Tell Me How You Lost Me

The moment I stepped out of the airport a cold familiar breeze swept through my face. Dejavu. I thought. It felt like I had been here before though I know this was my first time. I brushed off the feeling and continued to walk towards the taxi line.

There were a lot of people waiting in line for a cab so I decided to take my mp3 out and began to listen. I was halfway lip-syncing to the chorus of Rihanna's Umbrella when I felt a tug on my shirt.

I turned around to tell off who ever it was but was surprised to see a little boy about 4 intensely staring at me. His expression was a mixture of longing and confusion. I gave him a weak smile and went on lip-syncing.

I never got to finish the last line of the chorus when I felt another tug. I wheeled around to see the same little boy still staring at me. I looked around to see if he was with someone. Seeing that he was probably lost or something since no one was beside him, I took the earphones out and kneeled making our eyes level.

"Hi! Where's your mommy?" I asked him.

His response was quick but not a single word came out of his mouth. His little arms were instantly around my neck and I was wrapped in a heartwarming hug. I could not understand what I was feeling at that moment that I hugged him back in return and could not bear to break free from his hug.

"Shinichi!" A deep male voice called from behind me. The little boy's hug seemed tighter by the minute.

"Shinichi! What are you doing?" The same deep voice asked in Japanese. I was surprised that I understood what he said. I did not even know I understood Japanese.

" Shinichi!" The voice called out again. This time I knew he was right in front of us seeing a pair of feet right before my eyes. That was the only time I realized that maybe the little boy's name was Shinichi and this was his companion. I broke free from his hug, held his hand.

"I'm sorry. I ... he... he.. . just started to hug me..." I started.

As I held out the little boy's hand to the guy in front of us, our eyes met.

His eyes widened three times its normal size considering the fact that his eyes were that of a typical Japanese.

"I'm sorry... is... is he your son?" I asked the guy not mindful if he even spoke or understood English. The guy in front of me just continued to stare at me. His eyes showed the same feeling as that of the little boy, however there was something else.

"Riya... ho... ho... h... how... whe... where..." he stammered.

"Excuse me?" by this time it was I who was confused. How the hell did this guy know my name? I don't even know who on earth he is. And he is talking to me in Japanese. What's more confusing is that I can actually understand what he was saying. When in fact the only Japanese words I know were "arigatou" and "sayonara".

"Papa, mama came back." the little boy broke the silence.

"Yes Shin... she is back" the guy answered without taking his eyes off me.

"Excuse me" I said as I let go of the little boy's hand and started to leave.

I was only able to take one step when a grasp in my arm and a pull on my shirt stopped me.

"Riya... wait!"

" Mama!"

The guy and the little boy chorused.

"Excuse me?" I asked. This time I was feeling a little stupid realizing that for the past few minutes the only words that came out of my mouth were three different versions of "excuse me".

"Wait. Don't go."

" I'm sorry. I don't know you and you are scaring me. Please let go of my hand. Your grip is too tight. Little boy stop pulling my shirt, you are stretching it out. I just bought it yesterday. Please Japanese guy let go of me. If you don't, I'm going to scream my lungs out. Mind you I wasn't called loud speaker in high school for nothing. Oh God... this is not the vacation I had in mind". I started to talk non-stop trying to address the guy, the little boy and God all at the same time.

"Mama... please don't leave again... I promise Shin will be a good boy" the little boy pleaded as he let go of my shirt and hugged my legs never wanting to let go.

"I'm sorry. I think you've mistaken me for someone else." I said trying to loosen his grip from my legs.

"No! No! No!" he screamed tightening his hold of my legs even more.

Sensing that that little boy had no intention of letting go of my leg, I desperately turned to the Japanese guy.

"Please... do something. Your son thinks I'm his mom. Please..."

"NO! You're my mama! Don't go mama" the little boy continued to scream.

"Please. Do something. The taxi's waiting. I need to check in the hotel right now or they're going to cancel my reservation." I told the Japanese guy who just gave me a blank stare.

"Mama, don't go to the hotel. Let's go home. We have a house."

I was taken aback with what the little boy said. Then I realized that I every time I tried to tell the Japanese guy something in English the little boy would answer. Then it hit me. The boy understands English.

I looked down on to the 4 year old who was firmly hugging onto my leg.

"You can understand English?" I asked him.

"Yes mama. Papa said I have to learn it so that I can talk to you in English when you come back." He answered still not loosening his grip of my leg.

"Now this is getting out of hand. What's your name?" I asked the little boy.

"Shinichi. Papa calls me Shin but mama calls me Ichi." He proudly answered.

"Ok Shinichi, tell your dad that I really need to go to the hotel and I think you need to go somewhere too."

