He simply placed his hands on her
shoulders and added, “I’ll be right back.” Yuki then zipped out of the ladies,
leaving Mimi alone in the toilet. There didn’t seem to be a better option, so
she stayed put on the toilet seat.

But then, what were the chances
of meeting him like this, Mimi thought, burying her face in her hands. “I guess
this is going to be our last goodbye, in a toilet,” she mumbled to herself,
“How romantic.” She heard the toilet door swing open and Yuki reappeared in
front of her, clutching some cotton pads and a bottle of purple liquid.

“This may sting a bit,” he
said, squatting down next to her. He went on to soak one of the cotton pads
with the purple liquid. Mimi bit her lower lip and nodded in reply. Yuki, as
gently as he could, placed the soaked cotton pad on her wound. She winced in
pain but never made a sound. He repeated the whole procedure a few times, until
both wounds from both her knees were covered with purple blotches. “Thanks
Yuki,” she said, managing a small smile at him. He looked up at her and smiled
too. “Come on,” he said, standing to his feet, “I’ll help you up.” Yuki
carefully held on to her arm, helping her to stand too. They were both standing
face to face in a tiny cubicle when they heard the door of the restroom swing
open. Yuki quickly slammed the door of the cubicle shut, holding on to Mimi
tightly. He listened intently for any clue as to who the new visitor was. All
Mimi was concerned with was the fact that her face was close enough to his
chest to hear his heartbeat. She could feel her own heart beating wildly too.

The new visitor to the Ladies
started to sing a tune. “Love Love Night, dum dum dum...”

Wait a minute, Mimi recognised
that voice. Yuki released his grasp on her and opened the cubicle door. Both of
them peeked at the new addition. “Oh my, Yuki! You scared me!” exclaimed Jiro,
who was holding on to a ball of string and a pair of knitting needles. “What
are you doing in the Ladies and...YOU!” He noticed Mimi in the cubicle as well.

“Mimi this is Jiro, Jiro, this
is Mimi,” said Yuki, stepping out of the toilet cubicle. Mimi stepped out as
well. She nodded at Jiro and vice-versa, even though they were meeting for the
second time, but Yuki didn’t have to know that yet. “Mimi hurt her knees, so I
was tending to them,” Yuki explained.

“Oh my, it looks serious
though.”

“Erm, Jiro, if you don’t mind,
could you guard the door for us
outside? I need to talk to Mimi for a bit.”

Jiro widened his eyes in
surprise. “Sure Yuki, I’ll be outside if you need me,” he replied, tip-toeing
his way out. Mimi didn’t really want to be left alone with Yuki, because she
knew the inevitable good-bye would happen. I must not cry, I must not cry, she
repeatedly told herself in her head. Yuki turned to face her,
 
“Mimi... I’m sorry for leaving you like
that in Singapore.”

She looked into his big brown
eyes and she could feel her resolve dissolving. But she knew if she shed tears
now, it’ll be harder for Yuki to leave. “Yuki, you don’t have to apologise. You
know, watching you perform that day, I understand how important you are to some
people, especially to your fans. Just your very presence is enough to make
people happy and believe in themselves. You represent something very important
to them and you can only work hard right now and give your best right now.”

“But I still owe you an
explanation. Actually the real reason why I was in Singapore... Well, it was
sort of a punishment for me. I started going out with a model and the agency
found out about our relationship, so I was, you can say, banished from Tokyo
and future Fire Boys activities till the CEO said otherwise. So I was sent to
Singapore because I had an uncle who lived there.”

“So you broke up with the model
because of the agency’s opposition?”

“Not exactly. She was cheating
on me and so I broke it off with her. She got angry and sent photographs of us
to the CEO and threatened to expose our previous relationship to the media.”

“I see.” Mimi didn’t really
know what to say. Things seemed so complicated.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t honest with
you,” he said. “Mimi...” he started but his mobile phone rang at this moment.
He picked it up and Mimi could hear his manager screaming at him from the other
end.

“Yuki, Kon is looking for you!
Hurry up and get to the stage now! And help me find Jiro too, he never brings
his mobile phone with him!” hollered Jun.

“Let this be goodbye then. It’s
really for the best,” she said quickly, looking at the tiled toilet floor.

“Goodbye,” he whispered. Mimi
was so sick of crying but she could feel her tears threatening to fall again.
“Goodbye Yuki.” And he walked out of the door.

Mimi crumpled to the tiled
floor and tears started streaming down her cheeks. “This is for the best. It
really is,” she whispered to herself, trying to calm herself down. She heard
the toilet door open a crack. “Is someone there?” she asked, frantically wiping
her tears away using the back of her hands. No one answered her. Instead a
stuffed crocheted black cat appeared from behind the door. Mimi sniffed and rubbed
her nose but managed a small smile. “Are you supposed to be mine?” she asked.
The black cat nodded. “Can you tell your maker that I’m fine and that he
doesn’t need to hide behind the door?” she said. The stuffed cat nodded again.
Jiro opened the door and entered the restroom, with the stuffed cat in his
arms. He passed it to Mimi. “I made him for you. It’s to apologise for scaring
you that night.”