Free One Kiss in Tokyo... by Scarlet Wilson Page A

was good at her job. And she knew the area like the back of her hand. She bordered on flirtatious without being forward.
    It didn’t matter that he never settled anywhere. It didn’t matter that his longest relationship had only lasted the length of time of his posting.
    His family was the best ever example of things not lasting for ever. With a father who’d married four times, and was about to move on to number five, a mother who latched onto the nearest guy with money until she’d spent it all, and a sister who was learning from her mother’s example, it was no wonder he didn’t do any kind of family gatherings.
    His last stepmother had been a woman only a few years older than him and she had insisted on inviting him around at New Year. The last New Year’s dinner had been a complete disaster. His father had got horribly drunk, insulted just about everyone sitting around the dinner table, then passed out on the sofa.
    Never. Ever. Again.
    He hadn’t even told any of them his orders had changed and he was in Japan now. They probably wouldn’t care.
    The only person he’d really respected in the family had been the owner of the fedora—his uncle Stu. He’d been a real life Indiana Jones, disappearing into parts of the continents that no one had heard of and coming back with artefacts for the museum he’d worked for and a whole host of fantastic stories.
    Because he’d been a kid, Avery hadn’t really understood the politics of it all—or the danger. All he’d known was that Uncle Stu had been shot at a few times, been threatened on occasion and had had to run from a bunch of robbers in more than one set of circumstances.
    It had been very exciting for a young boy. Right up until the point an official-looking letter had been delivered to the door and his father had disappeared for a few days, returning with only the fedora. ‘It seemed Uncle Stuey took the wrong artefact’ was all he’d said before he’d dumped the fedora onto Avery’s head and disappeared into his study.
    Avery had been lost. Uncle Stu—crazy as he’d been—had been the most normal person in the family. They’d joked about working together when he was old enough to join his uncle on the expeditions. It had never occurred to him that might never happen.
    Nothing else in the world had seemed certain after that.
    Joining the air force had been the steadiest part of his life. Stu had left him a little money that he’d used to part pay for college and medical school. With no family or home to support back in the US he was now almost debt free. A great position to be in.
    Why shouldn’t he date the woman he wanted to?
    As they darted among the crowds, recognition dawned in his brain. This time he did reach for her hand and tugged it. ‘Hey, this is that place, isn’t it?’
    She gave him her most innocent expression. ‘What place?’
    He wrinkled his nose. ‘I can’t remember what you called it. Ha -something—the crazy crossing?’
    People all around them had their phones in the air, ready to capture the moment that the lights changed. A few seconds later it happened. And it seemed like the whole world moved.
    â€˜Watch out!’ said Katsuko as she pulled him back against the wall of a building.
    It would be so easy to get swept along with the momentum of the crowd. He climbed up a few steps to get a better view. ‘Wow.’ It was almost like a form of dancing or synchronised swimming. And it wasn’t slow—it was fast. People dodged around each other instantly, heading in all directions. Some moved in straight lines, some diagonally.
    â€˜How do they do that?’ he wondered out loud.
    Katsuko smiled at him and shrugged. ‘What can I say? We’re naturals. Welcome to Hachiko crossing—the busiest crossing in the world.’
    As the throng of people disappeared quickly the lights changed