What Men Want - Chapter 24

With a dark scowl marring his angelic features, Mick roamed the streets of Shinjuku in search of his idiotic best friend. The idiotic best friend who believed the worst of him and the woman he loved. The same idiotic best friend who, upon finding the woman he loved half naked and dripping wet in the middle of his apartment, had insulted her and taken off without bothering to wait for some kind of explanation. But hell, Ryo could have waited! After all, he kept claiming that he had absolutely no feelings for Kaori. He sure hadn’t acted like he had no feelings for her that morning.

Well, Mick had to concede that he’d probably do the same, but he couldn’t be one hundred percent certain since something like that has never happened to him.

Sighing, he crammed his hands into his pockets. A man never knew how he might react to finding the woman he loved half-naked in the middle of someone else’s apartment. Maybe he was lucky Ryo didn’t shoot him on the spot.

Instead of pulling out his faithful gun, his friend had taken off, and now only God Almighty knew where he was. Probably somewhere, drinking himself to death, but Mick has searched every dump in Shinjuku he could find. He’s been to each and every stinking bar, each and every cabaret in Kabukichō, asking for Ryo-chan, as the owners and clientele liked to call him, without getting any results. The guy had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Glancing at his watch, he let out another tortured sigh. It was past midnight, and he’s run out of options. There were three possibilities at hand. One, Ryo was trying to forget that morning’s sight of Kaori half-naked in the middle of his apartment between some hooker’s thighs in a dirty hotel room. Two, Ryo was trying to forget that morning’s sight of Kaori half-naked in the middle of his apartment by getting rid of some bad guys he’d spotted along the way—in which case he would do well to search the warehouse area. Or three, Ryo couldn’t forget that morning’s sight of Kaori half-naked in the middle of his apartment and was currently dangling from a noose.

Well, the third one was a bit far-fetched, but one never knew with the unpredictable Saeba Ryo. For what Mick knew, and he knew plenty, Ryo had never experienced anything remotely similar to the love he felt for Kaori, so the blow must have been devastating, and people took some drastic actions when desperate and heartbroken.

Stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, Mick considered his options. What was he to do now? Go on a second patrol of the bars and cabarets, comb the warehouse area, or start searching for his friend’s lifeless body hanging from a tree. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

A door, over which a dark-blue neon sign leisurely blinked, opened, and the soft murmur of a saxophone filled the air for an instant. Two men emerged from the Blue Room, which looked to be a jazz bar, lighting their cigarettes with contented sighs.

“That son of a bitch sure can sing, huh?” asked one with a deep, raspy voice.

“Yeah,” came the other’s melodic agreement. “I should thank him later. I can take a break.” He pulled hungrily at his cigarette. “And to think he’s smashed. When I’m in that condition, I can barely remember my name, never mind being able to sing.”

The other one chuckled. “Poor bastard. There are only two reasons a man gets that wasted.”

His companion nodded sagely in the dark-blue glow of the neon sign. “He’s either going to be a daddy or his bitch cheated.”

“I bet you a thousand it’s the latter.”

They both laughed.

The sensuous murmur of a saxophone once more permeated the air as the door opened and a short fatty exited, striding purposefully toward the pair.

“You’re fired,” he squeaked toward the man with the melodic voice.

“What?”

“You heard me.” He poked his meaty finger into the man’s chest. “You should see the chicks drooling in there. It’s not as great with their men, but who gives a shit! Bitches love the guy. Figures they were never like that with you. They can smell a fag a mile away.”

The fired man was on the verge of tears. “You...you can’t fire me.”

“Watch me.” And the man, who was obviously the owner, turned on his heel and stalked back into his club.

The man with the raspy voice spat out a vehement curse, but Mick didn’t even hear it. The gears in his head started turning with incredible speed, processing the information he just overheard. Chicks drooling over a drunk singing in a club? He’d seen it happen with his own eyes twelve years ago in a blues joint in Seattle. And if he hadn’t been drunk at that moment, he’d probably have cried in admiration, too.

Brushing past the fuming twosome, he opened the door to the club. He grinned as the first notes of a guitar solo caught his ear, and a familiar voice wafted toward the entrance.

♪♪ I thought that you’d be loving me.
I thought you were the one who’d stay forever.
But now forever’s come and gone
And I’m still here alone. ♪♪

On a small, round stage, illuminated only by a harsh beam of light, Saeba Ryo sat precariously perched on a bar stool, a half-empty bottle of whiskey in one hand, as he poured his heart and soul into the song.

