Naomy
Legacy Name: Naomy

It was a cold, lifeless evening, there were no stars in the sky. Smoke from the high-level Japanese businessmen cigarettes wrapped the hall of the Zashiki (geisha banquet) in an stimulating atmosphere. Naomy sat quietly, waiting for the shamisen player to finish. It was enough to a maiko (geisha in training) to look elegant and pour sake.

She sighed and tried to get more interested in the customers around her. A men at her left caught her attention ─ handsome, compelling, a man of few words and great power. She engaged in keeping his sake glass full, and tried to start a conversation without much success. Nonetheless, more than once, she noticed his eyes on her, obsessed, filled with desire.

When the banquet was winding down, he asked Keiko, her okasan (geisha house manager), about her ─ he would like to see Naomy the next night for a private dinner. She could call him Mori, Keiko told her, but he preferred to protect his real name.

He took her to a quiet restaurant in the remote corners of the city. She had her kimono on, but wore no face make-up, looking very natural and pretty. He showed a winsome imperious personality, although treating her with reverence.

They have met a few times since. Once he invited her to his apartment late at night. It was empty, something she didn't expect. It was impetuously impersonal. This was an intoxicating night for both of them, and lasted hours that they couldn't tell.

He started to give her gifts and money, and although she was still working as a geisha, she was intimate only with him. The months and then years went by, and they were very happy and loved each other.

But then she started to see less and less of him. He was an important man, and the life he was leading was not being well-regarded to a man of his caliber and high sphere.

After a few days of the most honest disappointment, she started to work full-time, helping Keiko train the maiko, and seeing more men than ever before in her entire life. During these days she would often daydream, and at least at night she would have his memories.

An image returned in her mind. The first time he lifted the sleeve of her kimono, staring at her, with strong eyebrows and wishful eyes. She had felt so wonderful in his presence, so alive. She was alone now, and getting older. But she had one certainty in her life: she would not go back, and she had no regrets.

Credits

Profile by Paula
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