“Bye Araon. Give a kiss to Jill on my behalf.”
“You had a lot of things to say,” said Jill.
“Well I was very embarrassed. You know what? I understand only now why Samantha smacked Phil for being by far an intruder. He enters people’s live using any mean he has at his disposal,” said Araon.
“Don’t worry. It was not an act of power but a moment of fragility. I accept his flaws in the same way I have accepted Albert and Sylvanus’ flaws. But what are you doing? Ae you listening to me?”
“Sorry Jill. I was reading about a refugee camp in Paris. And there is also an awful article on Queen Elizabeth. It talks about her husband cheating on her several times. Do you think this is the way to deal with a Queen? Sorry again, Jill. I know you might not be interested in my subjects of discussion.”
“I am very interested in watching you looking in the mirror all the time. Do you want to save the flames of our love by being beautiful at all cost?”
“How crazy you are, Jill. I was just looking for something to wear. I have to call Phil. He should be out of bed now.”
“Oh yes. I noticed he has made some improvement while we were not in the room. There are a lot of maternity dresses for the fifth month. He has been so nice. Do you call him straight now?” said Jill.
“Phil? This is Araon. Are you out of bed?”
“Of course we are. We were simply waiting for your call. What part of the house do you want to explore today?”
“I would like to see the gym. I’m dressed for the occasion.”
“OK. Come to the fourth floor by lift and you will find us over there. We’ll come quickly,” said Phil.
Araon wouldn’t spread more generosity than that one he had just used. He was with Jill, Samantha and Phil instantly at the proper place. Phil proposed Araon to do some tapis roulant exercise as a goal to reach fifteen minutes to receive a holiday in a tunnel of love and some more minutes to catch some money. Araon got the result he wanted in twenty-five minutes per hour to reach the money and thirty-five minutes per hour to reach the tunnel of love. “Is this a Mensa game, Phil?” he asked.
“Brilliant. You got the point. I am introducing you to the fantastic world of the brain. Samantha is doing it with Jill with dance step.”
“By the way I have received Van der Baast’s felicitations. Thank you for helping me again,” said Araon.
“It’s my duty Araon. Now come here: I show you the remaining gym apparatus. I see you are very interested in it”
“Yes, Phil. Many, many thanks from me and Jill as well.”.
“It’s time to go out my friends,” said Phil as garrulous as he was. They were in the third-floor landing all together.
“We have to warn Jane that we are going out. She can take a break while we are out. Oh, there is a surprise Samantha: I have decided to raise her salary from three thousand pounds per month to five thousand pounds per month. She deserves it. I will also give her a proper holiday. She can have a one-week break and do whatever she wants. I wrote it in a notice and left it in the kitchen, the place where she goes as soon as she finishes cleaning the house. She is so fond of me and I am so fond of her. She told me that she would like to have a family one day. She is only twenty-three years old and she can wait. She told me that even with a family on her own she won’t stop working here. She is mine for keeps, as we say,” said Phil.
“Phil, I love that you appreciate Jane work. I am also fond of her. I would like that you take her as our housekeeper for all our life. Oh look: there is a cat over there,” said Samantha
“Yes, she is Pandria our new guest. The next of kin brought it to me and I couldn’t refuse to take it. She purrs a lot. There is some sand in the kitchen for her own needs. Jane already knows it,” said Phil.
“Araon, our cat. We have left Amsterdam but we forgot to leave the food for him and the sand for his own needs. What should we do now?” said Jill.
“You are really crazy, Jill. When we left for London, I knew it was a matter of much more than one week, I left the cat to the lady of the second floor, who was very happy to welcome him at home. Hopefully I didn’t forget our purring baby alone, Jill. If it wasn’t for me it would be already dead by now. “Said Araon. “Thanks God everything is fine now,” said Samantha who didn’t know how to join herself in the conversation.
“So, guys, what are we doing now? The limousine is outside waiting for us,” said Phil. Sure enough the four were embedded. The limousine driver was staring at them unsuspiciously. Samantha waved goodbye to Jane and closed the window of the car.
“I trust you are well, Jill. I know you are wearing the sleepers. And you are laying with your head on Araon’s knees,” said Phil, just to break the silence.
“You are right and I am watching London wonderfully,” said Jill.
“Araon I know it’s not the right place to discuss it but I have recorded in my mobile a lot of messages for business proposals We have to work hard now, you know. I picked this one, listen: I am Mark Sparrow. I’m looking for a sponsor for my career in first class train. Your income will be related to the success of my initiative. I hope you got my message. That’s it. What do you think Araon? Shall we call him back?” said Phil.
“Yes, this is what I needed,” said Araon.
“OK. I’ll contact him now. Hello, this is Phil Morris. Is that Mark Sparrow? I’m calling for the message you left in my mobile answer machine,” said Phil.
“Yes. I left a message for you in the hope you would find some interest in it. When and where do you want to meet and discuss about it?” said Mark Sparrow.
“I was considering to meeting at Regent’s Street Hotel hall tomorrow morning at eleven am.,” said Phil.
“That’s settled. See you tomorrow,” said the man.
