Part 17 (1/2)
A motorino whizzed pa.s.sed them.
”Perhaps I had better walk in front and you follow behind,” said Mark changing his mind.
They walked single file, attracting the attention of pa.s.sers-by. Women stopped to peer into the pram exclaiming ”Che bello il piccolo! Complimenti! How beautiful the little one! Congratulations!” they said to Mark and An Mei mistaking them as husband and wife. He smiled, accepting their greetings, stepping into the role.
”I don't mind if you don't,” he whispered turning to look at An Mei pus.h.i.+ng the pram behind him. She blushed.
They came to the entrance of the garden, marked by a solitary statue. A tree lined pebbled path skirted its circ.u.mference. Wooden benches stood at intervals along the path. In the middle of the garden was a raised pond and around it were large terracotta urns. Flowers cascaded from them spilling on to the ground.
”So different from English gardens! But utterly charming!” Mark observed. ”What makes it different is not so much the flowers, the trees and the structure and layout, but the light; the sheer brightness of the Mediterranean sun and the absence of grey clouds. I'll miss this,” he said.
”Are you leaving?” Her voice shook.
”Yes! I have to go home to England. My a.s.signment is completed. I took a week's leave to stay on, but now I have to go.”
She looked away. She had expected it, but she had willed thoughts of his departure away.
”I want to tell you something; ask you.”
Her eyes were moist as she looked at him. She steeled herself for the worst.
”I have applied for a post with the World Food Programme, the UN agency that I do a lot of work for here. In fact, that is why I was asked to do the piece for the Observer. I am not sure if I will get it, but what I really want to know is would you mind? That is, would you mind if I am around?”
For a moment she was speechless. Then she found her tongue.
”Mind?” she asked, her hand grasped a bunch of lavender seed heads, bobbing by the side of the path. She needed to do something. She crushed the seeds rubbing them between her fingers to release its heady perfume. Her eyes shone. ”Mind?” she asked again, looking up at him. Unabashed, she said. ”These past few weeks have been my happiest weeks in Rome, the happiest, in fact, for a long, long time.”
He gathered her into his arms, burying his face into her neck, lifting her off her feet. A chuckle of delight broke from him and he whirled her around. ”Marry me!”
People pa.s.sed, some delighted with the display of affection. ”Ma guarda! Amore! Look at them! Love!”
Chapter 36.
An Mei placed the book down and looked at the clock on the wall. She had not read a single line. Her mind had wandered and drifted. It had weaved in and out of time. She could smell the lavender as though the oil from the crushed flower heads still lingered on her fingers.
Mark should have been home by now, she thought.
She got up from the armchair and paced the room; she pa.s.sed the table where she had laid the alb.u.m, tempted to look at it again. She heard a car turn into the driveway; a roar of the engine and then silence. Headlights shone straight through her drawn curtains illuminating the room. She ran to the window, drawing the curtains aside to look out. A shadow emerged from the car hauling a bag. She knew it was him. With quick nimble steps, her feet tingling from the cool tiles, she hurried to the door. She drew the bolts and unlocked the door, flinging it open, s.h.i.+vering as the damp outside air, hit her. She drew her kimono close around her and stood waiting for him. He was soon with her. Dropping his bag, he took her in his arms and buried his nose in her neck.
”It's good to be home,” Mark said. He relinquished his hold reluctantly. ”You shouldn't have stayed up, but I am glad you did. Come, let's close the door and go in. It's chilly out here.”
An Mei tucked her arm into his. ”Good journey?” she asked. ”Would you like a drink?”
”I'll have one later. How's Tim?”
”Come and see. I tucked him into bed early this evening.”
They opened the door gently, pausing every now and then to break the sound of creaking hinges. Timothy was sound asleep; his eyelashes lay like a fan on his plump cheeks. They watched the steady rhythm of his breathing. Mark took her hand and brought it to his lips. ”He is a beautiful boy,” he whispered. He went over to Timothy and gently kissed his forehead. ”I missed him even for the short time I was away. But we should leave him to his sleep.”
”So how was England? How did the Conference go?” asked An Mei closing the bedroom door and tucking her arms once more into his.
”The Conference went well and I saw your parents in Oxford. Your mum is practically running everything now and the restaurant in Oxford is flouris.h.i.+ng. The one in London is also doing extremely well. I went with your parents to have a meal and it was packed; a queue developed while we were there.
”What about dad? Is he well?”
”Your dad is well; thinner, much thinner. They would like you to visit them.”
”I will. Perhaps when I come back from Thailand. You remember don't you that I have to go to Bangkok to our regional office for Asia and Pacific, FAO's RAPA as they call it, to backstop a project in the Menam Chao Praya?”
”Thailand! That is what I want to speak to you about. I will have to go to Singapore around the time when you are in Thailand.” His face was bright with excitement.
”This unexpected travel is a result of the agreement reached at the Conference. Usually things take so long to happen after a meeting. But this time, the follow-up is moving at top speed. It is one of the conditions stipulated by a major donor in return for its agreement.”
”What will you have to do?”
”I have to make the preliminary arrangements for a mission to be fielded in that part of the world. Basically I will do most of the paper work here in Rome, set up a series of meetings in Singapore from here, and then, when I am in Singapore, finalise the arrangements. Could we meet up in Singapore? I leave Rome for Singapore only towards the end of your mission in Thailand, so I can bring Tim along. Then if you take some leave after Thailand, and I do the same, we'll be able to be together in Singapore. I would need to juggle with some dates and the holiday might be in tranches. I have to work some days, but we'll be together.”
”What a wonderful idea! Aunt Nelly would like that. She is not coming this year and I was already toying with the idea of going over to see her. This would be perfect. I shall get to see Jane's new baby; in fact, her other one as well. I have not seen any of them because I have not been back to Singapore since I left. I am excited.”
She stopped, a frown appeared on her face. ”It's alright isn't? I mean to go to Singapore with Tim?”
He thought for a while. ”We won't be going to Malaysia and no one knows about him except for you, me and the family. Everyone here thinks of Tim as my son.”
”Then let's call Aunt Nelly and tell her now; it should be early morning in Singapore.”
Turning to her husband, a delighted mischievous smile on her face, she said. ”Aunt Nelly will want to baby sit for us, I am sure.”
Chapter 37.
”Phew! To think I thought Rome was hot in summer,” exclaimed Mark, mopping his forehead. It was gleaming with sweat. He donned his hat quickly. He could feel the heat was.h.i.+ng over him. ”Why is it that no one wears a hat to protect them from the sun in Singapore?” he asked looking around him.
An Mei followed his gaze. People walked by; there was not a cap or hat in sight.
”I have never given it a thought,” replied An Mei. ”We just don't. Farmers do, but city people don't. Perhaps, it is because we are used to the sun. It's the same in Malaysia.”
A bus stopped and disgorged its pa.s.sengers. They came down single file; the waiting crowd moved aside for the disembarking pa.s.sengers. Mark looked on with surprise.
”How orderly! That is really impressive,” he remarked, recalling his experiences of buses elsewhere in the region. ”In India, you would have the bus so packed that people would be hanging on to it by their fingernails; and, of course, the scramble to get on and off a bus is just wild.”