I have been dreaming up stories for years but, until recently, none had ever been shared.
Inspiration for some of the people and events described is drawn from my own experience, but it is overwhelmingly a work of fiction.
Constructive criticism is welcome.
Prologue
I studied International Finance at university. The course lasted four years, including one spent working in the industry. That year was a good opportunity to gain experience, and hopefully impress the employer enough to hire you after you completed your course. It is good for them because they get a close look at potential high-flyers.
Sadly, not everyone gets a good placement. A couple of my classmates ended up as clerks in regular bank branches. So, I considered myself very lucky to get a job in the corporate finance department of one of the big consulting companies, based in London. The pay wasn't great, but earning good money wasn't the point; at least, not at that stage of my career. The work varied from mundane, such as photocopying and fetching coffees, to interesting, such keeping notes during meetings with clients. But the highlight for me was a trip to Japan.
A trip to Tokyo
One day my boss called me in. He explained that another student, who I knew, was supposed to be spending a month in Tokyo on a project for our Japanese arm. We had all been very jealous of her. Most of us were offered overseas assignments, but they were normally shorter and closer.
Unfortunately, Sue could not go because of a health issue, which I later found out was appendicitis. The company wanted me to go instead. He apologised for the short notice, hoped I could help them out, and offered to let me think about it overnight.
I did not need that long. I accepted immediately.
~~~
So it was that I found myself on a flight to Tokyo. The last few days had been a flurry of preparations: getting up to speed on the project, packing, reading about Japan, repacking once I knew what the weather was likely to be, and so on.
I had imagined doing the journey in business class but on my paygrade that was not allowed. I was in a cramped economy seat for 12 hours, but I was tired enough to sleep for most of the flight.
A young Japanese colleague named Aki met me at Narita airport. His task was to guide me to the short-stay apartment that had been rented for me, help me settle in, and make arrangements to meet the next day. He had pages of instructions that he shared on the long coach journey into the city.
After dropping my luggage, he took me on a quick tour of the area, including places to eat and shop, get cash, the railway station and so on. The last stop was a small supermarket where I bought a few drinks and snacks to supplement the basic supplies that had already been left for me at the apartment.
Aki helped me carry my groceries back then disappeared, explaining that he had a long journey to his home. I knew this was common in the big cities so encouraged him to leave quickly. In any case, my head was spinning from jetlag and the sensory overload of the last few hours. I fixed a quick meal of instant noodles and went to straight to bed.
Fortunately, I slept well.
Next morning Aki was back at the apartment to show me how to get to the office. It was a simple journey, several stops on the Metro but without any changes. Despite watching videos and reading about rush hour in Tokyo the mass of people was eye-opening. Still, I reckoned that I could do the journey home on my own.
The office was in area with several tall buildings. At reception I was issued with an ID card then Aki led me to the 17
th
floor where there was a large open-plan area. Apart from a few glass-walled meeting spaces in the centre, it was full of desks. I noticed that they were smaller and closer together than the London office. Most were already occupied, and the noise level was high. I wondered if I could work like this.
Two colleagues were waiting for us in one of the meeting spaces. After introductions they explained the project. I had already seen Sue's notes, but it was helpful to hear it from them. It was ridiculously simple. The client wanted a native-English speaker to conduct interviews with young Japanese people about potential new products. I could not understand why the client needed us to do this for them, or why they had to fly somebody in, surely there were some young English people already here. Whatever the reason, I was going to make the most of the trip.
We went down two floors to an area that was nothing like as crowded as the 17
th
, 'client-land' as we called it. I knew that here there would be a few spacious meeting rooms, and a fancy dining room or two.
The client's representative was waiting in one of the meeting rooms. After another round of introductions she went through the project, again, and the script that they wanted me to follow. Ten minutes later the first interviewee was led in and off we went.
Typically each interview lasted about 45 minutes and yielded similar answers to those before. By 6pm we had done six and I was bored. The prospect of doing this every day for four weeks deeply depressing. With a heavy heart I tackled the journey back to the apartment. Doing that without error was the highlight of my day!
Saturday
I woke a little late, had some breakfast, and set out to explore the neighbourhood. As I walked down a street I had not been down before a young woman touched my arm and asked if I spoke English. I said that I did and asked if I could help her. Expecting that she probably wanted to practice her language skills I was surprised when she explained that she was a producer for a film company.
Apparently, they were ready to shoot something nearby but, at the last minute, an American that was supposed to take part had dropped out so she was desperately seeking a replacement. This struck me as rather strange. How could an actor be replaced at the last minute? What about costumes? or learning lines?
When I told her this, she looked sheepish. "The thing is, it's a porn movie. No costume, no lines, just sex. For one day's work we'll pay you 100,000 yen."
Now I was truly surprised. Porn! Over £500 pounds! That was my spending money budget for the month! It was tempting prospect.
She was pretty. "Would it be with you?" I asked, blushing.
"Afraid not, but there is a very pretty young actress who looks a lot like me". Realising the immodesty of that statement she blushed too.
I thought for a moment. If word of such a film, let alone images, got out my career would be toast before it even started.
"Sorry, no" I said, walking away.
