‘Not this table! No photos, please!’
Whaat? Don’t be mean! What did we do? You’re the one who invited us so here we are!
The women at her table played their parts, each of their comments a pinprick stab at the bride. Whether they were uncouth to begin with or whether they had guessed the situation and were siding with Shoko, either was fine by her.
Shoko herself had come here today knowing full well that the couple would consider her behaviour very unladylike.
The MC began to relay an anecdote about why the bride had chosen this hotel – her parents’ wedding had taken place here and she’d wanted her own to be held here too – which may have been meant as a charming story, though it made the earlier scene all the more satisfying for Shoko.
As the lights dimmed for a slideshow, a staff member from the venue approached Shoko from the shadows. ‘Excuse me,’ she said, holding out a black shawl. ‘The bride feels that your outfit is too dramatic, and wonders if you would consider wearing this around your shoulders.’
‘Very well.’
Now was her moment. Shoko stood up quietly.
‘Please excuse the interruption. I’m afraid I have to leave, please show me the way out.’
Without asking for any further clarification, the staff member immediately guided Shoko to the exit.
Having brought Shoko outside, under the cover of darkness, the staff member offered her a bag with the wedding favour inside. Shoko tried to refuse it but the staff member bowed politely.
‘I would be reprimanded for failing to give this to you, so I humbly request that you accept it.’
The staff member must have guessed the gist of the situation, whether by intuition or from experience. Shoko reluctantly accepted the bag and made her way to the station.
The announcement for Sakasegawa rang out, and the young woman who had been sitting beside the young man stood up.
‘The next time we meet, we should have a drink. I prefer beer in a glass mug, rather than in a can.’
The guy looked doubtful.
‘The central library. You go there a lot, don’t you? So then, next time we meet.’
And with a spring in her step, she alighted from the train—
There was a moment of indecision. Then he leapt off the train and rushed after her, bounding up the staircase.
Apparently they weren’t a couple, yet.
Too bad, Shoko murmured softly.
The start of new love, always a pleasure to see – but the timing was cruel.
She began to feel sullied by the curse she may have cast over the bridal couple’s happiness. The groom’s reputation was already substantially diminished within the company, but it would be almost impossible for him to change jobs in this recession, while the bride didn’t have the luxury to be able to just quit, even though her female colleagues were giving her the cold shoulder at the office.
Gossip may last seventy-five days, as the saying goes, but so long as Shoko still worked there – the ever-present victim of their shocking behaviour – the scandal would never go away.
She would never quit. To do so would make it too easy on them. This determination was warping her, she knew that, but the logical advice that there was no use holding a grudge or putting a curse on them didn’t ease Shoko’s mind either.
One thing she was sure of: to quit now would only mean accepting defeat. And so, at the very least, she would hold out until the quiet type took her maternity leave (she was also the type who probably wouldn’t come back to work anyway).
An older woman and a young girl came in from the next car, in search of empty seats, and the young girl pointed at Shoko, exclaiming happily, ‘A bride!’
In that instant, tears spilled down Shoko’s cheeks.
That’s right, I wanted to be a bride, alongside the man I’d been with for five years. Our love wasn’t born from inertia and compromise. It was like that young man who just leapt off the train and the young woman he was chasing after. My ex may have been a bit unreliable but he was kind and I loved him. I thought his jitters were only temporary, while we were planning our wedding, but ultimately his unreliability is what ruined us.
I never wanted things to end like this, with my illusions about him completely shattered by that conniving woman. Because when she plotted to marry him, she didn’t just steal him away from me, she trampled upon and ruined the five years I had with him. I was so wounded, it felt all I could do was simply hand him over.
I’m no bride, young lady.
I dressed up like a bride in this white dress so that I could put a curse on their life together.
Sakasegawa Station
My, how adorable!
Tokié’s eyes crinkled at the sight of the couple that were standing in the middle of the staircase.
The young man was speaking earnestly to the long-haired young woman who was carrying a tote bag featuring the Disney character beloved by Tokié’s granddaughter, who was with her today.
‘If you’d like to have a drink, how about today? Are you free now?’
He must have run up this long staircase because he sounded breathless.
‘But, uh, not if you have a boyfriend …’
‘I don’t,’ the young woman replied cheerfully, smiling at him. ‘In fact, I’m looking for one. So your invitation is quite welcome.’
‘OK, great!’
‘I’d love to.’
From the corner of her eye, Tokié witnessed this heartwarming scene of budding romance just as her granddaughter called out, ‘Granny, the train is coming!’ before they both stepped quickly down the rest of the stairs. She wasn’t so old yet, she could still hustle without worrying about her back or her knees.
She and her granddaughter dashed onto the train and then stopped to catch their breath.
They had even made it with time to spare – the announcement cautioning against last-second boarding had yet to blare from the loudspeaker.
‘Nice hustle, Granny!’
Her granddaughter had got to be a sassy little thing, though, as a grandmother, it would have been immature of Tokié to inform her that, had she been alone, there was no doubt she would still have made it – so she refrained.
Her son and his wife wanted to see a movie that day so Tokié had offered to take care of her granddaughter. The plan had been a trip to the dog park that had opened on what used to be the site of an amusement park, Takarazuka Family Land. It was the perfect destination for her dog-loving granddaughter. Even though Tokié didn’t have a dog, they could still take the dogs at the park for a walk. Tokié had also promised that, on their way home, they could get off at Sakasegawa where she would buy the girl a snack and a present at the biggest 100-yen shop around, which was her granddaughter’s favourite (likely because her pestering was more successful there than at a regular store).
‘Weren’t they cute today?’
Her granddaughter was talking about the Welsh Corgis. Tokié hadn’t let on how much she herself loved dogs and that she was actually more knowledgeable about breeds than her granddaughter.
There were no empty seats but it looked like there might be some in the next car so the two of them moved on, hand in hand.
‘Granny, did you bring découpage again for today?’
‘Yes, I did, a new project.’
‘My mom says I don’t need any more.’
Her daughter-in-law had yet to realize that children didn’t keep things to themselves. Although it would have been even worse if she had deliberately been using her daughter to convey the not-so-subtle message.
‘I’ll still leave them with you even if you don’t need them.’
Tokié’s son and his wife were not shy about using her as a babysitter, although, over these years since her husband passed away, they seemed to have forgotten to even mention the prospect of Tokié living with them. For her part, Tokié hadn’t the slightest interest in making her way into a home where she felt unwelcome, so she didn’t mention it either.