Sister Golden Hair Delight Ch. 20

あなたの娘さんの名誉私 Your daughter honors me

Copyright @ calibeachgirl

All rights reserved, 2010

Evening, Saturday, August 4th

Bob Osborne....

For the last week, I had returned to the hospital every day, ostensibly to check on Colonel Paras since I still felt a responsibility for her and to see Phelps... but, the truth was, I admitted to myself, to see the cute little Japanese ER nurse, Sayomi Nakamura. She reminded me of a girl I dated in high school and could imagine her wearing a school uniform and in my arms.

At first, we were circling each other, both attracted to the other, both afraid to admit it as a possible sign of weakness. I quickly realized how stupid that was and began to seriously court the petite Asian woman. Even now, as I was driving up into the darkening hills just north-west of Pearl, I remembered...

**********

I brought the colonel a tuna sandwich, a strawberry milkshake, and a couple of Snickers bars and waited until she had completely finished the small meal. I had read somewhere that these types of foods were a good stress reliever and watched as Paras mechanically ate them without much taste.

"Colonel? Are you good to stay here for a little while I check on the general?"

She nodded her head without looking at me. I wondered what was going on in her mind. 'Maybe they are lovers,' I thought.

I headed down the stairs to the first floor, but found the room empty. 'Oh, damn! Did he die? Maybe they just moved him somewhere... but, that Nakamura woman would have told me.'

"Excuse me, uh, Nurse Nakamura... I know I've been a big pain in the ass, and I'm sorry for that. What happened to the general? Did he..."

"Oh, no, nothing like that. He's stable so we moved him up to the third floor. I was going to come up and tell you but I had to take care of a small boy that cut himself pretty badly. The general's sedated while the doctors determine what needs to be done. It's Room 307. Here... they brought that in a little while ago."

She handed me Paras' laptop case.

"Thank you very much."

I had noticed there was no wedding ring and took encouragement from that. I liked the way she was a take-charge person and her delicate Asian features were beautiful.

"Say, uh... when the excitement's over would you, maybe like to have dinner with me, sometime?" I was as smooth as a potholed road.

Sayomi....

"I don't..." I started to say, hesitantly and then I thought, 'Why not? He's cute, he did apologize, and I haven't had a date in years.' "How old are you? I'm 35, does that bother you?"

Bobby looked at me.

"I'm 27," he said, "would that bother you? As you can tell, I'm a Marine fighter pilot. I'm based here at Berber. I was going to make a career of this but today's kinda made me think that over. I'm a good person, my mother loves me and I've never done this before."

"Did what?" I was looking closely at him, almost like a buyer inspecting a new car.

"Ask someone out of the blue to have dinner," he said. "Believe it or not, I've led a pretty quiet life when I'm not blasting through the sky. I'm studying for my second Master of Science... in Geology to go with the one in Evolutionary Biology."

I made to look like I was in deep thought but I had already made up my mind the moment he had asked.

"Sure... why not? Say, tomorrow night? I'm not scheduled to work."

"Great... would you like me to pick you up or meet you somewhere?"

I pulled out a pen and a notebook from my pocket.

"Here's my address, make sure you Google it... say, about 2000 hours?"

"I... thanks. I'm sorry, but I really have to go. The colonel's depending on me, right now."

He backed away still looking at me and bumped into the hallway wall.

I tried not to laugh and waited until he was gone. I allowed myself a small smile and then returned to the ER to wait for the next person to arrive.

**********

Bob Osborne....

It was a warm sun setting into the Pacific and while I could still see the moon, the further I drove up into the hills the darker it became. After getting lost twice on the road hidden in the rain-forested hills, I was about to give up when I saw a swinging light ahead on the left side of the road.

As I drew closer I saw Sayomi wearing a brightly colored traditional kimono and holding a lantern. Looking both ways, I signaled and carefully pulled the red 'Vette across the deserted road and onto the gravel drive.

She carefully looked at me before turning the lantern off and getting in.

"Hi," I said. Great line, Osborne. You're back in eighth grade.

"Just wanted to make sure it was you. I thought you might have trouble finding the place. The cell phone coverage isn't all that great around here, so I walked down to meet you. I have dinner waiting in the house."

