minutes, but I'll be there.'
She couldn't let him get away with that. In her room she stripped at
top speed, turned the shower on hot and soaped herself as fast as she
could. Too bad she couldn't stay under longer. A real shower! What
luxury. Well, no matter. She could stand under it for the rest of the
night after she came back.
From her bag she fished out one of her two good dresses—a
sleeveless silk thing that was eight years old, but still looked as nice
as the day she'd bought it in Hong Kong for a pittance. It was a
beautiful blue- green and had a simple design that didn't age. It
hardly wrinkled and was the perfect dress to take along travelling.
She slipped it on quickly, put on high heeled sandals and brushed out
her hair.
Earrings, where were her earrings? She found them, put them on, and
dabbed on some perfume. She examined her face in the mirror,
applied eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick in record time and was out
the door waiting for the lift with three minutes to spare.
The band was taking a. break and there was no music when she
arrived in the lobby bar. She searched for Justin in the crowd, hearing
around her voices speaking in many languages—French and German
and Swedish, or maybe Danish, she couldn't tell the difference.
Europeans on the vacation of a lifetime—a trip to the Far East. A
group of young Japanese couples, the women quite fashionable, sat
around talking and laughing.
She saw Justin at last and began to weave her way among the low
tables and chairs, avoiding the tray- carrying cocktail waitresses in
their long halter-neck dresses.
He stared at her when he noticed her, as if he wasn't sure what he was
seeing. She sat down next to him on the low couch and gave him her
most charming smile.
'Linden, you look beautiful,' he said in a low voice.
'Thank you,' she said, humour in her voice. 'Isn't it amazing what a
scrap of silk and high heels will do for a girl?'
'Mmm. You keep surprising me.'
'And I even made it in twenty minutes.'
'You certainly did. Miracles never cease.'
He looked good himself. He'd showered and changed as well,
wearing light pants and a long, dark shirt with a Mao collar.
'I like your shirt,' she said. 'Very exotic.' I like your eyes and your
nose and your hair, she wanted to say. I like those brown hands of
yours. I want to touch you. I want to play with your fingers. I want to
kiss you.
'Isn't it?'
'Very.' What are we talking about? she wondered, staring at his
mouth. There was a moment's silence, then their eyes met and her
heart began to double its speed. 'An interesting place this,' she
commented casually, staring up at the gargantuan chandelier hanging
from the ceiling. 'I'm glad we're not sitting underneath that thing.
You never know, it might come down.'
A card listing some of the drinks available stood on the table and
Linden picked it up and examined it. 'Listen to those names,' she said.
'Kontiki Sunrise, Desert Dream, Moody Dawn, Penang Fizz, Day
Dreamer.'
'Very romantic. Take your pick and we'll order it.'
'What are you having?'
'Scotch.'
'Why so unimaginative? Try one of these.'
'They're much too sweet.'
'All right. Well, I'll try a Day Dreamer. It's rum, Kahlua and orange
juice. Sounds good to me.'
The band came back shortly after that, a trio made up of one Malay,
one Chinese and one Indian member. It seemed an odd group to be
singing Jingle Bells, but they did it very well and the guests seemed
to love it.
There was a big Christmas tree, all decorated with shiny ornaments
and silver tinsel and prettily wrapped packages underneath it, empty
boxes probably, but it didn't matter. The place looked nice and the
atmosphere was joyous even if it was a public place.
The waitress brought their drinks, kneeling gracefully at the low table
to put them down. Linden's drink came complete with a pink orchid
and a piece of pineapple, very elegant. It was sweet, but not too
strong and she sipped it thirstily as she watched the band and listened
to the old familiar songs. It made her feel suddenly homesick, but she
pushed the feeling aside.
Justin was playing with her hair, winding it around his finger,
smoothing it out again. It felt wonderfully soothing and a wave of
fatigue washed over her. She covered up a yawn and he noticed and
smiled. 'Tired?'
'Exhausted. And my feet are killing me, I think I have a blister. Do
you mind if I go up to bed now?'
'Of course not. It's almost one o'clock.'
'You don't have to go. You can stay.'
'I have nothing against sleep myself.' He paid the bill and took her
hand and together they walked to the elevator. He pushed the up
button and it came almost instantly.
'That was nice,' she said as the elevator moved upward.
He scrutinized her in the dim light. 'You were looking sad there, for a
little while.'
'Not really sad. I feel a little . . . melancholy. I think that's the word.'
The long hallway was deserted and their steps were muted on the
carpeting. The doors to their rooms were next to each other and they
stopped in front of them. And before she could put the key in the
lock, he had taken her in his arms and was kissing her, hard and long,
then suddenly withdrew, leaving her breathless.