"But mama you don't need to go the hotel. We can go home to our house. Papa and I are going to Okinawa why don't you come with us?" The little boy reasoned.

"No Shinichi. I told you I really need to check in the hotel right now. If they cancel my reservation, my tour will also be cancelled." I could not believe I was trying to argue with a 4 year old as the Japanese guy shifted his gaze between Shinichi and me.

"But mama..."

"I thought you said that you are going to be a good boy from now on?"

"But..."

"Tell your dad that I need to go to the hotel right now. If you don't then you are a bad boy." I told the little boy although I felt really sorry for scaring him.

Reluctantly, the little boy turned towards his father and spoke in Japanese telling his father what I told him to say.

"Is that so...?" the Japanese guy asked verifying if what the little boy said true.

Although I understood what he said I just shifted my stare from the guy to Shinichi as if asking the little boy to translate what his father just said.

"Is that so? Mama that's what Papa said."

I wanted to tell Shinichi that I knew what his father said but I held back.

Both boys started to talk in Japanese. Although I was catching a few words out of their conversation, I could not fully grasp what they were talking about because the anxiety that I was feeling regarding my hotel reservation was escalating.

"Excuse me..."

Shit! Here I go with my excuse me line again. I thought.

"Umm... I really need to go to the hotel right now. If they cancel my reservation I might end up sleeping on the sidewalk." I told them sounding really desperate.

"Mama, it's alright. Papa said we'll bring you to your hotel. But I still think that you should come home with us."

"Really? You're bringing me to my hotel? You have a car? Can we go now? I have 15 minutes left before they cancel my reservation. How fast do you think we can get to the hotel? Is it just nearby?' I asked the little boy continuously.

" Ehhh!!? Mama slow down. I cannot answer all of your questions. Ask them again. This time one at a time."

I wanted to kick myself. I forgot that I was talking to a four-year old. I heaved a sigh and asked again. This time slowly and one at a time.

" Are you sure that you are bring me to the hotel?'

" Yes Mama."

"Do you have a car?"

" Yes but it's at home."

" If it's at home how can you bring me to the hotel?"

The little boy turned his father and asked the same question.

" Papa, how will we bring Mama to her hotel?"

"We'll rent a car." His father answered.

" We'll rent a car mama." The little boy said as he faced me.

" Ok... Can we go now? I have... well... 12 more minutes before my reservation gets cancelled."

" Papa... we have to go now. Mama has to be at her hotel in 12 minutes." The little boy informed his father as he grabbed him in one hand and grabbed me with the other and tried to pull us towards the parking lot.

"Shin... Wait. What's the name of the hotel that she's booked at?"

"Ah... Mama what's the name of the hotel that you're going to stay in?"

" Wait... I'll get my reservation printout... Ahh here... it's Shinagawa Prince Hotel. Can we get there in 10 minutes?" I said handing them my printout as we were walking towards the car rental booth.

"Ehhhhh?!!!! That is very very far..." The guy blurted out.

I stopped dead on my tracks. That did not sound Japanese. If my brain processed what I heard correctly, that was definitely English.

" You can speak English?" I shrieked.

"Ahhhhhhhh.... Ummmm..."

" Don't you dare deny it. I heard what you said and it did not have any unfamiliar words in it. I was English with a Japanese accent. Why didn't you say that you can speak English. I looked like an idiot trying to let a little boy explain what I was trying to say when in fact you can speak English, let alone understand it. What did you do that for?" I blabbed.

"You did not ask. You just assumed I could not understand you." He said calmly.

"That is beside the point. We could have solved my problem earlier. I could be in my hotel right now relaxing in a spa or watching the dolphin show if only you told me that you can speak English."

"Are you saying that if I told you that I spoke English you would ask me to bring you to your hotel even if you don't know me?"

He's right. But that was not what I meant.

"We..well..." I seemed to be lost for words.

"Are you two fighting?"

Saved by the bell. Good one Shinichi. I made a mental note to thank him later.

"Nope. It's nothing. By the way, we won't be able to reach your hotel in time. It's in the other side of town and even if we left 30 minutes ago we still would not make it. Traffic is bad during this time.

" What's going to happen to me now?" I said hopelessly as I slumped on the sidewalk.

"Let's go." He said as he literally dragged me and Shinichi.

"Wait, where are taking me? Slow down."

" Wait here."

He shoved Shinichi and I onto a nearby bench, took his cell phone out and dialed.

"Hello?... yes... Where are you? Ahhh... is that so?...airport... yes... yes... now... long story... will tell you later... yes... arigatou... bye bye..."

