Master of Time

I don\'t know why I can remember these songs so well, but maybe it is because I really like the person who is sing these songs.

She has a really good voice.

One of the best I have ever heard, and I have heard many people singing before.

I hope that I will be able to sing like her one day, and maybe being able to sing better than her just like mister Max had told me. He really believes that I could sing better than this singer even though he has never heard me sing before.

At least I don\'t think so. I have only met him today, and I already like him a lot. A lot more than many people I have met so far.

Mister Max is the first adult to think that I could be better than others at something, and I don\'t want him to be disappointed. Therefore, I will try my very best.

But I must have dozed off because it is really dark outside. It wasn\'t this dark before, and from all the passing buildings and billboards that I can see outside the car windows, I think we are in Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is a city in the state of Pennsylvania.

I have never been to Pittsburgh before, but I have heard about it from my mummy often. She and my baby sister, Rachal, live there together.

They are living with my grandma, whom I cannot remember very well because the last time that I have met my grandma is when I was a baby. I was living in New York City then.

I have been to many places around the world, but I like New York City the best.

It is because New York City is where my daddy and mummy used to live together in the same house. I live there until I was 6 years old because after mummy left daddy with my baby sister, daddy took me to Japan because of his job.

I didn\'t even get to say goodbye to all my friends back then.

It was very sad.

I wonder if my friends in New York City still remember me. I hope that they do because I still remember them. I remember all of my friends, even if they do not remember me.

My memory is really good.

A lot of my Japanese and Korean teachers have praised my memory. They really wanted to put me in a special class at school where there are a lot of gifted children like me, but daddy didn\'t like that idea very much, so I couldn\'t go to the special class even if I really wanted to.

I wonder why daddy was very angry about it. I think he was scared too. Very scared.

Daddy was also really scare of mister Max, to the point of being unable to speak. Mister Max can be a little scary, but he is generally really nice. He is taking me to mummy.

"We are almost there, Christina. You must be very hungry right about now."

Mister Max speaks up. He also casts a glance at me with a bright smile on his face. Those eyes that he has are very pretty. They sparkle in the light beautiful too.

I wish I have eyes like those.

And like mister Max has said, I am really hungry. I didn\'t have breakfast this morning since daddy had to take me to the hospital early, before everyone so we don\'t have to stand in queue. But there were a lot of people there already.

I did have a really big lunch though.

The lunch was also really delicious. One of the best meals I have ever had.

The lady working in the cafeteria of the hospital was very nice too. She gave me a lot more foods than I asked for. Daddy didn\'t give me enough money to buy a lot of foods for lunch since he doesn\'t have a lot of money like mister Max.

But luckily, I get to eat a lot thanks to the cafeteria lady. I cannot tell anyone about her since the lady had told me not to. She had warned me that if anyone ever finds out what she did, she might lose her job since she is not supposed to give out all the foods for free.

Ah. I really shouldn\'t think about it anymore because mister Max knows what I am thinking. At least I think he does because he knows exactly what I am going to say.

I blink at him.

Mister Max chuckles and turns his attention away from me to look straight ahead at the road in front of the car. There aren\'t really that many cars and trucks on the road even if the road is very big. There are four lanes in total, but only two of them are emptied.

Mister Max switches lanes. He soon turns the car and enters a small connecting road. And after driving straight ahead for a bit, he turns the car again and enters a parking lot.

There are already many cars in the parking lot, but there are also a lot of empty spaces to park.

"And here we are. The restaurant is across the road. It might not look much, but it does make the best Sushi around here. Maybe one day, your mother and her family can take you there?"

Mister Max announces as soon as the car comes to a stop.

What did he mean by my mummy and her family? Did he mean my mummy and daddy and baby sister together? But somehow, I don\'t think that is what he meant.

I also look around to see what restaurant he is referring to, but I couldn\'t see any since he had parked the car in a parking spot farthest away from the road. I wonder why since there are many free parking spots available nearer the entrance.

Maybe mister Max likes to park far away from the entrance? Daddy sometimes does that because he wants to hide from someone. He always hiding from someone when he was in the army.

I wait for mister Max to unfasten his seatbelt before I did. I also wait for him to exit the car before me, and he allows me to open the door myself.

The door was really heavy, but I like it. I really like opening it myself.

It feels good.

I have to slam the door with my body afterwards, putting all my weight against the door to make sure it is closed correctly.

Mister Max chuckles again, but he agrees that I am a big girl now. I smile at him return.

After that, he takes me across the road from the parking area to a Japanese restaurant. It is not a very big restaurant, but it is filled with a lot of people.

They are having dinner, talking and chatting loudly even though it is almost 9pm at night.

I know the time because the clock hanging on the wall at the entrance says so.

Even though it is almost my bedtime, I am not sleepy at all.

I wonder why I am not, but maybe it is because mister Max has helped me with my chest pains and all the other pains.

Or maybe it is because I had taken a long nap in the car.

I remember leaving the hospital about 5pm even thought the watch that mister Max is wearing around his wrist said it was nearing 8pm then. Since it is 9pm now, I was in the car for about four hours.

It didn\'t really feel like four whole hours because I had slept for three hours or so. I didn\'t recall when I had fallen asleep though, so that was weird.

As for how I know how much hours it is, I counted my fingers. I can only use one hand to count because the other hand is holding mister Max\'s hand.

I like holding his hand because it makes me feel very warm and good inside. I think he feels the same way as well because his fingers curl around mine gently and firmly.

I also notice that he has corrected the time on his watch.

