The plates where only sauce and a few salad leaves remained were quickly cleared away and replaced by a new dish of salmon and other seafood, and the red wine was replaced by a white one. The waiter uncorked the bottle and with graceful gestures served the golden, clear alcohol in two new wine glasses. In the meantime, the music had changed from a violin melody to a delicate, light piano tune, and some of the tables had emptied; evidence that as the end of the lunch hour approached, some customers had to return to work or go about their business.
However, although one was the full-time president of a large company, and the other was an heiress with a responsible position in her father's company, Utagawa Takao and Yamada Kiyo had plenty of time on their hands. Their position, while very time-consuming, allowed them to indulge in this kind of deviation without any scruples and without being accountable to anyone.
