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American
woman
Story
of a married man who finds an exciting relationship with an
American woman
By Ken Maeda
Continued from previous
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Saturday afternoon, I was returning from my weekly trip to Daiei. Kyoko was due on Sunday evening after performing at a wedding in Gunma-ken. I had at least six bags in my hands that I was trying to drag to the elevator after I had parked my car across the street. There she was. Dressed in a purple turtleneck and jeans, I saw her from the back. I think she had just picked up her mail and was opening one of them. The sound of the polyethylene bags got her attention and she looked up to see. |
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As her heavy
eyelids lifted to look at me, my heart must have stopped for a moment.
"Ahh..domo...," she said in a greeting normally unknown to most non-Japanese. "Hello, how are you?" I replied and put my bags down to extend my hand. She quickly folded the letter and extended her hand.
"Hajimemashite. Mariko desu. Or if you like, originally I was Mary but I love to be called Mariko now," she smiled. "I prefer Mary-san. How is that?" I looked questioningly. "Absolutely. And you?" "Oh, I am sorry. I am Ken. Of if you like,
Kenji Maeda to mooshimasu. I live in #403 and looks as if you are my neighbor." I made a point of using the word
"my" rather than "our." "I live in #405 which is just around the corner on the floor. I guess that is why we have not seen enough of each other Ken-san. I arrived here only three weeks ago from Connecticut. I am doing some research on environmental impact of dioxins and will be here for a few weeks collecting some samples and analyzing them. Ohno-sensei has been a friend of my father since they met at a conference in
Geneva many years ago and he insisted that I stay with him rather than at a hotel and I am glad that I get to
experience real Japan this way. Here, let me help you with the bags".
I think my heart was still beating fast. My initial reaction was right - she was an absolutely adorable woman, as I had imagined after seeing her the first time. "Well I am delighted to meet you and welcome to the neighborhood. Hope you enjoy your stay here and get to see true Japan. I can tell you that you made the right choice by staying with us because you will get to see a side of Japan that one can miss as a tourist staying even in a
ryokan."
 As I unlocked the door to my apartment, Mary put the bags on the dining table. "Thank you so very much. Would you like to come in for a drink?" I proposed. "Oh no. I smell bad. I have been out for a while, so I have been sweating pretty badly
(How to stop
excessive sweating). Maybe we go for a walk after dinner. I like to walk along the lake in the evening and can spend hours just looking at the waves. The breeze is so gentle and I just sit on a bench and dream for hours. OK I will run now but I will come get you later after having dinner with my
host family," she said as she left.
Before I could deposit the food in the refrigerator, I had to gulp a full glass of cold water to calm down. Being married for so many years now, no woman had caused me so much excitement as Mary did. I was too excited to think, so I simply decided to arrange the groceries in the meantime. It must have been the fact that she was the first gaijin woman with whom I had such a long conversation in a more informal setting. Mary was probably as
attractive as other women that I had spoken to but I always thought of the others as colleagues or acquaintances. With Mary, I felt like a man talking to another woman. Since being married I had never given any thought to other women.
Continued:
A walk on the lake followed by a head massage
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