It has the correct time now. It is the same time as the clock hanging on the wall.

"Welcome."

A beautiful woman greets mister Max and me with a bow. I think she is about the same age as mister Max. She looks Japanese, but I don\'t think she is Japanese because of her blue eyes. All Japanese have black eyes instead of blue eyes. Her hair isn\'t black either.

"And to you too, Miss. Yumiko. Seems unusually crowded at this hour. Most people are either at home or going home this time. Ah sorry, I am just thinking about something else. Do you have a table for me and my daughter?"

Mister Max asks, making me look up at him.

Did he just call me his daughter? He isn\'t my daddy, and the only way that I could be his daughter is if he adopts me. I think that is how it works since mummy had thought about putting my baby sister up to adoption before.

Also, how did mister Max know her name? Maybe he has met her before.

Yumiko is also surprised, but she simply smiles in response before nodding and gesturing us to follow her deep into the restaurant.

And on the way to the table, my hand tightens around mister Max\'s hand. This is because there are a lot of scary people in the restaurant even if they look like normal people and dress like normal people.

The scariest of all is the old man making Sushi behind the glass counter. He is wielding a huge knife as he slices and dices the fishes and meats. He looks up at me, and I could see a huge scar running down and cross one of his dreadful eyes.

I want to tell mister Max that I am scared, but he shakes his head before I did, seemingly understanding my fear fully.

"Don\'t worry, Christina. We are guests here, even if all sort of animals come out at this hour."

Mister Max tells me, causing a few people nearby to look him rather suspiciously. Their eyes are also very scary. Some are even reflective in the dark like cat eyes.

I pay attention to mister Max because I didn\'t understand what he means by animals.

Maybe he is talking about the cats and dogs making all sort of noise outside. They do make quite a bit of noises at night in the dark.

"I suppose there are cats and dogs here, but don\'t worry, Christina. Animals are still animals."

Mister Max chuckles and helps me into my seat, which is just a cushion. He then takes his seat on the opposite side of the table from me before picking up the menu and handing it to me.

I accept the menu and have a look at the front cover, which is filled with pretty pictures. I am sure that there is also a lot of pretty pictures inside the menu as well.

"Don\'t be shy, Christina. You can have anything you want on the menu. Off the menu too. I think there are a few special items not listed on here, but you shouldn\'t order them because they probably won\'t taste very good to you."

I wonder what mister Max means by a few special items not listed on the menu. Wouldn\'t it be better if it was listed on the menu because it would allow people to order it?

I don\'t really understand, but I trust mister Max well he said that I probably won\'t like those off-menu dishes. There are also many dishes to choose from on the menu.

It takes me a long tie to flip through all the pages and look at all the colorful pictures one by one. A lot of words under the picture in English-Japanese. I think it is called Romaji.

I really want some Unagi rolls because it tastes really good, but it costs a lot of money.

Mister Max has a lot of money, I think.

I look up from my menu to see what he is doing. He is already ordering from the menu, requesting for several Unagi rolls along with many other dishes like tempuras.

It is nice to have a lot of money.

Mister Max pays attention to me once he finishes telling Yumiko what he wants.

"Please don\'t mind me, Christina. I am just ordering what I think we might both enjoy together. Please remember what I have said before. You don\'t need to be shy. It is my treat for our date. A date means a special outing together with someone you like."

Mister Max assures me with a smile, teaching me a new word.

A date means a special outing together with someone you like? With someone I like? Does that mean mister Max also likes me? I hope he does because I like him very much.

I nod slowly in response and decide to order what I want to have for dinner. Since mister Max already ordered a lot of Unagi rolls already as well as all assortments of sushi, I ask for a bowl of noodle soup instead.

Ah. I order two because mister Max might like some noodles as well.

I hope that he does because then we can enjoy together.

Mister Max chuckles again as he closes the menu and rests it on the table. He always seems to be very happy and cheerful unlike my daddy who is always moody and angry at everything, frightening me.

Even so, I still miss him.

But daddy doesn\'t want me anymore.

"You father does care and love you in his own way, Christina, but I think deep down, you already know that. Right now, he just needs a lot of time to himself, figuring out a few things. Once he does, you will get to see him again. It might not be tomorrow, but it will be one day."

Mister Max tells me with a smile.

"Oh. Your father did tell me that you have a really good memory. While we wait for our foods, do you want to play a little game? It is not a hard game. And if you win three times, I will give you something special."

Mister Max takes out a deck of card from his pocket.

The deck of card looks really shiny as if each card is made of metal instead of paper or plastic. He then takes out four cards from the deck, all Queens, and place them all on the table in front of him and me.

They are facing down, but I already know what each card is because I have saw them face up before.

I also notice an octopus pattern on the back of each card. But I don\'t think it is an octopus since each of the tentacles has eyes and a mouth. I am curious what kind of creature that is.

Mister Max pick up one of the cards, holding up to me and showing me that is a Queen of Heart.

"Can you find the Queen of Heart? Oh, if you want to know what this monster illustrated on the back of the card is, it is a Hydra, one of the legendary beasts. It has incredible regenerative power, allowing it to regrow even its head back, and not only one head at a time."

Mister Max tells me, and strangely, the entire restaurant becomes eerily silence.

I look around, noticing that everyone is looking at me. No. They are looking at mister Max as he places the card back onto the table facedown before shuffling it amongst the other three cards. It is not that hard to follow since he didn\'t shuffle very fast.

"Now. Show me where the Queen of Heart is?"

Mister Max asks me, but I don\'t think he is asking only me.