Kojiro glanced in her direction, hoping to catch her eye, but Libby was peering out the car window at the colored lights pulsing faintly in the distance. Situated brazenly on the lonely stretch of road, a love hotel, illuminated with strings of glowing lights and flashing red neon hearts, loomed out of the mist like a mirage.
Kojiro eased his foot off the accelerator as they approached the entrance. The 'hotel', filtered through the charitable lens of the fog, looked like a whimsical Disney castle that had been uprooted from the Florida swamp and transplanted to the wilds of northern Japan. Libby leaned forward for a better look.
She knew all about love hotels. Charlie had gleefully filled her in on the prurient details. They were like little theme parks--for adults only--where couples could go for an hour or more of uninterrupted pleasure.
The proprietor never showed his face. Rates were posted on the door and payment was deposited in a small box that could be accessed from the inside and out. Guests parked their cars under the portico adjoining each room and their license plates, after being carefully recorded in the manager's ledger book, were screened from passers-by. Americans looked upon the love hotels with amusement or dismay. But to the Japanese they were a practical solution to the problems of privacy and space that vexed their lives.
"You wouldn't think they would get much business way out here," Libby said. "It's miles from Hachinohe."
On closer inspection, the 'castle' which from a distance had looked so enchanting, was a disappointment--the Medieval facade like a cardboard cutout, tawdry and insubstantial.
Kojiro grunted, yea or nay, she wasn't sure which. He had been so quiet the last half-hour, Libby had given up trying to talk to him and let him concentrate on his driving. For all that it had been an enjoyable evening, she was relieved it was almost over. She wondered if he would ask her out again. She hoped not. She didn't want to be put in the position of having to make a decision one way or the other.
Libby needn't have worried. A second date was out of the question. By the time they reached Misawa they were no long speaking to one another.
THE UNQUIET HEART
Available on September 10
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