“Now I feel free. There wouldn’t’ t be better news than this. And we mustn’t forget to bring our two beauties with us,” said Araon.
“Yes, but now there is something else. What does fidgety mean?” said Phil.
“Well it’s another move of your Mensa game You want to test us with what is obvious. So I say it doesn’t mean nervous,” said Araon.
“You got the point. We play Mensa all the time I see you are quick thinking enough,” said Phil.
“Yes, but Jill is by far more intelligent than me. Is it true love? Are you still thinking of the red box?” said Araon.
Jill felt to be fainting. She saw in her mind a finger wrapped in a nose bleeding soiled handkerchief. “No, Araon, I don’t know what a red box is,” said Jill.
“OK guys, now we are wandering around a lot. We must stop somewhere. What about walking barefoot in the damp grass of Hyde Park? We are near it,” said Samantha.
“Come on. Lets’ go,” said Phil
The four rushed in the green. It was a terrific experience of the moment. And, what’s more, from there they could admire the sweeping London landscape. “Now I do something unusual,” said Phil and he kissed Samantha with passion in front of a lewd crowd of teens.
Jill and Araon followed suit. A policeman was coming toward them. “He is going to fine us for indecent behaviour in public place,” said Phil. But the policeman gave Phil a mobile phone.” Is it yours?” He said. “It dropped from your pocket in the grass.” He carried on. “Thank you. I didn’t realize I had lost it.” said Phil.
“Be careful. London is full of thieves. Said the policeman and left Phil to go on duty.
“Have you seen Araon? I’m also absent-minded. Hopefully I have another mobile phone with the same number with all the messages recorded at home.” said Phil.” I have to learn a lot from you Phil.” Said Araon. “Yes but now let’s think of our ladies.
“Are you ready to walk a lot?” Said Phil, “Let’s go.” Was the two women reply.
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
“Cheers,” said Phil.
“To what?” said Araon.
“Araon you surprise me. Don’t you want to toast to our brand-new business appointment?”
“What a fool I am. Sometimes it seems to me that I am not synchronized enough to you. Anyway, shall we go to the meeting place as we have arranged on the phone?”
“I’m looking forward to it my dear Araon. The only thing we have to do is to look ourselves in the eyes and sign the contract as agreed.”
“Definitely Phil. Let’s go now. By the way: the ladies?”
“Oh, they complained that they didn’t want to stand there doing nothing so they decided to go for a walk in Kensington High Street and do some shopping,” said Phil.
Actually, Samantha was attracted by a big crystal chandelier in a shop window. She wanted it for their bedroom in Holland Park House The two women entered the shop and the assistant went promptly to assist them.
Kensington I’m interested in that crystal chandelier over there,” said Samantha.
“Great. I’ll show it to you properly,” said the assistant. “Have a look: there are sixty light bulbs. It’s excellent for a dining room.”
“Actually, I need it for my bedroom,” said Samantha.
“That’s fine. So you want to buy it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“It’s three hundred pounds.”
“Do you also come home to fit it?”
“Yes madam, if you want it. Give me your address and I’ll come whenever you want:”
“So you can come to this address in Holland Park within one hour.”
“Fine. You’ll pay later. And what about you, smart woman? I see you are gracefully pregnant. Is it a boy or a girl?”
“Actually, I don’t want to know it yet. I don’t know it.”
“I see. I have nice chandelier for a baby’s room. One with a blue light, the other one with a pink light.”
“You are kind but I don’t think it is the moment to buy one of those now,” said Jill.
“That’s fine. I just wanted to inform you,” said the assistant.
“Well we can go now. I will wait for you at home. If you have difficulty in finding the address call me at this phone number,” said Samantha.
“Sure madam. See you later.”
Once in the street, Samantha and Jill went towards their mutual husbands who had a clear expression of ecstasy. “Jill, Samantha,” said Phil.
“We are singing in the rain,” said Araon.
“We appreciate your decision for not attending the meeting with us. It was a question of signatures. We will see the money in six months starting from now. Where have you been instead?” said Phil.
“Phil, I feel a bit guilty. I have bought a big chandelier for our bedroom and I have told the assistant to come home to fasten it within one hour. I know you could do it by yourself but I don’t know why I made up my mind like that. We have instantly to go home,” said Samantha.
“Why should you feel guilty? The house belongs to you as well and you can do whatever you want to embellish it as you like. So let’s go. The limousine is over there.”
As they arrived home, they saw the guy with the chandelier already there. “Good morning. I came early because I was not sure to find the address at due time,” said the guy.
“So come in. I’ll show you the room,” said Phil.
The guy fitted the chandelier very quickly. “Three hundred pounds,” were his only words.
“Here you go. Thanks for coming. I’ll take you to the door,” said Phil.
The guy left the house in amazement but he was very happy. “So guys, what shall we do now?” said Phil.
“I suggest that we should go to the garden room and practice some yoga,” said Samantha.
“Good idea. What do you think about it?” said Phil to Jill and Araon. “That’s lovely. Just give me time to change and I will be in the room with you” said Araon.
Jill followed him and prepared herself to go to the garden room with some leggings, a large shirt and dance shoes.
