With thanks to my blonde friend, for whom this is written. There are pros and cons to everything. I know that. In the case of taking on a lodger this year, I've been able to pay off the mortgage quicker and get in more holidays too. If that were everything, that would be enough in most cases. But there's other positives, for sure, like having someone to come home to when I've been working late. It's even better that the p...

"Hurry up," her mother snapped. Sayuri Watanabe may have been taller than her mother, but she'd never been able to keep up with her when she was in a hurry. Sayuri had never been to this part of Matsudo – she'd never had a reason. Not that it really mattered. It looked like any suburb in practically every other city in Kanto, the vast sprawl of cities that made Tokyo the biggest metropolis on Earth. She'd never been to Ka...