Sachi left Himawari's Place at around half past three in the afternoon. She knew that she no longer had time to go shopping for a new dress so anything in her wardrobe would have to do. She hailed a taxi and went home.
Back on their suite, she made sure that Kuma-chi was fed before taking a bath and getting ready for her yearly 'date' with her husband. Unlike the previous years when she would glam up and go all out for this occasion, like visit the salon, get her hair and nails done, for this year, she decided she will do her own makeup and will just be keeping it simple. After all, she was no longer trying to impress her husband, and he couldn't be bothered with anything to do with her anyway, so why make the effort?
She was already done with everything at around 7:10 PM. She went down to the lobby with Kuma-chi in tow again. She decided she'll ask another one of the staff to look after him while she was gone, for some reason she did not want to leave him alone in their suite.
She also asked them to call a taxi for her. She knew that Ryo will be driving his car and they use that on the way back home. Her taxi arrived at around 7:20 PM and it arrived at her destination 10 minutes before 8 PM.
The restaurant was located on the forty-eighth floor of Mega Hotel and offers its customers a stunning view of the city at night, a treat to anyone who dines there. It was an expensive restaurant that only the rich and famous can afford.
For tonight, she decided to wear a full-length red cheongsam gown but decided to keep her hair down. She applied the reddest hue of lipstick she could find and put on some light makeup.
"Good evening," she was greeted by the staff at the reception area of the restaurant.
"Good evening. Dinner reservation for two for Mr. and Mrs. Sugimoto?" Sachi said.
"Please follow me," one of the staff immediately said and led her to the table near the window at the center. The staff assisted her with sitting down.
"Thank you," she said.
"Can I get you anything for now?" the staff asked.
Sachi looked at her watch, it said, 7: 58 PM. "Just water, for now, thank you," she answered.
"Coming right up," said the staff and left.
'This is strange, he's still not here. Usually, he arrives earlier than I do,' Sachi thought to herself. Her water came and she took a nervous sip of it.
"You can do this, Sachi. You can do this," she told herself and shifted her attention to the amazing view outside.
Fifteen minutes has passed and Sachi was still patiently waiting for Ryo. The staff approached her once again and asked if she was ready to order. She felt bad about eating before him so she ordered a bottle of Dom Perignon for now.
She took her phone out and was about to send Ryo a text but then she hesitated.
"No, I'm not going to text or call him. From here on out I will stop needing or caring for him," she sternly told herself. Instead, she put her phone on airplane mode.
"Two can play at this game," she said and drank her champagne.
It was now past thirty minutes since 8 PM and there was still no sign of Ryo. Sachi was already on her third glass of Perignon.
She took a deep breath.
"Inner peace, inner peace, inner peace, inner peace," she began chanting to herself in between breaths.
An idea suddenly struck her.
'He wouldn't, would he?' she asked herself. She was too preoccupied about asking him for divorce that she had completely forgotten about what Rina had just shared to her about Ryo's woman.
"Waiter," she called. She hadn't eaten anything since lunch that she was so hungry now she can eat a human. "Please give me steak and a glass of your most expensive wine."
"Right away, Ma'am," the waiter said.
"By the way, I like it well done," she added, the waiter just nodded to that.
She can feel herself fuming with anger now.
'How dare he make me wait here while he's out there having fun with his woman?!' Sachi said as she picked up the table knife.
Her steak was done after eight minutes and she began wolfing it down as soon as the plate hit the table. She could not believe that she was stress eating right now.
"Enjoy your meal," she heard the staff say after her third bite of the steak. It was a large serving, but judging from the way she was eating it she can finish it in ten minutes. She looked at her watch, it said 8:42 PM.
"I am only going to wait for you until I finish this steak," she said and took another huge bite.
She did finish the steak in ten. She took her phone out, switched airplane mode off and that's when she got all the notification about missed calls from Ryo. He's been trying to call her 30 times now. She did not even want to bother checking her voicemail. He sent her text messages, too. She received ten but only read the most recent one. It read;
"Im rly sorry. On my way 2 Mega now. R u still @ d resto? B there n 10. C u."
It was sent 2 minutes ago which means she still has time left in her hands not to see him.
"I'm really sorry, my ass," since when did he learn to apologize to her, she thought.
After drinking the wine she asked for the bill and paid for it. She walked over to the receptionist at the entrance and asked for a pen and paper.
She scribbled something on the piece of paper she was given, took her wedding ring off her finger, placed it on the middle of the paper which she folded into fours afterward.
"Mr. Sugimoto is still on his way here. Kindly pass this note to him when he arrives," she said to the reception who reluctantly accepted the note after seeing that it included her wedding ring in it. "Thank you. I had a wonderful night. Great food." With that and a smile and she was gone.
On the ride going down the elevator, she prayed hard to God that they don't bump into each other on the ground floor because she would really cause a scene if she sees him or even just his shadow tonight.
Luckily, she did not bump into him at all on the way out of the hotel. She was also able to find an available taxi right away that just dropped some passengers to the hotel. She instructed the driver to drive to their penthouse, upon arriving there, she asked the driver to wait and just keep the meter running, got out and retrieved Kuma-chi from the staff.
She didn't even want to go back that their suite anymore after what happened.
"To Denzo," she told the driver.
On the way to her parents, Sachi tried her best not to cry.
"We're going home, bud," she whispered to Kuma-chi who was curled up in a ball in her lap.
After paying the taxi, she got out with Kuma-chi and was about close the door when she changed her mind. She got inside the taxi again and closed the door behind her.
"Actually, to Edo Hotel in Hitsukoi Street," she told the driver who was both confused and amused by her.
But, the kind driver did not say anything and just drove off silently.
They owned that hotel and it was the one she was directly managing before she got married. She figured that Ryo would most likely drive to her parents to look for her so she decided against it. Also, she did not want to worry her parents tonight.
***