Page 30 of Tumbling Hearts

“Enough?” Carol pouts. “I feel like you barely took any with me!”

“I don’t need to take a ton to know I got some good shots,” Maurice counters, stepping back and pulling his camera away from his face. “What do you think, Gene? I got quite a few.”

The fact that Maurice specifically asks Gene doesn’t go unnoticed by him. “Yeah, I think you got plenty. Most of what we need is just of the band members themselves, anyway,” Gene says.

“I want to change positions, at the very least,” Santiago says, standing up abruptly.

“Yeah, I’m done with this for now,” Stefan says, stretching his arms. I think that’s the most he’s said the entire day.

“Well, whatever. Fine!” Carol sighs. “As long as you use at least one of these photos with me for your advertising, I guess that’s all that matters.”

“We’ll definitely use some, Carrie,” Ray says, his hand still unfortunately holding onto hers. “But yeah, I think we’ve already been here for a while. What do you guys say? Wrap up? Or shoot some more with the band?”

“I feel like we could keep going. We’ve still got some time booked, don’t we?” Gene asks Maurice.

“Actually, I don’t have any other appointments for the rest of the day,” Maurice says. “So you have me however long you want.”

“What if we took photos outside?” Gene proposes. “We could go downtown by the river, or maybe we could even head to the outskirts of the city and take photos by the woods? That could be a neat backdrop.”

Gene almost misses it—so subtly, he sees Maurice’s shoulders shiver with a chill. “Um, yeah! Whatever you guys wanna do,” Maurice says with a sheepish smile.

“I think that sounds fun,” Ray says, finally dropping Carol’s hand. “Good thinkin’, Gene.” The smile Ray gives him sends a pleasant warmth throughout his body. Oh, if only he could reach out and caress him, any way would be fine. But he can’t. Not right here. These thoughts keep popping out of nowhere, at the most inconvenient times.

“Yeah, no problem, man.” Gene smiles sweetly back at Ray. “Alright then, how ’bout we get ready and head out?”

It’s the next day, and Gene is with Toshiko in his bedroom, sitting on the floor against the bed. They’re listening to an early copy of her new album on Gene’s portable record player; she’s still in contact with Yasuhiro, calling him on the phone now and then for updates (and hearing her speak Japanese is always a fascinating experience), and he’d sent over the record in the mail. Toshiko told Gene that Yasuhiro sounded annoyed that she didn’t want to come back to California yet, pushing her stay in Michigan longer than he expected, but all in all it was fine as long as she’d be there by release day.

“When is your release day by the way? I don’t remember,” Gene says after the record finishes, holding a cigarette in his hand.

Toshiko stands up, taking the record off the platter and carefully putting it back in its sleeve. “Really soon, August fourteenth. I’ve been delaying returning to California since I love spending time with you here.” She giggles, setting the record onto the floor standing upright, leaning against the dresser.

“That’s this Saturday,” Gene says, ignoring everything else Toshiko said. “Ray’s birthday is Thursday, on the twelfth.”

She sits back down, on the floor next to Gene. Her skirt rides up a little as she crosses her legs, and her pink tights brush against his jean-clad knee. “Oh, really? I didn’t know. I was planning on scheduling my flight that day. I know the twelfth is two days before, but I’m worried if a flight gets cancelled or delayed. If that happens, I won’t be able to make it to California in time.”

“That’s true.” He takes a drag from his cigarette. “Well… I guess you’ll just be going then?”

“Yes. Ano, actually…” Toshiko fidgets with her skirt. “I wanted to ask if you would come with me. To California.”

“Come with you?” Gene raises his brows. “I can’t, not that day. I just said it’s Ray’s birthday.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sorry. I suppose you wouldn’t want to miss your best friend’s birthday. But, how about afterwards? It’s not like we need to take the same plane.”

Gene thinks for a moment, huffing in another breath of his cigarette. He’s been basically doing nothing this entire month, and taking a trip to California could be fun. However… “If I did go, I wouldn’t be able to stay for a long time. I have the Dusty Brooms. I can’t just… abandon them,” he chuckles. “We have a new album coming out too, y’know.”

“Of course. I don’t mean for you to move everything. I only mean for you to visit, like how I’m visiting you here.”

“That’s fair.” He did ask her to fly all the way out here for him. It’s only fair that he’d do the same for her. “I guess I could go, then. For a little bit.”

“Ah, subarashii!” She leans over, throwing her arms around Gene in a tight embrace. “That means wonderful. We won’t have to part ways for long, then.”

Toshiko has been teaching him little bits of Japanese here and there, and subarashii is another word he adds to his mental vocabulary. “For sure.” He reaches up with his free hand, threading his fingers through her short bobbed black hair. He holds his cigarette out with his other, trying not to let it get close.

“I need to tell you something else, though. It’s important.” She pulls back, making eye contact, hands still on his arms. “So, this release is only for the English version. The Japanese version releases two weeks later. Hiro has already flown back and forth between the countries to settle things with the record company and give them the masters, but I still need to visit Japan for its release, and to renew my work visa.”

“Oh, uh… oh. Okay.” Visiting California is one thing, but Japan? That’s a much bigger deal. Toshiko is from a whole ’nother country, and Gene knew that eventually she’d have to return. But… “So, I’m assuming you’d only go back to Japan temporarily, if you’re renewing your visa?”

“Yes, for that, the release, and to visit my family.” She nods, pulling her hands off Gene and back onto her own lap. “I’m not asking you to come to Japan with me if you don’t want to. I’m just letting you know. But I should only be in Japan for about a week, I hope. I don’t really wish to stay there for now. I’ve been liking America a lot, and if this release goes well, I could stay here for longer.”