Head Games

Kozue actually took a moment to consider the answer to that question. She folded her arms, stood in the middle of the room, contemplated. Not exactly her strongest suit.

When the moment passed, she swiveled around on the ball of her foot towards Femie, a sad sort of smile on her face. "Friends. A relationship." She rubbed her shoulder. "Just talking to you's made me kind of realize how much I'm lacking companionship in my life. I mean, I have Alaina and Julia, and they're cool. But I don't get to see them as much as I'd like. Once every few weeks, if I'm lucky. I miss people. I go long stretches of time where I don't even talk to anyone I really know, and I train and I go home and I wake up, and it's this cycle I'm locked into. I need someone I can just be with and talk to and hang with whenever. I need it, and I haven't gotten it for a long, long time."

She started to turn around, then snapped back. 'That's not selfish is it? Just wanting someone to be, like, my emotion dump or something. It feels a little selfish."

Femie smiled at Kozue. "Of course not." She assured. "Connections are important, both deep and casual. I was sad to hear you speak about your sexual relations so flippantly, mon amie. Even though I have a similar attitude, I make sure that there is something more to it than merely the act of pleasure. I know it seems like an odd contradiction, but even a chance encounter or a one night stand should have some meaning to it, even if it's a flutter or blush in passing some time after." Once she was finished, Femie reached out and stopped the tape recorder.

She then stood up and faced Kozue. She rested her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Our time is up, Kozue." She said, looking into the girls eyes. "I tend to keep these blocks of time short and sweet because most of the girls aren't interested in facing their issues or even in having a bit of casual conversation. With so many to get to, I'm afraid that there's no doubt a very large woman bugging the secretary in the waiting room, ohoho."

"However! I'm glad I could help you. You're free to make a proper appointment any time you like." She said. Femie then paused. "Though... I may be interested in continuing in a more ... casual setting. Perhaps I shouldn't, but I have enjoyed our company and I haven't really been able to have any good company myself. Everyone I meet seems to, well..." Femie paused.

"Ohoho, anyway, I'm not the one on the couch. it's up to you, Kozue. I'm not sure if you prefer to keep things professional." She paused. "I'll get work regardless, so I suppose I could do one pro bono case, ohoho!"

Kozue's face dropped when Femie told her that the time was up, and even though those soft hands on her shoulders helped put her at ease, they couldn't quite get her all the way there. This had been a good time. She doubted everything in her life would just straighten out after one session, but she could honestly say she felt better about life now than she did before. Maybe that was an accomplishment all by itself.

She wanted to talk with Femie more. So, when the offer to do that was put out there, she didn't even hesitate.

"Fuck yeah, we can hook up." It was flattering, in a way. Someone so high up on the food chain wanted to pass some time with a girl who'd just barely got out of high school. "Name the time and place, I'll be there." She reached over with her feet and pulled her sandals over, sliding into each of them.

Kozue took a sticky pad off Femie's desk and started to scribble her name on it.

"Ohoho..." Femie chuckled to herself. "I recommend you head back to Kyoto and just relax for the day. Try and take some time to think about what we talked about and maybe think about how it relates with what you may do in the future." Femie nodded.

"When I get done, I can take the train down and meet you somewhere. A cafe or something." She said. "I'm not especially picky." She said and pulled out her cellphone. "I will send you a message when I am close to Kyoto and you can tell me where to meet up, ok? How does that sound?"

"Sounds boss." She wrote her number underneath and handed it over to Femie. She didn't know anything about the cafe scene in Kyoto, but that was what Google was for.

"I'll find some place nice for you - if you're coming all the way down to my side, least I can do is make it worth the trip." She started to back out the door, smiling wide as she went. A little giddy, yeah, but it had been way too long since she'd had a night out with a friend. This was the sort of thing her life needed. "Thanks, can't tell you how awesome this is, seriously. I will see you later, right? Right." She stuck the lower half of her body out through the door and kept the upper half inside, leaning to the side as her hair fell down. "Going now. Bye."

She slipped out and made her way, throwing a double-thumbs up to the receptionist as she passed.

"Oh, the place doesn't really matter. The trip will be worth it, but merci." Femie nodded. "I'm looking forward to it, Ohoho!" Femie chortled and waved as Kozue walked off. "Au revoir, mon amie!"