She surprised me; giving me a sudden kiss on the cheek and then started giving directions to navigate the shadowing drive. Have to cancel the reservations; guess I'll use the house phone.

The dimly lit car gave her an inexplicable attractiveness not evident in the unforgiving lights of the hospital but it was still bright enough to see her hair put up in the time-honored traditional geisha hairstyle.

I cautiously drove the car forward amidst the tall trees and now black foliage until they reached the house. The final few hundred feet were lined with lights marking the stone steps to the wide veranda.

I opened the door for her, reached into the back of the sports car and took out a large white package wrapped in festive cloth and fresh flowers. Out of habit, I locked the car, briefly considered it might be a slight of manners but left it alone.

She took my hand and led me up the steps to the house. The low rumble of the 'Vette had announced our arrival drawing out several older people who waited on the wide porch.

The three women from the house were also wearing embroidered kimonos and sandals and bowed as we approached the house. I did my best to bow back correctly and before we went inside the house, I removed my shoes and left them inside the door.

After a six-month tour of duty in Japan, I had learned that tradition.

The women led me to the back of the house and out the sliding glass doors onto another veranda overlooking the Pacific. Standing there was an elderly Japanese man wearing a kimono covered with green and blue dragons. I bowed to the man doing the best I could. C'mon, Osborne, remember what you're supposed to be doing here...

"父母叔母これはロバートがあります。Father, Mother, Aunts, may I present my friend, Robert." Sayomi continued on in Japanese, glancing in my direction occasionally as she spoke rapidly with them. I was able to pick out one word in ten.

"I have formally introduced you," she told me, "to my parents and aunts. They all speak English very well but I follow the old traditions when I can."

"Welcome to our home, Robert-san. Sayomi has spoken very highly of you. She said that you are a very concerned man when it comes to those you are responsible for. A very respectable trait for such a young man as yourself."

I almost blushed hearing the remark about my youth, especially in light of Sayomi's being seven years older.

"Thank you, sir, ma'ams... I am grateful for your hospitality."

I handed the wrapped box to her father.

"With my compliments, sir."

"Thank you, Robert..."

"Please call me Bobby."

"All right, Bobby-san. Sayomi will show you where to change your clothes for dinner."

"I have a kimono in here for you, Bob... and sandals."

She led me to a bedroom where a beautiful kimono had been laid out. I was amazed at the beautiful embroidery on it.

"The best I could do on short notice was a flying dragon... you know, because you are a pilot, and all... do you know how to wrap the kimono?"

"Yes, Sayomi-san... I spent six months in Japan five years ago. Sayomi, I have to call the restaurant and cancel the reservations. The box... it is See's chocolates... I hope they don't melt."

"Don't worry; we have a cool room below the house; I will tell my mother. The phone is in the kitchen. See you outside on the back veranda."

She left, her sandals making little clicking sounds on the hardwood floors.

As she walked away, I watched her sway under the kimono, her petite figure accentuated with some very feminine curves.

I felt myself hardening and my pants tightened as I tried to get them off for the kimono. Think of something else... think of something else... think of something else...

Shortly, I left the room garbed in the kimono, made the phone call and went outside.

On the wide porch was a very low table surrounded by cushions. Lanterns spread a yellowish glow around the wooden deck and the shadows shifted with a gentle onshore breeze jostling them around.

The older people were already on the veranda, waiting. As I walked out of the house, the four family members knelt on the cushions and the father, Kaito whose name translated as ''the constellation' Big Dipper,' motioned me to kneel next to him.

"We only do this for special occasions; we're getting a little too old to be sitting like this all the time. Ahhhh, here's the sushi."

Sayomi clicked her way onto the deck carrying a large tray of beautifully prepared sushi. In the middle of the table was a small rectangular tray filled with pickled ginger to clear the taste buds for the next flavor. She put her tray down and then knelt down on a cushion next to me.

While the family began eating, she described the more exotic flavors she had used for the evening's meal. As I correctly reached out with my hand and picked up one of the rice and lobster offerings, she waited with a warm damp cloth so I could clean my fingers.

