Love: Classified

by Jones, Sally-Ann

  Sighing, I turned on the outside light and went out onto the patio where my gardenias were thriving under Jake’s careful attention. Until a few weeks ago I’d been proud of my home, had adored my job, had been almost perfectly content. Not a shred of that contentment remained.

  I sank into one of the patio chairs, remembering Magnus sitting exactly there the first time we met. I snuggled against the cushions, feeling his body against mine. Knowing I couldn’t spend the next few weeks of leave moping around, I reluctantly took Jake’s brochure from the bag that was still slung over my shoulder.

  I turned the pages, my interest gradually kindling. There were courses on romantic composers, Cleopatra’s lovers, sensational acting, painting with pastels and…Here, my eyes stopped scanning. This was something I wanted to do. I had the time and I wouldn’t procrastinate. I’d enroll in beginners’ Italian.

  I slept badly, yearning for Magnus. Barney helped by forgetting his grudge and purring most of the night next to my right shoulder. When I did wake, I was surprised, and then bitterly disappointed, to be reminded of where I was and what had happened.

  I had no appetite for breakfast and rang the university extension service while I was downing my third black coffee. I was lucky. There was one place left. I paid the fee by credit card on the spot and wondered how I’d fill in the day until the course began the following morning. It was good to see the girls again and have Barney follow me around the garden as I checked on the basil and fought down tears remembering the pizza I’d made for Magnus when he was with me that day.

  The University of Western Australia had never ceased to impress me with its tranquil beauty. The main buildings were modeled on Florentine architecture and the golden sandstone, shady walkways and courtyards were serene and welcoming. In the Arts faculty, where I would be studying, a family of peacocks strutted, their harsh cries piercing the peaceful air. As soon as I walked into the tutorial room I knew I’d made the right decision.

  I’d never stop loving Magnus or reliving every second of our spectacular lovemaking. He might, as he proved, desire me. But I knew he only wanted me because he could bury himself in me and block out the world. I was a novelty for a man like him. He’d probably never touched a woman with fleshy thighs and an ample bosom, much less had intercourse with one. Normally, when he wasn’t under siege, he’d never look at someone like me. He’d go for a woman who was slender and firm.

  I pushed open the door of the tutorial room and walked in, soothed by the atmosphere of quiet endeavor. The lesson hadn’t begun and the class, about a dozen people of all ages, were sitting at their desks, chatting amongst themselves. I sat in the back row and pulled a pen and a wad of file paper out of my bag before looking around. I was surprised and embarrassed to find that the woman on my right was none other than Magnus’s sister.

  “Hi,” Daisy said, turning to me with a smile. She held out her hand in greeting and added, “My name’s Daisy Winchester.”

  I realised, from the total lack of recognition on the face of the lawyer, that she hadn’t seen me that day at the art gallery. I didn’t want to complicate things by explaining who I was. I’d die of shame if I came to know, through this pleasant, friendly woman, that Magnus had told her all about his weird fling with a fat woman. I was sure the Winchester siblings weren’t mean-spirited but I could image them chuckling over Magnus’ affair with a heavy-weight.

  “I’m Meg Smart,” I lied, pulling Mrs Smart’s name out of the air.

  “Hi Meg,” Daisy said. “I’m looking forward to this. I’ve always wanted to speak Italian.”

  “Me too. Have you been to Italy?” I asked, genuinely interested.

  Daisy nodded. “I did the usual back-packing tour of Europe when I left school. It was great, but brought home to me how isolated we are here in Australia. In Switzerland, some of the kids I met spoke four or five languages.”

  At that moment the teacher, a gorgeous Italian with a rose tattoo on her shoulder and a punk-inspired haircut, introduced herself and the lesson began.

  Two hours later Daisy and I emerged into the sunshine.

  “I’m starving!” Daisy exclaimed, so like her brother that my eyes pricked with tears.

  “Me too,” I admitted.

  “Are you okay?”

  I nodded. “A bit light-headed after all that new vocab.”

