by H. Y. Hanna
Toran smiled, raised his own glass a little higher in a mock toast, then tossed it back. The fiery liquid burned in his throat. He gave a sharp shake of his head to clear it, then gestured to the bottle. “Another?”
Whoops and yells came from the crowd and several men clapped him on the back. Moustache Man scowled, then tossed back his own drink. He wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and stared at Toran malevolently. He was about to reach for the bottle when another hand came down on it first.
A silence fell over the crowd. Toran looked up. A man stood by their table, his hand on the bottle. It was Black Buddha. Rolls of fat oozed out of the sides of his vest and his neck was lost in the folds of a triple chin, but the eyes that peered out of that fleshy face were bright and shrewd. He looked at Toran keenly for a moment, then motioned him up from the table. The crowd parted as the two of them moved away.
Black Buddha walked to the edge of the alleyway and paused by the corner wall. His face was in the shadows, but his eyes glittered. He lit a cigarette, inhaled deeply, then looked at Toran and spoke.
“So what do you want to ask me?”
CHAPTER 5
Toran leaned heavily against the door frame and pressed the bell for the villa, wondering if Leah might be asleep. He knew he should have waited until tomorrow morning, but he couldn’t wait to see her. As soon as he had found out from Angela that Leah was back in Singapore, he had rushed over, his heart pounding with anticipation.
He couldn’t believe that she had come back.
He had forced himself to give her the space and time she’d asked for, but he had missed her fiercely and, if he was honest with himself, he had been almost getting to the stage of jumping on a plane and flying out to London to persuade Leah to return.
But she had come back herself. Toran smiled, feeling a rush of warmth in his chest. Then he thought of Angela and cursed under his breath. Leah finding his ex-fiancée in his apartment… that had been the last thing he needed. He sighed. He hoped Leah hadn’t jumped to the wrong conclusions. He had to explain the situation to her.
There was a shuffling behind the door and then it swung open. Leah stood in an old T-shirt and shorts which exposed her long bare legs, her hair mussed around her head, her blue eyes sleepy. Toran thought she had never looked sexier. His body hardened in response, desire coursing through him.
“Toran?” She stared at him in surprise.
He stepped over the threshold and pulled her to him, feeling her soft body yield to his. God, how he had waited for this moment! He felt her arms slide around his neck as he bent his head and his lips found hers. She tasted warm and sweet and he couldn’t get enough of her. He pulled her even closer, his hands tracing the sensual curve of her buttocks, and she made a soft whimper deep in her throat. But just as he was about to deepen the kiss even further, she stiffened suddenly and pushed against him. Startled, he let her go.
“You’ve been drinking,” she said accusingly.
Toran ran a hand through his hair. “Just a bit. I had to do a bit of manoeuvring to get some information. But it was just—”
“That doesn’t smell like a bit,” Leah said.
Toran paused, surprised by her tone. “It’s this filthy stuff called lao khao—illegally brewed rice wine. It’s pretty strong, that’s why you can smell it. But I didn’t have that much.”
Leah relaxed slightly, but her eyes were still uneasy. “That’s what my father used to say.”
Toran felt a flash of irritation. “I’m not your father.” He paused in the awkward silence, feeling his irritation turn to dismay. What had happened? One minute they were kissing and now this… It was the spectre of her father rising again between them. Damn you, David Fisher, he thought savagely.
“Can I come in?” he asked at last.
Leah stood back to let him pass, then shut the door behind him and led him to the kitchen.
“Did I get you out of bed?” Toran asked. He softened his voice, trying to restore the camaraderie between them.
Leah shook her head. “I fell asleep on the sofa. I thought I’d try to stay up a bit—helps with the jet lag—but I must have nodded off.” She tried to hide a yawn. “How did you know I was here?”
“I got home and Angela told me.” He saw her face change as he mentioned his ex-fiancée’s name.
“Yes, I met Angela.” Leah raised her chin.
Toran hesitated. “She said you’d had a chat together. She seemed to think a lot of you.”
“Oh.” Leah’s eyes softened slightly. “I… yes, she’s very nice. We talked for a bit.”
“What did you talk about?” asked Toran.
Leah shrugged, looking uncomfortable. “Just things… her work… you… She didn’t know about us,” she added.
Toran stiffened.
“I didn’t tell her, if that’s what you’re worrying about,” said Leah sharply. “I liked Angela. And I’m not so insensitive that I would have just dumped it on her.” Her eyes flashed. “When were you planning to tell me that she was living with you? Or were you just never going to say? I suppose you thought I was safely far away in London and would never find out anyway, so you could just keep it all behind my back.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Toran frowned. “I wasn’t trying to do anything behind your back.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me that Angela’s living with you?”
“She’s not living with me,” said Toran quickly.
“She told me you said she can stay as long as she likes.”
