Roy Keane walks up the drive of his Cheshire home
There were 12 of us spending a relaxing few hours after another demanding day attempting to keep tabs on the Republic of Ireland's chaotic World Cup preparations.
With our shoes left outside, we were sitting on the floor at a Japanese dining table, munching on chicken and rice and, admittedly, supping on a lager.
Predictably, the subject of conversation was Roy Keane, the Republic skipper who had been sent home after an almighty row with team manager Mick McCarthy.
Yes, the Roy Keane affair. That 'closed chapter' as McCarthy had been calling it.
The Irish manager and his remaining 22 players may have considered the saga closed.
But there was to be an epilogue. One more amazing twist in the tale.
The mobile of a BBC television producer rang first, followed immediately by a chorus of another 11 outrageous ringtones.
Roy Keane was about to do a 30-minute interview with Irish television and the word was he could be ready to apologise to manager McCarthy for his outburst in Saipan.
Keane apologise? Yeah, right.
It was quickly confirmed that the television interview was to happen, but exactly what Keane was to stay remained a mystery.
Once one reporter made his move, the others quickly followed.
Media men hunt in packs, scared of one breaking loose and getting an exclusive.
By the time a clip of Keane's RTE interview was shown on the news, it was two in the morning, Izumo time.
But the guys from the daily papers were still hours away from deadline and there was a lot of work to be done, lots of trans-continental telephone calls to be made and received.
When the details came through, it appeared Keane had indicated he would like to return to the camp but had stopped short of issuing any sort of apology to Mick McCarthy.
Six hours later, on the steps of the team hotel, McCarthy seemed to offer a glimmer of hope that an amazing reconciliation between manager and player could be achieved.
Best interests
"My phone is always on," said McCarthy. "But the call has to come, doesn't it?"
However, roll on another five hours or so and events took another turn.
Football Association of Ireland press officer Brendan McKenna came to the media conference to announce that the players had decided to release a statement.
In it, they said it was in the best interests of the squad if Roy stayed at home.
In other words, there was no way back for Keano now, apology or no apology.
The players want that to be the end of the matter but the Roy Keane saga just will not go away.
And it will surely still be with us long after the Irish squad returns from the World Cup.