“If that’s how it turns out, I can live with it. I’ll just do some sightseeing in Finland and come home.”
“If that’s what you want, fine,” Sara said, “but since you’re traveling all that way, how about seeing some other places while you’re there? Tallinn and Saint Petersburg are just around the corner.”
“Finland’s enough,” Tsukuru said. “I’ll fly from Tokyo to Helsinki, spend four nights there, and then come back.”
“I assume you have a passport?”
“When I joined the company, they told us to keep it renewed so we could go on an overseas business trip if one came up. But I’ve never had an opportunity to use it.”
“In Helsinki you can get around well using English, but if you travel to the countryside, I’m not so sure. Our company has a small office in Helsinki. Kind of a sub-branch. I’ll contact them and let them know you’re coming, so if you have any problems, you should stop by. A Finnish girl named Olga works there and I’m sure she can help you.”
“I appreciate it.”
“The day after tomorrow, I have to go to London on business. Once I make the airline and hotel reservations, I’ll email you the particulars. Our Helsinki office address and phone number, too.”
“Sounds good.”
“Are you really going to go all the way to Helsinki to see her without getting in touch first? All the way across the Arctic Circle?”
“Is that too weird?”
She laughed. “ ‘Bold’ is the word I’d use for it.”
“I feel like things will work out better that way. Just intuition, of course.”
“Then I wish you good luck,” Sara said. “Could I see you once before you go? I’ll be back from London at the beginning of next week.”
“Of course I’d like to see you,” Tsukuru said, “but I get the feeling it would be better if I go to Finland first.”
“Did something like intuition tell you that too?”
“I think so. Something like intuition.”
“Do you rely on intuition a lot?”
“Not really. I’ve hardly ever done anything based on it, up until now. Just like you don’t build a railway station on a hunch. I mean, I don’t even know if ‘intuition’ is the right word. It’s just something I felt, all of a sudden.”
“Anyway, you feel that’s the best way to go this time, right? Whether that’s intuition or not.”
“While I was swimming in the pool the other day, I was thinking about all kinds of things. About you, about Helsinki. I’m not sure how to put it, maybe like swimming upstream, back to my gut feelings.”
“While you were swimming?”
“I can think well when I’m swimming.”
Sara paused for a time, as if impressed. “Like a salmon.”
“I don’t know much about salmon.”
“Salmon travel a long way. Driven by something,” Sara said. “Did you ever see Star Wars?”
“When I was a kid.”
“May the force be with you,” she said. “So you don’t lose out to the salmon.”
“Thanks. I’ll get in touch when I’m back from Helsinki.”
“I’ll be waiting.”
She hung up.