  “Let’s buy some sandwiches and sit under the trees over there,” Daisy suggested, pointing to a cool, green grove.

  We did so, and soon we were sitting in the shade, eating and chatting, even adding some of the Italian words we’d used.

  “I’d better go,” Daisy said when we‘d finished our picnic. “My little boy can only put up with the nanny for so long. See you tomorrow, Meg. It was nice to meet you.”

  “And you,” I smiled.

  For the next few weeks we studied then lunched together before Daisy flew home to her son or off to a court case. We enjoyed trying out our new Italian skills on each other and the teacher was thrilled with our progress.

  One lunch time, Daisy wasn’t her usual sparkling self.

  “What’s up?” I asked. “You seem worried about something.”

  “It’s my brother,” Daisy confessed, so anxious that she wouldn’t have noticed my own face blanch.

  “What’s happened to him?” I asked, hoping she didn’t hear the wobble in my voice.

  “He’s just terribly unhappy. His name is Magnus Winchester. You might’ve read about him in the papers.”

  “Yeah, I did. But he was acquitted and rightly so. You defended him well, Daisy.”

  “Maybe. But the fact is, he’s depressed and he’s lonely. He went off travelling with a woman who made him the happiest he’s ever been and when that issue of The Daily Herald came out, he was so distressed and ashamed he sent her packing. And he says he’ll never go back to medicine now. He has no faith in himself anymore.”

  The happiest he’s ever been…I repeated the words in my head, veering between elation and despair. “Can’t he find the woman he was with?” I asked once I thought I could keep my voice even.

  Daisy shook her head. “He won’t. He says he has nothing to offer her. He has no job, no money, thanks to his ex-wife, and no prospects. He says this woman is too good for him, that she deserves better.”

  “I can’t believe that,” I said vehemently.

  “You’re so sweet, Meg. Perhaps I should introduce him to you. He’d forget this other woman then. You’re perfect for him.”

  “What makes you say that?”

  “You’re calm and kind. Just after he needs after those years with Vanessa.”

  “Vanessa was his wife?” I said, pretending I didn’t know.

  “Yeah. She wanted him to be a society doctor, to treat the wealthy, to live in a posh suburb, to drive an expensive car. But Magnus isn’t like that. He used to work in public hospitals, where he looked after the poor. He refused to live in a grand house and his one Italian suit was the one he wore for his wedding. He wanted loads of kids but Vanessa’s infertile and the specialists believe it’s because she’s so underweight. She’s obsessed with looking like a sixteen year-old super model. And she was always berating him for not earning enough, for not keeping her in the manner to which she’d been accustomed as a child.”

  “Why on Earth did he marry her?”

  Daisy shrugged. “He met her when he was an impoverished uni student working every Saturday at the local service station to help pay his way through medical school. She drove up in her father’s Jaguar and he filled the tank for her. She was pretty, vivacious and charming and he fell for her. That was before she became fanatical about losing her looks, before she took up running and was determined to get down to about a size four. She never loved him. I think, in her experience of doctors, they’d all been wealthy and prestigious. She thought he would be one day, too. But he never was. Whatever he did, he was never good enough for her. Yet he loved her once. And he was devastated that they couldn’t have children
. He’s quite conservative, my Magnus, in a sweet way. For him, divorce is almost a dirty word. So the breakup of his marriage, coupled with the disaster of that little girl dying during the anaesthetic almost destroyed him.”

  “That’s so sad,” I said. I realised suddenly that his nightmare had been about the child slipping away despite his frantic efforts to save her. No wonder Magnus, the frustrated father, had been so besotted with Daisy’s son, Fergus. I remembered catching sight of the uncle and nephew at the art gallery, Magnus running after Fergus, desperate to catch him before he hurt himself.

  “I think I should try to find Virginia,” Daisy said. “She’s the woman he travelled with.”

  “What does she look like?” I asked before I could stop the words tumbling out. I braced myself for an unpleasant description.