“Please, lay yourself in the mat and we start,” said Phil Jill think of your mantra: slave. Say it mentally and breathe deeply. You are sleeping. You see a garden with a beautiful girl running towards you and Araon. Mum: she says. You are happy and Araon as well. You are sleeping relaxed and joyful. Now slowly wake up,” carried on Phil.
Jill woke up slowly with a sense of serenity. She watched the other three one by one with a certain respect. “So I have been a privileged up to now,” Jill said.
“You should be.,” said Phil.
“Araon are you fine?”
“Yes, Jill.”
“Now guys there are some nasty games I would like to involve you in,” said Phil. He went to pick his overnight bag from where he took a piece of paper. “The game is this: you should write your own name on this piece of paper. We choose one of them at random and then we start saying a word one by one, three times. The game ends with the disclosure of the word and the winner is the one who says this word. So Samantha start, please”.
“Yellow.”
“Jill.?”
“Box.”
“Araon?”
“Ladder.”
“Me?”
“Silk.”
“Samantha?”
“Flowers.”
“Jill?”
“See.”
“Araon?”
“Brunch.”
“Me?”
“Phone.”
“Samantha?”
“Charm,”
“Jill?”
“Acid.”
“Araon?”
“Train”
“Me?”
“Wind.”
“And now we see the word. The winner isn’t one of them. But did you guess the weakness of the game.?” said Phil.
“Obviously. We could say each the word we have written on the piece of paper,” said Araon.
“This is a nasty Mensa piece of a game: to reveal the obvious. But now we can go to our respective rooms to have a rest and see each other this afternoon,” said Phil.
“Terrific! We all deserve some intimacy,” said Araon.
He and Jill were awfully happy because of the game. They started to see it more meaningful than they saw it in the first place. The four departed each other waiting for the afternoon to arrive. “We are finally alone. Make yourself comfortable Jill,” said Araon closing the door quickly.
He went to the fridge and took some sandwiches to grab. “This is for you, Jill. But who the hell put these sandwiches in the fridge if Jane is not here? This is another mystery,” said Araon.
“Don’t be funny Araon. There are no ghosts in this house. It must have been Phil. Who else?”
“I know, Jill. I was amusing myself by looking awkward. It’s like the Prevost trinket, you know.”
“What?”
“The Prevost trinket.”
“This is another stratagem of yours.”
“Exactly. I see you are used to me, Jill. Have a look. There is some money on the desk. With a note. It reads: this is to give you in advance the money we have to be paid within six months It’s just because you have no cash for the shopping. Enjoy it… But there are five thousand pounds I’m counting now. It’s a lot of money. Do you know something Jill? I don’t feel guilty because of all these gifts from Phil. He is like a brother to me. I don’t know what to give him in exchange.”
“You have not, Araon. He lives his generosity as a privilege. I was also thinking of making a gift to him and Samantha but we are always all together. We must ask them to let us spend tomorrow morning at our Mayfair flat. They will understand. I have already an idea in mind to buy stamps for a collection. There is a shop on the corner of the street. We can see it from the window. I think they will appreciate the gift as something valuable. As far as I know they don’t have stamps. They would adore the Penny Black. Yes, the British Pearl.”
“You have had a brilliant idea, Jill. Now why don’t you lay on the bed? You must be tired.”
“No really. Yoga exercise has had a soothing effect on me. Strange enough it didn’t push me to scream during its he
yday as well as you did in our recent session of yoga.”
“Maybe Phil knows the job better than me. Sure, you don’t want to eat the sandwich and have something to drink? It’s for your health’s sake.”
“Thank you Araon. Don’t you see I have devoured the sandwich?”
“The same with me. They were terrific, weren’t they?”
“Araon, Araon my beloved husband.”
“Jill, Jill my beloved wife.”
“You know, Araon I’m starting to be quirky, quaint, whimsical. Next week I’m supposed to attend my knitting course and I have to find an excuse not to go there. I have already paid the course in advance, but this is not the point. I don’t want the world and his wife knows I am in London now. I will tell the teacher that the doctor advised me strongly to have a long rest and that I might be able to start knitting again after Christmas. Genial, isn’t it?”
“It’s up to you, Jill. Sure, you don’t want to have a rest now?”
“No, we will have all the night to sleep. I’ll contact Sylvanus right now. I know he misses me a lot. I know his number by heart.… It’s ringing… Sylvanus can you hear me?”
“Jill, what a surprise. I’m very well and I trust you are very well as well.”
“Is there particular news you have to tell me?”
“Oh yes, I’m dating a woman. She is Polish like Ravina but with a different character. She is beautiful beyond belief.”
“Really? You make me very happy now. I don’t want to disappoint you but I was joking. Actually, there is a bit of truth in it. There is a woman I see every day while going to work that I like a lot. I realize she watches me as well but I don’t know how to start chatting. I will keep you informed of the development of the situation. What about you? Are you big enough to fit a mini?”
“I don’t!”
“I just wanted to be funny. I will phone shortly at this time. I give you also Albert and Ravina’s greetings.”
The Red Box Page 76