The club before him was drenched in darkness, except for the flickering candles on the tables, illuminating the features of the guests. He didn’t notice the adoring stares of the women or the hateful ones of the men at their sides.

In his booze-clouded mind, he had only one face before him. The face of the woman he loved with all his being. The face of the woman who’d so utterly betrayed him leaving him heartbroken and stricken.

♪♪ ‘Cause you were only playing,
You were only playing with my heart.
I was never waiting,
I was never waiting for the tears to start. ♪♪

In the shadows by the front door, Mick leaned against the wall, staring at the stage with hooded eyes. Oh yeah, his friend was dead drunk. Thank God he wasn’t so drunk as to start singing old Mariachi songs, because hearing those wasn’t as pleasurable as listening to Ryo’s rendition of Eric Clapton’s ballad.

♪♪ It was you who put the clouds around me.
It was you who made the tears fall down.
It was you who broke my heart in pieces.
It was you, it was you who made my blue eyes blue.
Oh, I never should have trusted you. ♪♪

Mick sighed softly. It was the first time he had heard his friend sing such sorrowful tunes, but the choice of song was appropriate for the occasion. And the way Ryo’s dark eyes shone, he was probably imagining Kaori somewhere in the audience, listening to him.

Poor devil. Poor, stupid devil.

♪♪ I thought that I’d be all you need.
In your eyes I thought I saw my heaven.
And now my heaven’s gone away
And I’m out in the cold. ♪♪

Something moved in the back of the club, right by the door, which caught Ryo’s attention, making his muscles coil. A familiar figure stirred in those shadows. Mick slowly took a few steps further, and the flickering light from the candle on the nearby table revealed his features.

“You sorry motherfucker!” Ryo growled. Bottle smashing on the floor, he pointed his finger toward Mick, his eyes spitting fire. “Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the bastard I told you about.”

As a well-trained army, the club’s patrons turned toward Mick and glared. There were boos, whistles, and a few curses strewn between the murderous glares.

With a sheepish smile, Mick slowly began making his way around the tables toward the stage and his drunk friend.

“Look, man, it’s not as it seems.”

“Oh, it isn’t?” Ryo wobbled a bit. “So, Kaori standing in the middle of your living room wrapped in only a towel was just a figment of my imagination?”

Mick has almost reached him. Too late, he remembered that alcohol never handicapped his friend’s reflexes. When he did remember it, he was already sprawled on the floor, his jaw hurting, with stars circling around his head.

“You fucking bastard!” Ryo dropped heavily on top of Mick’s chest and began pummeling that angelic face that his Kaori obviously found so irresistible. “I bet when I’m finished with you, she wouldn’t want to crawl in the sack with you so soon, you prick!”

Mick only lay on his back if a gorgeous woman was on top of him, so in a few seconds, the two so-called friends were rolling on the floor, the chairs and tables flying everywhere, between muffled curses, grunts, and sounds of fists hitting their targets.

Pinning Ryo to the floor, Mick was finally able to draw a shaky breath. “Would you stop hitting me?” he panted.

“Not if I can help it,” Ryo slurred darkly.

“Nothing happened between Kaori and me!”

Ryo smirked. “Not only did you defile the love of my life, now you even have the guts to lie to me about it.”

Mick rolled his eyes. “C’mon, you know me, man. I’d be the first to brag if something happened.”

“What was she doing in your apartment, then?”

“She had a nightmare about you dying, and knowing you’d probably laugh in her face, she came to me.”

Ryo stared up at him in silence.

“Nothing happened, I swear.” Mick smiled sadly. “Ryo, you know I’d never do something like that to you. Not to you, man. Not with her.”

He relaxed a bit, but quickly realized his mistake as Ryo’s fist sent him sprawling once more.

“I know,” Ryo grumbled, gaining his feet.

His ears ringing from the blow, Mick glared at him. “Why did you punch me, then?”

“I felt like it.”

“You’re a prick!”

Ryo wobbled. “Ditto.” Then, his face crumpled. “God...She must hate me right now.”

Mick slowly stood, rubbing his aching jaw. “She should, but she doesn’t. It doesn’t work like that.”

“What am I going to say to her?”

His best friend sent him a mischievous grin. “Unless you want to confess your undying love and devotion, which is the reason for saying all that stuff to her in the first place, out of blind jealousy, might I add, I suggest you make up one hell of a story.” Walking to him, he grimaced. “But maybe you should sober up first.”

♪♪ Blue Eyes Blue, written by Diane Warren