"Sayomi does you great honor... she has never brought anyone home for dinner, let alone act as geisha."

Her father had looked at me, fully expecting me to realize the importance of the information. I nodded my head in acknowledgement.

"あなたの娘さんの名誉私 Your daughter honors me." I had hoped I had gotent that right...

I knew enough about the traditional kaiseki menu to unfortunately realize Sayomi would not be eating with us; instead, she would be making trips to the kitchen as she freshly prepared each course.

"Tell me, Bobby-san, will you be flying tomorrow?" Kaito asked.

"No, sir... because of the accident, Phelps and I have been grounded at least a week until the inquiry is finished. The general who was almost killed is a very important person."

"Bobby-san, let us put it aside," Kaito said. "We are here to celebrate life. Since you're not flying anytime soon... you will, of course, stay the night, it will be too dangerous to take the road back down. Let us drink to the future."

He reached for a chilled flask of sake and poured the potent drink into a small cup. I knew the rituals and took the flask and filled her father's cup; feeling the coldness, I knew that he was serving a very expensive sake.

"Oku-bukai," the old man said.

I nodded my head in agreement. "Dai gingo?"

"You have a very educated palate..." the older man observed.

I could tell that it was an opening for conversation.

Before I could speak, however, Sayomi returned with a tray of sashimi, several side dishes, some vegetables and a soup. After serving her father and me, she served the rest of the family and returned to the kitchen.

"She ate before you came. A traditional Japanese dinner must be prepared fresh and served immediately. Now... how did you ever learn about a $500 bottle of sake?"

"I was stationed in Japan for six months. Aside from the joy of flying, I wanted to visit other countries and meet people. I grew up in rural Indiana, surrounded by miles and miles of flat cornfields. The people there, mostly, are good people but I grew tired of all the flatness and small town life. I wanted to see the world.

I must admit I was still paying for that experience a year later. I knew Japan was going to be expensive and probably wasn't going to go back, so... why not? Since then, though, I've lived a very frugal and quiet life... except for flying, of course... and I did buy the 'Vette."

Sayomi had returned from the kitchen with grilled fish, miso soup and a beef dish that I didn't recognize.

This time, she stayed kneeling next to me, head slightly bowed. What a different woman she is away from the hospital... two different worlds, two different women... which one is the real one?

The conversation drifted back and forth between her father and me, each or us taking the measure of the other.

I discovered that the Nakamura family had owned the property for many years from before the War. Fortunately for them, the property was not needed for the war effort and stayed in the family's control.

There were so many ethnic Japanese in Hawaiian Territorial government that to send them all to camps like in California was impossible, for all civil services would have come to a halt. Their land extended all the way to the beach and in the lower section they were growing sugar cane in the rich reddish volcanic soil.

Unlike many large landowners, they had no desire to clear and build on the land.

After the main courses were finished, the table cleared and refreshed, she brought out a sweet fruit dessert.

"Bob, this is anmitsu, a traditional dish with jelly, fruits and a sweet bean paste. Many here put vanilla ice cream on it, but..."

"That's not right?" I ventured. It was the first time she had spoken conversationally during the entire meal and I had yet to hear from her mother or aunts. Traditional meals tended to be a men's world.

"Yes, that's not right..." she smiled, appreciating my respect for her ancestral culture.

The family slowly stood up from their low cushions.

"Please excuse us; we will change our clothes now."

"Kampei!" I said to them, bowing.

The four left the veranda and went into the house.

Sayomi looked at me, her eyes questioning my thoughts about her family. She leaned over and lightly kissed me on the lips.

"I'll change my clothes and clean up... why don't you do the same and then wait in the living room. I'll be right back."

I returned to the bedroom and quickly changed back into my own clothes. Since my shoes were by the front door I kept the sandals on and found my way into the kitchen.

Her elaborate kimono and geisha wig was going to take some time to change, and probably her mother was helping her with it.

I started washing the pots and pans that were on the stove. By the time she returned wearing black slacks and blouse, I had finished them and had been stacking the wiped off plates into the dishwasher.

"Thank you," was all she could say. "You didn't have to do this."