“Yes, well… it’s complicated.” Toran sighed. “Angela’s a bit fragile at the moment. Her parents are really worried about her—she went through a period of depression in her teens and they’re terrified she’ll have a relapse. She came to me one night after a big fight with her mother and said she couldn’t bear to live at home anymore. She was almost hysterical. I said she could stay over at my place until she sorted something else out. It’s what any good friend would do and… I am still her friend.”
“But you didn’t tell her about us,” said Leah.
Toran ran a hand through his hair again. “I… well, she took our break-up really badly and I didn’t want to do anything else for the time being that might make things worse.” His mouth twisted. “I know I did the right thing—it would have been unfair to both of us if I had let the lie continue, gone through with the wedding—but it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt her.”
“Well, fine, you couldn’t tell her. But why didn’t you tell me?” demanded Leah.
Toran felt irritation flash again at her tone and his own voice hardened. “There was just… there never seemed like a good time to mention it, okay? I couldn’t speak to you in person; it’s just not the same over the phone or by email. I knew you’d immediately jump to the wrong conclusions and—”
“Oh thanks,” said Leah, looking stung. “So you had no faith in me at all. You didn’t even think you could trust me to understand?”
“Trust?” Toran snapped. “You’re a fine one to talk about trust, after what you did twelve years ago.”
He cursed himself as soon as the words were out of his mouth. Why had he said that? He had vowed not to rake up the past again and had made a huge effort to avoid this subject the whole time she was back in London. He had thought that they could sweep it under the carpet, reset the clock, and start again from scratch. But here it was—still raw and furious, opening this chasm between them.
Leah flinched. “What I did? How dare you! You were the one who never kept your promise. After all your beautiful words when we said goodbye… it was out of sight, out of mind. I never heard from you again.”
“I sent you messages, Leah,” Toran said through clenched teeth. “Dozens of them. You’re the one who never answered me.”
“What?” Leah stared at him.
“What did you think? That I would just ignore you? Just break it off like that, without a word? Is that what you really thought of me?”
“
I didn’t know what to think! I was fourteen; I was alone in a completely new place and lonely and scared.” Leah’s face crumpled at the memory. “I thought… Julia said she gave you my messages, but she never got any replies from you.”
“Julia said that?” Toran narrowed his eyes. “Well, she never gave me any message from you. Except one. She told me—” Toran faltered, surprised to find that the pain was still fresh after all these years. He took a deep breath. “I had saved up some money—enough for a flight to London. Even after I hadn’t heard from you for six months, I was still hoping that there might have been some mistake. So I was planning to make a trip to see you during the school holidays. I gave Julia a message to pass on to you, telling you about my plans and asking for a time and place to meet. She came back to me the next day and held up my message. Then she said, ‘This is what Leah thinks of your plan’ and she proceeded to rip my message up in front of my face.”
Leah stared at him in horror. “No…” she whispered.
Toran felt a wave of anger wash over him. How could she look so shocked? As if she didn’t know! As if she hadn’t sent that message that had torn his heart out, all those years ago.
“I never sent that message…” said Leah, shaking her head, her eyes wide. “I would never… I thought you were the one who had abandoned me. If I had known that you were planning to come to London…”
Her genuine distress was starting to get through to Toran. He stared at her. “Are you saying that you… Do you mean, all this time…” He felt a fresh surge of anger. “Julia. It was Julia. She lied to both of us.”
“No, she would never do that!” cried Leah. “Julia was my best friend. She agreed to help us get past my father. She would never have done something so cruel.”
“Well, how do you explain it then?” demanded Toran. “It’s the only explanation. Julia manipulated us both.”
Leah was shaking her head vehemently. “No! I don’t believe it! Why would she do that? She’s always watched out for me. She’s my friend. What you’re suggesting is crazy!”
Leah’s instant defence of her friend infuriated Toran. He wanted to shake her. “It’s not crazy,” he said. “It makes perfect sense. Julia never liked me—she never thought I was good enough for you, especially when we were in school. I didn’t fit into your rich brat cliques with your billionaire daddies and designer labels and luxury cars. And she was jealous—she didn’t like the way you were spending so much time with me. She’d lost her little pet friend to boss around.” He looked at her coldly. “Although it sounds to me like nothing much has changed. Twelve years later, you’re still letting her pull your strings like a puppet.”
“That’s not true!” snapped Leah.
“Isn’t it?” said Toran.
“Julia has always been a bit bossy. That’s… that’s just her personality,” said Leah. “But she does it because she cares for me.”
“Funny how you’re so quick to believe the best of her—but always so quick to believe the worst of me,” Toran said furiously. “Maybe I was wrong, Leah. Maybe we don’t have a chance after all!”
Turning, he strode from the kitchen and out of the house.
The front door slammed after him. Leah stood trembling in the kitchen, hugging her arms around herself. She couldn’t believe what had just happened. After the weeks of longing, the anticipation, the decision to give up everything and come back to Singapore… what she had dreamt would be a wonderful romantic reunion had disintegrated into a nightmare. One minute she had been in Toran’s arms, and the next, she had felt like she was staring at a hostile stranger again, all her doubts about him returning.