'Let me have your key.' She gave it to him and he opened her door,
then handed it back. 'Would you like me to have a look at your foot?'
She shook her head. 'It's not serious.'
'All right. Good night, Linden.'
'Good night.' She went inside and locked the door.
She kicked off her shoes and rubbed her foot. A moment later a
knock came on the inside door.
'Linden?'
She went to unlock the door. 'Yes?'
'I forgot to ask you. Do you want breakfast downstairs or up in the
room here? We can order now and leave the order form outside the
door.' He showed her the form and she looked at it.
'What I'd like is some coffee and croissants in the room and then have
a big breakfast downstairs later.'
'Sounds good to me. Then we can exchange our precious presents
wrapped in newspaper while we have our coffee. What time?'
'Oh, dear. Right now I feel I could sleep until twelve. I won't though.
I wake up at seven no matter what.'
'I'll write down seven-fifteen. How's that?'
'Fine.' It was awkward standing there, with a businesslike
conversation covering up all the undercurrents; standing there
between two rooms with two large beds while one would have been
big enough for both of them. He reached out to her and she did not
move away. His face took on a different expression, exposing him,
making him vulnerable. Her heart gave a nervous little jerk. She
knew what was in his eyes and his thoughts. His hands were on her
arms, sliding slowly up to her shoulders, then down around her back.
His face came forward. She l
ooked at his mouth coming closer.
Everything seemed to move in slow- motion. Then his lips touched
hers and her stomach lurched and her blood ran wild. His body was
tense with restraint and she felt warm with the knowledge of it, warm
too with her own longings rushing through her bloodstream.
It seemed a long time before he withdrew. He looked at her silently
and she lowered her gaze, willing her heart to calm down. No, she
said to herself, I can't, I can't. She took a deep breath and looked into
his eyes. 'Good night, Justin,' she said softly.
'Good night, Linden.' He turned abruptly, closing his side of the door.
She didn't hear the key turn and she closed her own side, not locking
it either.
As she got ready for bed, her eyes caught the little wrapped package
on the dresser. She had to clean the elephant yet. She'd forgotten to
get another toothbrush. Didn't she have something else she could
use? Didn't she have another toothbrush? The one they'd given her on
the aeroplane coming over from the States? She rummaged through
her cosmetics bag, trying to remember where it would be, and finding
it, finally, in a zippered compartment of her travel bag. It was slipped
in a see-through plastic sleeve and accompanied by a miniscule tube
of toothpaste.
Scrubbing the little elephant with soap and water, she caught her
reflection in the mirror above the sink and couldn't suppress a giggle.
'A good thing he can't see me now,' she said out loud to. herself,
'naked in front of the sink scrubbing an elephant with a toothbrush.'
Later she lay in bed, looking at the unlocked door, wondering what
she would do if he came to her now.
No. Don't think about that.
She closed her eyes and tried to relax. The next thing she knew Justin
was sitting on the edge of her bed, calling her name. Her mind fuzzy
with sleep, she looked at him, dazed. Light shone through a crack in
the curtains. It was morning. She'd been dead asleep all night, never
waking once.
'Ah, a sensuous woman,' he whispered, lazy amusement in his eyes.
'Sleeping in the raw.'
The sheet only half-covered her breasts and she yanked it up under
her chin. 'You have the rottenest timing! Can't you knock before you
come in?'
'I did. You were dead to the world and the coffee is getting cold.'
'You didn't knock hard enough.'
'I didn't want to wake up the entire hotel. There may be a number of
people here who wouldn't mind sleeping through the whole of
Christmas Day.'
Christmas! She sat up, holding up the sheet with one hand. 'Merry
Christmas! Now get out. I'm not decent. Just give me a minute and. . .
.'
The rest of her words got smothered by his kiss. The sheet slipped
from her hands and her breasts were pressed against his naked chest
and she felt the tickle of rough hair. Fire leaped through her and her
arms went around him of their own accord and her fingers moved
along the strong muscled back.
It was sheer madness. Sheer delicious madness. But he couldn't just
come in here and overwhelm her like this. She turned her face.
'Justin,' she whispered breathlessly. 'The coffee is getting cold.'
'To hell with the coffee.'
'Justin, I need my coffee in the morning, or I'm no good!'
It was a very unfortunate choice of words and the breath stuck in her
throat when the realisation came. He was laughing against her neck
and, suddenly infuriated at her helplessness, she pushed against him.
'Now let me go, Justin!'
'Why are you so uptight?'
'I'm not uptight, I'm mad! You keep walking in on me when I have no
clothes on. It's very indiscreet, didn't anybody tell you?'
'I guess-not.' He ran the tip of his tongue around her earlobe and she
pushed him away.
He drew back. 'What am I going to do with you, Linden?'
