Once upon a time in Chinatown

by Robert Ronsson

  The tube containing the document arrived by courier only hours before Mick was due to leave and I hurried over to his flat.

  ‘Everything ready?’ I asked.

  He sucked in a long breath, puffing up his chest. ‘I’m hellishly nervous.’

  ‘You’ll be fine. He’s agreed to see you. It’s a good sign.’

  ‘I really think my future happiness depends on this.’

  ‘You’re in love.’

  ‘What did you want?’

  ‘Well mainly to wish you bon voyage and all the best but I also wanted to show you this.’ I held up the cardboard tube. ‘I ordered it after Christmas but… just let’s say this seems the right time.’

  ‘What is it?’

  ‘It’s a bit cheesy but I had a calligrapher draw up a sort of family tree. Your side and mine. Look I’ll show you.’

  I unrolled the faux parchment and ran my finger down a hand-scripted family tree from the twin grandparents at the top through the next generation to where Mick and I were the only two people in our row. We were linked through a box containing the word ‘Cousins’. Below our names there were spaces for Mick and me to sign.

  ‘I know this doesn’t mean much to you,’ I said, ‘but remember I never had a family. This makes it all seem real. It’s not a big tree, is it? Two names at the top and now only you and I left at the bottom – but I’d treasure it.

  He looked from the document to me and back again. ‘No, I understand. It’s important. For both of us.’ His gentle, blue eyes were shining. I could have hugged him.

  ‘It would mean a lot if you’d sign it, recognise that we’re family. I know it’s silly but I’m going to get it framed.’ I proffered my best fountain pen. The one they had given me when I left Scotia.

  ‘Of course,’ he said. Leaning over, he signed in his space and handed the pen back to me. ‘If it all goes well in the next few days we’ll be adding to this. First Nancy’s name and, who knows, a next generation.’

  I signed in my space and waited for the ink to dry. ‘Let’s hope that it does. This thing looks a bit narrow. It could do with broadening out a bit. It’s about time somebody in this family did some proper breeding!’

  Mick laughed. ‘Well, I’m keen to start work on it!’

  I clapped him on the back. ‘I’d better go and leave you to your packing. Good luck, cousin.’ I rolled up the family tree and slid it into the cardboard tube.

  ‘You too, mate,’ he said as he ushered me to the door. We shook hands and I skipped down the steps to the ground floor exit. Everything was in place for Mick’s trip.

  5

  I can only imagine how Mick’s heart would have lifted when he saw Nancy waiting at the barrier as he trundled his case through the arrivals gate. She rushed to him and their hug turned into a long, passionate kiss. She pulled away, breathing sharply, looking around and smoothing down the front of her cheongsam. She blushed.

  Hand in hand they hurried to the exit where a wall of hot, humid air took Mick’s breath away and triggered a rush of sweat under his shirt. They joined a queue for the taxi rank at the head of which a uniformed lackey motioned them towards the next cab in line. Once settled inside, Nancy held Mick’s arm tight against her chest. ‘It’s so good to see you again, my love. I was afraid we would only ever have Lisbon.’

  After sneaking a look to see if the driver’s eyes were on the road or the rear-view mirror, Mick turned and kissed her on the mouth. ‘I see you’ve ditched Lang-ren,’ he whispered, nodding towards the driver’s seat.

  Nancy giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand, and patted his arm. ‘It’s just you and me tonight. We have a room in the Istana Hotel. It’s very swanky.’

  ‘What have you told your father?’

  ‘A friend is covering for me. As far as my father is concerned I’m spending tonight with her and we will pick you up at the Istana in the morning.’

  He placed his hand on her knee, his little finger twitching towards her thigh. ‘I like the idea of just me and you in the swanky hotel.’ He stifled a yawn and looked at his watch. It was late afternoon. ‘This jet-lag! I fear that I’ll have to have a lie down as soon as we arrive.’

  She nodded and frowned as if she was considering a question. Finally, putting her hand over his and inching it imperceptibly higher, she said, ‘This sounds like a most sensible plan.’

