Dance Dance Dance by Haruki Murakami Read Free Book Online

said. "I'll ask you about car rates, and you answer with whatever you want to say. Nothing personal."
    She blushed slightly. "Forgive me," she said again. "They're real sticklers for rules here."
    I smiled. "Still, your glasses are very becoming."
    "Excuse me?"
    "You look very cute in those glasses. Very cute," I said.
    She touched the frame of these glasses, then cleared her throat. The nervous type. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you," she regained her composure. "It's a private matter."
    If I could have, I would have patted her on the head to comfort her, but instead I kept quiet and looked into her eyes.
    "It's what we talked about last night, you know, about there having been a hotel here," she said softly, "with the same name as this one. What was that other hotel like? I mean, was it a regular hotel?"
    I picked up a car-rental pamphlet and acted like I was studying it. "That depends on what you mean by 'regular.' She pinched the points of her collar and cleared her throat again. "It's . . . hard to say exactly, but was there anything strange about that hotel? I can't get it out of my mind."
    Her eyes were earnest and lovely. Just as I'd remembered. She blushed again.
    "I guess I don't know what you mean, but I'm sure it will take a little time to talk about and we can't very well do it here. You seem like you're pretty busy."
    She looked over at the other receptionists at the front desk, then bit her lower lip slightly. After a moment's hesitation, she spoke up. "Okay, could you meet me after I get off work?"
    "What time is that?"
    "I finish at eight. But we can't meet near here. Hotel rules. It's got to be somewhere far away from here."
    "You name the place. I don't care how far, I'll be there."
    She thought a bit more, then scribbled the name of a place and drew me a map. "I'll be there at eight-thirty."
    I pocketed the sheet of paper.
    Now it was her turn to look at me. "I hope you don't think I'm strange. This is the first time I've done something like this. I've never broken the rules before. But this time I don't know what else to do. I'll explain everything to you later."
    "No, I don't think you're strange. Don't worry," I said. "I'm not so bad a guy. I may not be the most likable person in the world, but I try not to upset people."
    She twirled her pen again, not quite sure how to take that. Then she smiled vaguely and pushed up the bridge of her glasses. "Well, then, later," she said, and gave me a busi-nesslike bow before returning to her station at the front desk. Charming, if a little insecure.
    I went up to my room and pulled a beer from the refriger-ator to wash down my department-store roast beef sand-wich. Okay, at least we have a plan of action. We may be in low gear, but we're rolling. But where to?
    I washed and shaved, brushed my teeth. Calmly, quietly, no humming. Then I gave myself a good, hard look in the mirror, the first time in ages. No major discoveries. I felt no surge of valor. It was the same old face, as always.
    I left my room at half past seven and grabbed a taxi. The driver studied the map I showed him, then nodded without a word, and we were off. It was a-thousand-something-yen distance, a tiny bar in the basement of a five-story building. I was met at the door with the warm sound of an old Gerry Mulligan record.
    I took a seat at the counter and listened to the solo over a nice, easy J&B-and-water. At eight-forty-five she still hadn't shown. I didn't particularly mind. The bar was plenty com-fortable, and by now I was getting to be a pro at killing time. I sipped my drink, and when that was gone, I ordered another. I contemplated the ashtray.
    At five past nine she made her entrance.
    "I'm sorry," she said in a flurry. "Things started to get busy at the last minute, and then my replacement was late."
    "Don't worry. I was fine here," I said. "I had to pass the time anyway."
    At her suggestion we moved to a table toward the back. We settled down, as she removed her gloves,