  “According to Magnus she’s a Titian beauty. I s’pose she looks a bit like you, Meg, come to think of it. She has thick, long red hair, milky, perfect skin, green eyes and a voluptuous, generous body. Magnus is completely besotted with her. He told me…” Daisy reddened and I waited with bated breath for her to continue. She regained her composure and said, “He told me that he and Virginia made love must once and it was the most glorious thing that had ever happened to him in his whole life.”

  I buried my face in my hands and breathed deeply to calm myself. I wanted to dance around the grove, shouting and laughing. But, I reminded myself, suddenly stricken, that Magnus didn’t want me now.

  “Meg, are you okay?” Daisy asked.

  I looked up at her. “Yeah. It’s such a moving story. I’m a romance novel addict, I guess. I can imagine all this happening. It would make a great plot.”

  “It sure would,” Daisy agreed.

  “Although romances have to have happy endings,” I reminded her.

  “I’m sure things will work out in the end. They have to, or I fear for my brother.”

  “So where is he now?” I asked, hoping she didn’t hear the desperation in my voice.

  “I’m not sure. Last time he rang he was still in York. Dr Jenkins, a friend he’s made up there, has discovered that Magnus can play a mean game of poker, so he’s drowning his sorrows with whisky and cards. He and Virginia agreed to leave their mobiles behind when they went travelling so I only hear from him if he happens to be near a public phone box.”

  “You said he’s drowning his sorrows with whisky and cards. What about with women too?” I willed myself to ask.

  “Who knows? Magnus looks like a movie star. He’s a cross between George Clooney and one of the 101 dalmations so women are always attracted to him. But he’s loyal and good. I doubt he’d form a liaison unless he was in love.”

  Daisy looked at the male peacock forlornly following a peahen which didn’t seem interested in him and added, “I’m tempted to find Virginia. If she’s as he says when he calls me, she wouldn’t care if he was unemployed and living in a Kombi. What do you reckon?”

  “I’m sure Virginia wouldn’t care a toss about money,” I told her. “But it’s your brother who needs to be convinced. Men are different from us women. They’re very proud. It’s important to them that they can bring home the proverbial bacon.”

  “Mmmm…you’re right. I s’pose I’ll just have to keep saying my prayers for him, and Virginia, wherever she is. She’s probably heartbroken too. Besides, I doubt if my brother would thank me for interfering in his life.”

  No, I thought glumly, he’d definitely not want Daisy’s matchmaking efforts.

  Chapter Seven

  Just before the Italian lessons finished, Daisy got involved in another lengthy court-case and had to give up the course. We kept in touch but she didn’t have much spare time for Facebook, what with having Fergus to care for when she was at home, and we promised to meet again when the trial was over in several weeks’ time, when I’d also be back at work.

  I filled my days with another extension course – oil painting – and taking Josie shopping. My nights were filled with reliving Magnus’ brilliance during what I was sure would be the one and only breath-takingly fantastic love-making experience of my life. I knew it was better than anything most women ever dreamed of and I carried the vivid memories of every second of it around with me like a secret precious jewel. It wouldn’t be long before my leave was over and I’d see Peta and my colleagues again, but I needed my solitude to take out my hidden gem and examine its every facet.

  I was walking from my art class to my Micra one afternoon when I had a revelation. As I skirted the long shallow ornamental pool on one side of Winthrop Hall, I caught sight of a beautiful woman moving behind the tall windows of the building. She was well-built and auburn-haired and reminded me of one of the models in the clothing catalogue from which I’d ordered my new outfits. She was wearing a geometrically printed dress which was familiar. Then, happening to glace down at a golden carp flashing in the water, I caught sight of the reflection of what I was wearing and realised it was me I’d been admiring.

  For the first time, I saw myself as Magnus may have. As the men at the dance had. As Jake, Josie, Peta and Daisy did. I stopped walking and took a long, hard look at myself. And I began to smile.

  A gardener, walking past, winked at me and I winked back.

  I came home from painting one afternoon and saw the suburban newspaper in my letterbox. With trembling hands I turned to the personal ads and read: “China or Elsewhere: would the lady whose travelling was unfortunately curtailed please contact the Lonely Planet guy on Voice Mail Box 4440005665. Please also leave your address.”