'Not a thing!' She drew the sheet back up, and felt an unaccountable
wave of sadness wash over her. Tears came to her eyes. 'Oh, get out
of here, Justin. Just go!'
He stood up. 'I'll pour you coffee.' With that he strode out of the
room.
Linden threw back the sheet, went into the bathroom and splashed
cold water on her face. Dressed in her blue caftan, she stood in the
doorway a short time later, the elephant wrapped in newspaper in her
hand.
'Come in, sit down.' He waved at the chair. The coffee and the
croissants were on a tray on the small table. He looked at her, holding
her gaze. 'I'm sorry, Linden. I wasn't being fair to you. My baser
impulse s sometimes get the best of me. I apologise.'
'Never mind,' she said tolerantly, 'it's the animal in you, I quite
understand.' She stood in front of him, holding the package in her
hand. 'Merry Christmas.' She handed him the package and he took it
from her. She sat down again and drank the coffee which was still
hot.
He took the paper off and stood the elephant on the palm of his hand,
looking with obvious pleasure at the intricately carved piece of ivory.
'It's beautiful,' he said, running his finger over the delicate trunk and
tusks. 'An Indian antique, no doubt. Thank you. Now, for you.'
The package was next to his chair and he handed it over. 'And Merry
Christmas to you, too.'
It took only moments to take off the newspaper and then she was
looking at a brass incense pot, tarnished bluish green and gold. 'This
is great! I'll fill it with sand and stick joss sticks in it and put it on my
verandah!' She held it away from her a little and examined it. 'I
suppose I should polish it. The ones in the temple always are
polished, but the colours of the tarnish are beautiful, have you seen?
Purple and green and gold and blue. . . .'
'I noticed. Don't polish it if you don't want to.'
'I'll think about it.' She smiled at him, happy with the unusual present.
'Thank you very much, Justin.'
It was a beautiful day. They swam in the swimming pool and later in
the ocean. They lay on the beach and played cards and read a book
and talked. They sat by the pool in the shade of a large tree, a sea
almond, and drank fresh orange juice and one too many Penang
Fizzes. They played in the ocean like children and she laughed more
than she normally did and she liked the feel of his hands on her body.
Christmas dinner was everything she had hoped for. There were
orchids on the table and silver shone on the red table cloths. Beautiful
music sounded in the background. The atmosphere was right, the
food delicious and Justin was amusing and happy and lighthearted.
She'd spent time and effort on her appearance and she'd seen the
admiration in his eyes when he'd come into her room to get her for
dinner. She wore the second of her two silk dresses, a simple thing of
shimmering white and cream that could go many places and was easy
to pack.
She looked at him across the table, realising how well she was
getting to know him, how familiar his face was to her and she
remembered that first time she had seen him, so lo
ng ago, and how
infatuated she had been.
He reached out across the table and took her hand.
'Do you remember that Christmas dinner we had on Pelangi?' he
asked, as if he sensed her thoughts had gone back to that time. 'The
time when my father and I stayed with your family?'
'How could I forget? It was a disaster. The chicken was inedible. The
wine was bad.'
He laughed. 'It was the nicest Christmas I'd had in years.'
'It was nice, wasn't it? I remember how much we laughed.'
They were smiling at each other, memories in their eyes, and then the
waiter was there filling up their wine glasses and Justin let go of her
hand.
After dinner they sat in the lobby bar for a while, listening to more
Christmas music, sipping Irish coffee and watching the other guests.
'How about a walk on the beach?' he asked.
She nodded in answer and they rose and walked out into the night.
There were lights in the hotel garden and they walked past the empty
pool over the grass and on to the sand. There were no other people.
The sky was cloudless and full of stars and a big fat moon, almost
round. It was something out of dream—this island with its palms and
prahus, beaches and mosques and temples and pagodas. How
romantic it was here in the quiet night on the beach with the ocean
calmly washing ashore with soft splashing sounds. Here she was in a
luxurious hotel with the romantic name Rasa Sayang.
Rasa Sayang—the Malay phrase for Feelings of Love.
Hand in hand they walked along the water's edge, not speaking much,
just enjoying the peace and solitude of the quiet night.
They returned to the hotel some time later, and coming into the foyer
bar with its music and light and laughter was like entering a different
world.
'Another drink?' he asked.
She shook her head. 'It's late. Let's just go up.'
They stopped in front of her door and for a long moment he looked at
her silently, then drew her into his arms and kissed her.
'Linden,' he whispered against her mouth. 'Those beds in there are
awfully big.'
She swallowed. 'I like big beds. I can sprawl all across them.'
'Come on.' He took her hand and unlocked his door, drawing her
inside.
'Justin, I'm not going to sleep with you.' The words came out with
difficulty.
He switched on the lights. 'Who's talking about sleeping? Those beds
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