"And... you didn't have to do all this work. Dinner was unbelievable. I was going to take you out to..."

"Bobby-san, I... I like you... very much. I liked the way you took charge in the hospital even if it was me you were yelling at. I guess I have a hard head and poor people skills. I like... I like the way you kept coming back to see me."

"I..."

"Please, let me finish. Next time, though, I promise to listen better but you have to promise not to yell at me. OK?"

I took her into my arms. "I promise..."

"Shut up and kiss me..."

"Yes, mmmmm..." My hands traveled over her body and down her back making their own discoveries.

Behind us, several lights were turned off and her family went to bed.

"You know, Bobby-san... let's go back outside and sit there, it's such a lovely night." I followed her outdoors and she brought me to a porch swing.

"Let's sit here," she said.

I saw she was trying to take control of the situation. I remembered her father said I was the first man ever brought to the house. Why had she changed, now? What's different?

"That was a fantastic, incredible dinner. Do you eat like this all the time?"

I stared out into the darkness, afraid to look at her, afraid of what might lay ahead.

"Food, yes... dressing up, no... that's just for special occasions."

She stared out into the darkness, afraid to look at me, as if I would disappear into the night's darkness.

"So... this was a special occasion?"

I turned to face her.

"Oh, yes... I wanted to..."

My kisses stopped her from finishing; my hands caressed her wild curly hair liberated from the confining geisha wig and she almost forgot whatever she was going to say.

"Bobby-san... I really like you. I'm serious. I know I'm older than you... Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"I could if it was with you," I said while kissing her neck. "Doesn't matter, I know I'm younger than you..."

Unbuttoning her blouse, my lips moved down toward her shoulder and I could feel her heart racing.

"C'mon, Bobby-san, I'm serious, listen to me... I'm a take-charge person. I know you are... both in the plane and on the ground.

Are you afraid of a strong woman in your life? Do you even want a strong woman in your life?

And, I know Japanese women don't have... aren't as... you know, as big as American women."

I looked at her petite body in the starry moonlit night. Yes, strong of spirit, probably a handful, but that is an attraction I like... yet, tonight showing a gentler, different side to her. "Sayomi... you don't scare me... you delight me. All I've done is fantasize about you since we met."

I tickled her mercilessly. "There's more than one side to everyone, I suppose. Your father said you've never brought anyone home before. Why me, and why now? What's changed with you since the other day?"

"Will you be serious? Are we going somewhere with this?" she asked. "Am I coming on too strong, too quick? Or, am I just a one-night date? I would like to know, please.

I have been with no-one since... fourteen years ago when I was betrothed to..."

Her face came and went from the light, the swing stopped moving and she became silent.

I saw her discomfort and started to speak.

"I was going to make a career of the Navy... I love to fly, that's true but I'd give it all up in a heartbeat for the right woman. Truth is, between flying, studying and just plain military stuff, I haven't had time or even bothered to look. I haven't been with anyone since I left college for the Navy five years ago.

This isn't going to sound very romantic but what do you have on your mind? I like you, even though we've just met and spent most of that time yelling at each other.

If we knock heads which we'll probably do now and then, well... we'll just work through it, if we really love and want each other.

I had an uncle who told me love grows over the years; you always put the other person first, always. He said that if you remember that, everything else is simple and anything is possible. And, when horrible things do happen, it gets you through it.

If you're as serious as you seem to be, then so am I.

A fighter pilot instinctively takes risks in order to survive. I can resign my commission in two months when my enlistment is up. I can probably have something lined up by then, that is, if you truly want me."

"Bobby-san, were you asking me to marry you?" she earnestly asked, it seemed she was hoping against hope.

"No... but I am now. Sayomi-san, although we just met I would be honored, no... blessed, if you would marry me. I would always put you ahead of everything else, love you, honor and respect you above all others, argue with you if we must and love any children you wish for, for all my life. I swear on my honor and my life."

"Yes, Bobby-san. I will joyfully marry you. I will be your wife and will love you and always respect you and sometimes argue with you and have your children, if you want them, and put you ahead of everything this world has to offer.

Make love to me, Bobby-sama... make love to me tonight."