  The next morning, they were on the rear seat of a Mercedes taking them north towards Ipoh. They sat inches apart, holding hands. Nancy had warned that, although Lang-ren wasn’t driving, the chauffeur was still one of her father’s men so they would have to be circumspect from now on. Sitting upright with only their hands touching, they watched the increasingly rugged landscape swish by.

  Part of Mick’s brain was formulating his side of the discussion with S Y Lee. Nancy had briefed him over their room-service supper the previous evening. He knew now that SY Lee had a dream for the castle but was having difficulty financing it. Would Mick’s ability to put up the money overcome S Y’s prejudice about westerners? Last night, he and Nancy had pledged, rashly he now knew, to spend the rest of their lives together. This would be much easier with S Y’s blessing, if only he could be convinced. The arguments that he rehearsed silently, focused on how he saw himself as merely the money man. The grand, new, spa hotel would be run by the Lee family – principally Nancy – as part of the Leeyate Group. Mick’s involvement would be only as Nancy’s partner and, he hoped, husband.

  When they arrived at the hotel, Nancy clasped his hand tightly, let it drop and hurried off to her room. She called him later to confirm that S Y Lee would see him first thing in the morning and she indicated that it would be best for them to stay apart until after the meeting. ‘His spies are everywhere, Mick. We can wait until tomorrow. Fingers crossed. Sleep tight.’

  After a solitary breakfast, Mick announced himself at the reception desk and was escorted to the private lift for the penthouse floor. He wore the same expensive jacket and trousers that he had bought on his previous visit to Ipoh.

  The lift doors opened directly into S Y Lee’s office. The small, balding man, whom Mick remembered from the Lisbon Chinatown courtyard, sat straight-faced behind the desk. It was only as Mick stepped forward that he realised that the desk was on a dais. The blinding sunlight through the wall of glass behind S Y Lee was another feature of the room designed to disarm the visitor.

  Determined not to be intimidated, Mick ignored S Y Lee’s signal to take a seat and stepped onto the dais, his hand extended. S Y Lee shook hands without rising.

  ‘It’s good of you to see me,’ Mick said. He smiled, still standing in front of the desk. ‘It is much more pleasant here than in Lisbon.’

  S Y Lee evidently failed to see anything to smile about. He indicated the chair again. ‘Please, sit down.’

  The raised platform extended across the window side of the room and Mick moved past the front of the desk to one of the windows and looked out. ‘You have a terrific view.’ He pointed. ‘Is that the railway station?’ He knew the answer.

  S Y Lee swivelled in his chair. If he was irritated by Mick’s refusal to step down and take a seat, he didn’t show it. ‘You be more comfortable sitting down, Mr Kellie.’

  ‘I’m fine here.’ He perched his backside on the window ledge. He hoped that S Y Lee would be impressed by his refusal to be intimidated.

  ‘I am most disappointed that you ignored warning and stayed in touch with my daughter, Mr Kellie.’

  Mick shrugged. The car through the cinema window had been to reinforce S Y Lee’s message.

  ‘You know that she engaged to be married.’

  ‘Call me Mick, please. What I know is that Nancy and I are in love and I would like your blessing to marry her. Clearly, this would require her to break off her engagement.’

  ‘This make many peoples in my family very unhappy. But Lai Ping has asked me listen to what you say, Mr Kellie. I her father. I would like her be happy but I need her to hold obligations to famil
y.’

  Mick stood up, half-facing the window and half-addressing the man behind the desk. He paused, waited and, at the precise moment that S Y Lee appeared to lose patience, said, ‘When I was here in Ipoh, Nancy could tell how I felt about her. I think she already had feelings for me. She sent me away because of her daughterly obligation to you and to your family.

  ‘One of the last things I said to her was that it was a pity that the building I know as Kellie’s Castle wasn’t marketed as a tourist attraction.’ He spread his hands. ‘I didn’t know then that you owned the house and, because of my family association with it, I suggested rather romantically that I could buy it and give it to the state of Perak. I think this is the first inkling that your daughter had that I am quite a rich man.’ He paused to let the fact sink in. ‘When we were planning Nancy’s trip to Lisbon…’

  S Y Lee leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

  ‘… Something that I now realise was a mistake and for which I apologise; while we were planning Lisbon, Nancy came to appreciate that my resources meant that my suggestion to buy the house was not a romantic delusion but a financial reality.’