He flipped his phone close and faced Shinichi and I who were both gaping at him waiting for him to say something good.

" Someone's coming to pick us up."

"And...? That's it? Someone's picking us up? What about me? Where's that gonna leave me? Do you know how much I paid for the reservation in that hotel? Well not just the reservation. I paid for my entire stay here in full and it's forfeited. I won't be able to get it back. That's like half of my savings. Three years of working my ass out just to save up for this trip down the drain just like that. What am I going to do now? I have no where to go. As if this misery is not enough, my freaking phone is not working in your country."

"There's no need to panic. Everything's going to be fine." He assured me.

"How is it going to be fine? I have no where to stay tonight. I don't know how to get to the nearest hotel. Hell, I don't even know how to get out of this airport. Tell me how can everything be fine?" I exclaimed as I paced the sidewalk back and forth.

" We're going home." He said as he sat beside Shinichi whose eyes darted between his father and me.

"What? You're going home? What about me? Where will I go? You can't just leave me here. You said you're going to bring me to the hotel. Maybe I can still get a cheaper room." I continued to blab while pacing.

"I said, we're going home. And that includes you. And I thought I was the stupid one!" he said shaking his head.

"Wha... what? Why?"

"What do you mean why?" He asked

"I can't possibly come home with you. I don't even know you. What will your wife say?"

"Well... what will you say?"

"What do you mean what will I say? You're not making any sense."

"You asked me what will my wife say. So I'm asking you as my wife what will you say to yourself?"

I stopped pacing and faced him with my hands on my hips.

"If that was a joke, it was not funny."

"Who said I was joking?"

"Come on, you are not actually saying that I am your wife. I don't even know you."

His face suddenly became serious as he stood up and held my hand. I tried to break free from his grasp but it was too tight.

" Riya... I don't understand why you're acting strange. But I'm begging you, come home. Shin waited his entire life for this moment to come. For you to come home. Please..." he pleaded.

Before I could ask him to clarify Shinichi spoke.

"Are you two fighting again?"

" No Shin. Mama and I are just talking about what we're gonna have for dinner tonight." He quickly answered.

"Is that so?... Papa... let's make Mama's favorite. It can be a welcome celebration for her."

"That's a great idea. Maybe we should pass by the grocery later."

I was watching the animated conversation going on between Shinichi and his father as if I was not there. I was about to comment on how I was left out of the conversation when a van stopped in front of us and honked loudly.

"Right, they're here. Let's go. Shin..." He said as he held out his hand towards Shinichi without letting go of my hand.

The door of the van slid open and three guys were staring at us, wide eyed and with open mouths.

"Riya... how... how...?" the smaller guy nearest the door asked.

"Huh?"

"Riya what happened to you? Where were you?" The giddy guy at the back seat asked.

"Huh?" No other words were coming out of my mouth.

"Oi... Let her in the car first. Ask your questions later." The well dressed guy farthest the door said as he scooted even farther to make room for us.

Once inside the van, Shinichi excitedly hugged the small guy and began to talk non stop.

"Uncle Kenji... I passed level 3 already. It was hard at first but I passed."

"Really?" The guy called Kenji asked.

"Where is he?" I heard Shinichi's dad ask the well dressed guy. Who was he looking for? Was there supposed to be someone else here?

"He went home. He wasn't feeling well." The well dressed guy answered still staring at me.

"Ammmm... who's not here? Who's not feeling well?" I asked Shinichi's dad.

He was about to answer when I felt someone tap my shoulder.

"Ehhh... uhmmm... Riya~..." I turned to see the in the backseat looking at me intently.

"Yes?"

"Where have you been all these time?" he asked

"Well... if you're asking me where I have been for the past hour, I have been in the airport, pondering on how to go about my vacation since half of my money was forfeited by the hotel. And if you're asking me where I have been for the rest of my life, well... I have spent the last three years on a job that I really don't like but had to do anyway since the pay is so damned good. So that's just about it." I narrated.

The guy in the back seat was amazingly listening to my narration while continuously nodding his head.

"I'm sorry did you even understand a single word that I just said?" I asked him

" Yeah! Yeah!" he excitedly answered.

"Hiro, Did you understand what she just said?" Shinichi's dad asked the guy named Hiro.

"Of course! I am very good in English remember?" Hiro boasted.

"So if you understood it, what did she say ?" The well dressed guy dared him to repeat what I said.

"It's kinda long." Hiro reasoned.

" As expected." The well dressed guy answered rolling his eyes upward.

"Uncle O... where did you buy your shirt?" Shinichi asked the well dressed guy while sitting on the lap of the guy named Kenji.

"Mail to order." The well dressed guy answered.