Now, even though Ichiko had asked her over, there was nothing to
suggest that she was on her way down to meet Takako.
The maid, Taneko, led Takako to the living room. Takako stopped at the
door, surprised.
“Isn’t this Mr. Chiba’s office?”
“Well, it’s where he works.”
“Is it all right for me to be here?”
“Yes, of course—go right in,” said Taneko.
Both the table for receiving guests in the middle of the room and the
larger table by the window were covered with western books and
architecture magazines. Blueprints lay spread across the table by the
window, and on top of these lay various drawing tools. Architectural
photographs were stuck up on all the walls, so many that they overlapped in
places.
Though she lived next door, Takako had only rarely entered the Chibas’
house before. She and Ichiko would stand talking over the bamboo fence,
or else say what they needed to say at a front door or verandah. And on the
rare occasions when she had come inside, she’d usually been shown into
the sitting room. This was the first time she had been brought into the
living room.
Chiba went in to the construction company’s office to work, and he met
with customers there, so it was unlikely that he used this living room very
often. He used it mostly as a study.
Takako remained standing even after the maid had left, still unable to
relax. She walked around looking at the photographs on the wall. Most of
them showed buildings by western architects, but a few seemed to be
buildings Chiba had designed. There was a wine bottle on the round table,
and a few glasses.