  S Y Lee held up a hand. ‘Sorry I stop you in middle but I very rude and not offered tea or coffee. Would you like?’

  Mick imagined the coffee cup being placed on the table alongside the only chair on the room’s lower level. ‘No, thank you.’

  ‘I sorry. Go on.’

  ‘I was saying that Nancy came to realise that I have considerable resources and that I am looking for investment opportunities. She may have told you that my first business venture as an entrepreneur is a small cinema in South London—’

  ‘Near Kingston.’

  ‘Just so. Near Kingston. Anyway, when Nancy understood the situation, she told me about your plans for Kellie’s Castle.’

  S Y Lee’s noisy intake of breath stopped him in midflow. The older man grimaced. ‘This was breach of confidence. I’m not sure I can forgive.’

  ‘Nevertheless, the idea of a luxury spa hotel in the north of Malaysia strikes me as a sound business proposition. It is something I would like to see happen to the old building that I have come to regard with affection. In short, you and I share the same dream for Kellie’s Castle.’

  Mick had anticipated that S Y Lee would respond at this point and when no reaction came, he pressed on. ‘I understand that you don’t have the resources yourself and you are suspicious of outside investors. My proposal to you is that, if Nancy and I were together, she would receive sufficient funds from me to rebuild Kellie’s Castle as the hotel. She would run it. Naturally, this would mean that she would have to stay in Ipoh. If I was lucky enough to be her husband, I would be honoured to be part of your family living in Ipoh and perhaps having a role in one of the Leeyate businesses—’

  S Y Lee shook his head.

  ‘—or not. I only play a sleeper role in my business in the UK. Perhaps I will have to be content to do the same here. These are details. The main question is: are you interested in my proposition?’

  S Y Lee shook his head again. ‘Lai Ping prepared you well. She knows how much I have this dream for the, how do you say, flaghead hotel.’

  Mick thought it best not to correct him.

  ‘But there is so much more about this.’ He started counting on his fingers. ‘My family’s objection to end of engagement to my nephew. Even if we get over this, are you a fit person for my daughter—’

  Mick stood up. ‘She thinks so—’

  ‘But I make this decision—’

  Mick spread his arms. ‘She’s an adult, she can—’

  ‘I her father. That end to it,’ S Y Lee snapped.

  ‘I apologise.’ Mick perched back on the ledge.

  S Y Lee’s voice softened. ‘You have to understand. It is the way of me, our culture. Even though Lai Ping is different generation, deep down she need my blessing.’

  ‘Of course.’

  ‘This is all to be thought about even before the… not sure of right word… practicality.’ He stood up. ‘Do you have any more say?’

  Mick clasped his hands together and shook his head.

  ‘Lai Ping ask me give serious thought to what you propose this morning. This I will do. I talk to her this afternoon and let you know decision. If it possible we can discuss in more detail.’

  ‘I hope you decide to make me a happy man.’ Mick allowed S Y Lee to usher him to the lift and press the call button. The doors opened soundlessly and he stepped inside. When he turned back to face the room, as the lift door closed, Nancy’s father was already in his place behind the desk.

  Nancy had been waiting in the lobby watching the floor indicator above the penthouse lift door. She rushed to Mick but stopped short and looked around. ‘How did it go?’ she asked. Her voice trembled in a higher register than normal.

  ‘Well, he didn’t shoot me!’

  She slapped his arm and checked herself. She took his elbow and led him into the furnace outside. ‘That’s not as funny as you think. Seriously, what did he say?’

  Mick took off his jacket for the short walk to the mall and put it on again in response to the blast of cold from the air conditioning.

  Nancy punched his arm playfully. ‘Tell me! What happened?’

  He peered over the balustrade to check out the English-style coffee shop. ‘Come on.’

  Once they had ordered coffees and were ensconced in one of the booths at the back of the room, he turned to her and nuzzled against her neck. Her perfume was exciting. The mere touch of his lips against her skin was enough to make his blood race. ‘I love you,’ he whispered.

