After repeated pleas from Irina and much hesitation on her part, Alma agreed to become the leader of the Letting Go Group. This idea had occurred to Irina when she realized how anxious those Lark House residents who clung to their possessions were compared to those who had less. She had seen Alma get rid of so much she was even afraid she might have to lend her a toothbrush, which was why she thought that Alma would be ideal to help guide the group. The first meeting was due to take place in the library. Five people had signed up, among them Lenny, and they had all arrived punctually, but there was no sign of Alma. They waited for a quarter of an hour before Irina went to call her. She found the apartment empty, exept for a note saying she would be away for a few days and asking her to look after Neko. The cat had been ill and couldn’t be left on its own. Irina was forbidden as a tenant from having animals, so she had to smuggle him into her room in a shopping bag.
That night Seth called on her cell phone to ask after his grandmother. He had passed by to see her at suppertime but was unable to find her, and was worried because he thought Alma had not completely recovered from the incident at the cinema. Irina told him Alma had vanished on another of her trysts, having completely forgotten about her prior commitment, and as a result she herself had been left embarrassed at the group meeting. Seth had met with a client in the Port of Oakland, and since he was close to Berkeley he invited Irina to go and eat sushi, which seemed to him the most appropriate cuisine while they discussed the Japanese lover. Irina was in bed with Neko, playing her favorite video game, The Elder Scrolls V, but got dressed and went out to meet him. The restaurant was an oasis of oriental peace, with light wood walls and booths separated by rice-paper partitions, lit by red lanterns whose warm glow induced a great sense of calm.
“Where do you think Alma goes when she disappears?” Seth asked after they ordered.
Irina filled his small ceramic bowl with sake. Alma had told her that in Japan the correct thing to do was to serve the other person first and then wait for someone to serve you.
“To a guesthouse in Point Reyes, about an hour and a quarter from San Francisco. It has rustic cabins on the coast and is a pretty out-of-the-way place, with good fish and seafood, a sauna, a great view, and romantic bedrooms. It’s chilly at this time of year, but each room has a fireplace.”
“How do you know all this?”
“From the receipts on Alma’s credit card. I looked the guesthouse up on the Internet. I guess that’s where she meets up with Ichimei. You’re not going to bother her there, are you, Seth?”
“How could you think that? She’d never forgive me. But I could send one of my investigators to take a discreet look . . .”
“No!”
“Of course not. But you have to admit this is disturbing, Irina. My grandmother is frail; she could have another attack like the one in the cinema.”
“But she’s still in charge of her own life, Seth. Do you know anything else about the Fukudas?”