  I whooped delightedly. Magnus wanted me back. Barney was so startled that he ran under a chair and outside, the girls started cackling as if expecting an intruder. I remembered that Magnus didn’t have his mobile, or my number, with him, and that this was his only way of contacting me. It didn’t even occur to me to wonder why he’d asked for my address.

  Immediately I left a message, but nothing happened straight away. Then, a few sleepless nights and breathless days later – during which I feared it was some kind of sick joke and he didn’t want to see me after all – the doorbell rang. I’d been making the most of the fading light to complete the finishing touches to a painting of the girls scratching in the garden, trying to distract myself, as I’d completely lost interest in cooking. After weeks of preparing food for the most wonderful man in the world, a man who downed every mouthful with an ecstatic look on his face, I couldn’t bear the thought of spending time in the kitchen just to make food for myself.

  When I heard the doorbell, I almost screamed with joy at seeing Magnus again. I threw down the brush and ran to throw open the door.

  Daisy – an astonished and delighted Daisy – stood there. There was no sign of her brother.

  “Daisy!” I exclaimed, not even trying to hide my disappointment.

  “Meg!” Daisy yelled. Then the penny dropped and she grinned like a Cheshire cat. “You’re Virginia! Brilliant!”

  “What are you doing here? Where’s Magnus?”

  “He doesn’t know I came,” Daisy explained, once I’d recovered my manners enough to invite her inside. “I’m the one who placed the ad. I just had to find the woman he loves. He calls me from time to time and I know he’s driving around aimlessly, missing you. He wouldn’t admit it in so many words, but he is. I’ve come to take you to him.”

  “But Daisy, he doesn’t want me. He made it plain. He needs time on his own to sort himself out.”

  “He’s had more than enough time to do that. Nearly five weeks. That’s a whole week more than you two were together. We must redress the balance, Meg.”

  “Virginia.”

  “Virginia. Yeah.”

  “I can’t bring that little girl back to life or get his job back…”

  “You can restore his confidence. You’re so good for him.”

  She looked around the open-plan kitchen, family room and eating area appreciatively. “You couldn’t be more different from his wife,” she said. “Her house
was all beige and white. Everything spotless and in its place. It was like an operating theatre. But yours is bustling with vitality, Meg, er Virginia. It’s obvious you love colour, music, food, people and animals. And you love him. I want you to pack a bag right now and come in the car with me. I’ve organised a nanny to stay with Fergus for a night or two and I think I have an idea of where he is, based on what he said when he rang this morning.”

  “Daisy!” I objected, aghast. “You can’t do this. You can’t move people around like chessmen on a board.”

  “I love my brother and I’m beginning to love you,” Daisy said. “Ever since we met in that Italian class I’ve wished I could have a sister like you. Trust me. Just this one time. If I’m wrong I’ll…”

  “You’ll come on a holiday to Tuscany with me. And Fergus too.”

  Daisy laughed. “It’s a deal. If things don’t work out between you and Magnus, I’ll book us on a plane and with our ever so proficient Italian we’ll snare ourselves a pair of Latin lovers.”

  “I have to go and see Jake and Josie first. I’ll have to ask Jake if he can look after my animals and my garden while I’m away again.”

  “You do that. I’ll stay here and soak up this Vivaldi and luxuriate amongst these gorgeous cushions. You could pour me a glass of wine while I wait. I’ll only have one, as I’m driving.”

  As I was opening a bottle of cabernet sauvignon, there came a loud, desperate rapping on the front door. I ran to it and a sobbing, disheveled Bree almost fell into my arms.

  “Sweetheart!” I exclaimed, holding her close. Her tears and mascara soaked into my shoulder as she wept. “What happened?”

  “I had a row with Mum and I’ve left home for good. I can’t live with her Ginny, she’s such a…”

  “Okay, okay, come in and we’ll talk about it calmly,” I said, knowing there was no way I would leave now with Daisy. Bree was too unstable to risk it.