Chapter 1.5

Chapter 6

Natsuko looked proudly at her husband. Although Eiichi was not a blood relative of her niece he had taken particular affection for the girl and now was obviously pleased with her. The reason was that Aiko was part of his extended family and was now an inhabitant of his house which in the concept of the man brought a certain responsibility for him.

The praiseworthy words of Mr. Suzuki, manager of the prestigious Japanese restaurant where the girl worked, referring not only to his musical gifts but also to the responsibility in her work and her general behavior satisfied Eiichi, who had taken the risk to recommend Aiko a few months ago making a daring move, since he knew well that the restaurant that Suzuki ran was attended not only by the cream of the Japanese community in New York but also by all expatriates and Japanese businessmen who were circumstantially in the city. There was no doubt that Suzuki's complacency was not due only to moral reasons but also because the presence of the girl was favorable to the business he had to manage. Through common friends Eiichi was aware that his interlocutor had problems with his own daughter who had been involved in certain problems that possibly had to do with drugs. Natsuko remembered well the young woman, with beautiful Asian features, long hair dyed in various colors ranging from green to violet and rather indiscreet and even brazen manners for a Japanese girl. Although Suzuki was Eiichi's lifelong friend he had never commented on the subject but Natsuko knew he was suffering over the issue.

"In addition, the fact that Aiko includes pieces of world-class Japanese composers and performers in the repertoire, such as Toshio Hosokawa, Eiko Yamashita, Ryuichi Sakamoto and others well known to the audience, is very well received by our clients." Suzuki added, confirming the utilitarian aspect of his conformity with the young woman. Then he looked at his wristwatch and exclaimed.

"Oh! It's almost seven and it's getting dark. I had not noticed the time I have stolen from you."

Eiichi hastened to answer.

"We are delighted with your presence, and we just want it to be more frequent."

"I would also like to invite you to my house." Suzuki was getting up and Eiichi took the visitor's coat from the rack where it was hanged and helped him to put it on.

"I´ll walk you to the front door." He said, putting on a scarf.

When Natsuko was left alone a smile until then hidden illuminated her face. Once she was alone in the house she would call her sister Michiko in Buenos Aires to share the good news about her daughter.

While waiting for the boarding announcement for his flight to New York, the young man decided to walk through the ample public space at the airport. Through any window that looked outside he saw airplanes taking-off or landing; he wondered how many aircrafts would be running along the tracks at any given moment, any time. He remembered that Jorge, his father, who had been there decades earlier, had told him that Chicago O'Hare Airport was the busiest in the world at that time and he wondered if that would remain valid.

Abstracted in those idle thoughts, time passed by and he suddenly heard that the loudspeakers were announcing the boarding of his flight. Leandro literally ran to the indicated door in front of which a sizable line of passengers had already formed.

When it was his turn to show his boarding pass to the airline employee who was welcoming the passengers he heard a faint and characteristic sound coming from his backpack. Even though his cell phone was graduated at a low sound level, he had a good ear and noticed every message that came

He repented once again for having recharged the battery of his cell phone in the outlets located in the airport lounge. The innumerable stories of information theft and virus contamination in those circumstances read and heard made him uneasy, but he had no choice; the battery was literally exhausted.

Once located in his seat 23, very short for his long legs, Leandro momentarily put his mind in white to rest of all the tensions that inevitably the departures in airplane caused him that usually lasted until the subsequent takeoff. Once recovered his internal harmony after the stabilization of the plane on its route to the cruise altitude and speed the young man began with another routine that was already affirming in his personality; take advantage of the first part of the flight to make a kind of balance of what happened in the previous stage.

The period of two months spent in the head office of the consulting firm where he had worked for half a year had been fruitful, both from the point of view of the professional training acquired and the impression he had left on the bosses with whom he had been in contact. Leandro had done the training together with a dozen other young people from the United States, Latin America and East Asia and he was sure that he had stood out in the eyes of the managers who evaluated the process, even though others had better command of the English language. Realistically Leandro thought that the ones who had received the best evaluation were a young Chinese girl from Singapore and he, even when usually the results of these evaluations were not communicated to the participants.

With the trip a new, more prolonged and demanding stage began as he had to work effectively in a client company in New York and according to what he had been told it was an important and fussy customer.

Immersed in these thoughts he got momentarily asleep since the previous night he had received a farewell from the Chicago team with his teammates. The dream was brief and was interrupted by the announcement that they were arriving at La Guardia Airport in New York.

After descending from the plane the boy went to a bus terminal where he boarded one vehicle that would leave him a few blocks from his hotel. The only airplane suitcase and backpack was no impediment to the rest of the trip on foot.

As he sat on the bus Leandro was assaulted by the memory of the what's app message received when he left Chicago. He turned on the cell phone and looked for the message. His heart jumped when he read the text.

"Call me as soon as you get in. I miss you, Aiko."

He barely registered at the hotel in the district called Gramercy Park, and before unpacking Leandro sat on the bed and dialed the phone number provided by Aiko in her brief message. Leandro felt that his pulse was beating fast, so when he connected to her message box and recognized in it the voice of the girl responding in English and Spanish he had a transitory brake to his enthusiasm. He composed the voice and spoke with all the possible clarity.

" Hi, Aiko. I'm Leandro and I just checked into the hotel. " He then gave the name and address of the establishment. " I received your message with great joy and I want to chat with you. I'll call you back at 8:00 p.m. If you want and can call me before, do it. Kisses."

Then he undressed and showered, among other things, to remove the tensions and contractures caused by waiting at airports and the trip. Product of muscle relaxation and to make time before going to dinner he lay down on the bed dressed only in a robe he found in the bathroom. Once again he got immediately asleep.

The young man was awakened by the sound of his own cell phone ringing in a way that he thought was loud but then found that it was the normal volume. He answered the call with nervous hands and found with a slight disenchantment that the call came from his mother who wanted to know what his previous week and his trip from Chicago had been like. After the exchange of information and greetings Leandro left his mobile on the bed and began to open the suitcases and keep the clothes in the wardrobe while he was dressing at the same time. After a few minutes the cell phone rang again. The screen indicated the origin of the call. This time Aiko's voice answered. Due to the emotion at the beginning it was difficult to put his speech in order.