  She moved away from him. ‘I told you. Not in Ipoh. Not until… look, for goodness sake, tell me what happened.’

  ‘Like I said, he was okay. At least he heard me out. He’s worried that the family won’t accept you breaking off your engagement.’

  ‘That’s going to happen anyway.’

  ‘He doesn’t know that.’

  ‘What about the hotel?’

  ‘I think the trump card is that it will be you – your money not mine that makes it happen. Although, I think he doubts whether I have enough.’

  ‘Do you have enough?’

  He shrugged. ‘Labour is cheaper here. Even if it takes everything I have…’

  ‘You’re so sweet.’ She checked around the room. ‘I love you too!’ She whispered.

  ‘He’s going to see you this afternoon to give you the verdict. If he’s still open to the idea when you see him, you’ll have to persuade him that you’ll only be happy with me. Maybe you don’t have to go so far as to tell him that you’ll break off the engagement whatever he says. But once he gets the message loud and clear I think the whole thing is going to be about business. If he thinks you and I have enough money to bankroll the project, I think he’ll give us his blessing.’

  She locked her eyes on his and, hidden from others in the café by the table, placed a hand on his thigh. ‘I can’t wait,’ she said.

  Their roles were reversed later that afternoon. It was Mick who sat in the lobby watching the unchanging floor indicator above the private lift entrance. Nancy had been with her father for over an hour. Even with his jacket on, Mick was cold. He had shifted his seat twice to try and find a space that was not immediately under a freezing airjet.

  He had tried to read the paper but couldn’t focus on the print. A revolving screen above the reception desk publicised Ipoh’s tourist attractions, tellingly omitting any mention of Kellie’s Castle, but he had become bored after watching the same reel three times. He had studied the comings and goings of the passing guests, making a game of guessing their nationalities. He had observed the concierge, who waited patiently at his station until a guest presented with a query, whereupon he would make a phone call or shout for a bellhop boy so that between them they could send the guest away happy. He had wondered, if he and Nancy were successful, what role might be his in the maelstrom of tourism and commerce that swirled aroun
d him. He looked at his watch for the umpteenth time and checked the floor indicator stuck on ‘8’.

  It moved to ‘7’ and counted through the numbers to ‘0’. He hurried to greet her. The doors opened.

  He could tell from the wide smile on her face and the tears in her eyes. She stepped out of the lift and into his arms. There was no need to hide.

  Over the remainder of that week, the three of them met every day to work up S Y Lee’s plans into a real project. The architect who had drafted them provided a ball-park estimate for the construction to a finished five-star, spa hotel. The figure was big enough to use up nearly all of Mick’s capital but he had no qualms. It would secure his future with Nancy.

  Together, they had visited S Y Lee’s Chinese lawyer and set up a new separate company solely for the new hotel within the tourism branch of the Leeyate Holdings Group. S Y Lee, Nancy and Mick held equal shareholdings. Much to S Y Lee’s ill-camouflaged disgust, one of the lawyer’s Malay partners was drafted in to take the minimum stake required by legislation. Mick set up a bank transfer for his first injection of capital.

  It was agreed by the end of the week that Mick should return to the UK to tidy up his affairs. While he was there, S Y Lee would deal with the issue of Nancy’s engagement to Tommy Lee and the building project would progress to an initial stage. Once the project plan was agreeable to all parties, S Y Lee would arrange a Buddhist blessing in Ipoh for their civil marriage, which, he suggested, should take place outside Malaysia.

  Throughout the negotiations, S Y Lee called Mick ‘Mr Kellie’ and Mick called him ‘Mr Lee’.

  6

  For the whole of the journey along the Great West Road from Heathrow towards Richmond, Mick burbled like a boiling kettle on a low heat. How clever Nancy had been to spot that their marriage was the key to S Y Lee achieving his dream. How she had primed her father so that all Mick had to do was convince him he had the funds to make the hotel real. How he and Nancy would be able to build a life together in Malaysia with her running the hotel and him… well, he would find a role somewhere.