Maybe she had overreacted about his drinking, Leah admitted to herself. It had been an instinctive reaction—the strong smell of alcohol bringing back all those memories of her father sitting cold and withdrawn, brooding over his whiskey. The thought that Toran might be anything like her father had terrified her and she had lashed out without thinking.
But I’m not wrong about Julia, Leah thought frantically. He had to be wrong. Her friend couldn’t have lied to her. Toran’s words seared through her mind again and Leah recoiled from the thought of her friend’s possible betrayal. She couldn’t accept it. It would be stripping everything from her—her only comfort, her only security. From that first time when she was forced to leave Singapore, the only thing she had held on to and felt sure of was Julia’s friendship. Was Toran now forcing her to accept that it was all a lie? Just like everything else about her past life had been?
Leah looked down and realised that she had been clenching her hands so hard, her nails had made little crescent-shaped marks in her palms. She opened her hands and smoothed them on her thighs, taking a deep breath to calm herself.
I’ll ask Julia tomorrow, Leah thought. Ask her exactly what had happened. She was sure there was some simple explanation for it—that Toran had got it wrong. Julia would explain everything.
CHAPTER 6
Sunshine glinted off the white walls of the three towers of Marina Bay Sands. A futuristic building perched at the edge of the entrance to Marina Bay and the Singapore River, the resort complex dominated the Singapore skyline and looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. A luxury sci-fi movie, at that. With aliens that really enjoyed retail therapy.
Inside that gleaming exterior, the complex hosted a hotel, convention centre, museum, theatre, casino, train station, and shopping mall complete with an ice-rink and a miniature gondola canal. Not to mention the gallery of celebrity chef restaurants and food courts. As a shopaholic’s playground, it took some beating.
Leah had been a bit sceptical when she heard tourism ads boasting about Marina Bay Sands as an “architectural marvel”, but standing on the waterfront promenade and looking up at it now, she had to admit that it was pretty impressive. The three towers that made up the hotel section soared up into the air, each designed to look like a slanting deck of cards. Lying across the top of the three towers was the Sky Park—a long platform covering 2.5 acres that included restaurants, a bar, landscaped gardens, a swimming pool, jogging paths, and an observation deck with 360-degree panoramic views of Singapore—all suspended fifty-seven stories above the ground. Leah wasn’t surprised that the place had earned the title of “most expensive building ever built in the world”.
She made her way in and strolled through the never-ending lobby. Above her stretched a dizzying atrium, arching up into the insides of the towers. Leah craned her neck upwards. For a moment, she could almost imagine that she was inside the belly of a whale, looking at the ribs arching up around her. To add to the surreal feeling, there were giant ceramic pots taller than she was, lining the sides of the lobby, each holding a full-grown tree and giving the illusion of walking through a fairy tale forest.
She had been in a few hotel lobbies in her time, but this was definitely one of the strangest out there, thought Leah, as she passed the crowds of tourists milling around, gawping and taking pictures. Following the signs, she headed for the concierge’s desk. When she had texted Julia this morning and asked to meet, her friend had given her directions to come here. Now Leah waited curiously as she gave the concierge her name. A second later she was presented with a hotel card key and politely shown to the lifts for Tower Two
“Ms Tan left a message that you are to meet her by the Infinity Pool,” said the smiling concierge.
Leah stepped into the lift and watched the mirrored doors slide shut, then she pressed the button for the fifty-seventh floor. A sudden swooping feeling in her stomach told her that she was rising before she saw the numbers climbing in the panel and her ears popped gently as the lift shot up towards the top level of the hotel. The doors swished open and Leah caught her breath as she stepped out.
Facing her was a sheet of water that looked like it ran to the edge of the roof and over. It was the infinity edge swimming pool, Leah realised, as she stepped out of the lift and went closer. From where she was standing on the upper deck, she could see the pool str
etching in both directions—a serene, mirror-like expanse reflecting the blue sky above. It was surrounded by dazzling white sun loungers and tall palm trees. Several people were splashing at the edges and a few women posed self-consciously in bright bikinis. It was the final touch of the surreal, finding this tropical pool scene, two hundred metres up in the air.
“It’s really cool, isn’t it?”
Leah turned to see a young boy standing next to her. He was wearing board shorts and had a pair of goggles slung around his neck. He looked about ten years old, his eyes enormous behind thick glasses in a freckled face. She smiled at him.
He pointed to the pool. “You know it’s the longest infinity pool in the world? They say you can fit four Airbus 380 jumbo jets end-to-end in there. And it holds nearly four hundred thousand gallons of water.”
Leah hid a smile at his nerdy enthusiasm. “How on earth did they get it up here?” she asked.
“Well, they brought it up in bits,” said the boy. “It’s all stainless steel. They made the parts in Indianapolis—that’s where I’m from,” he said proudly.
“They transported all the parts from the States?” asked Leah in surprise.
He nodded eagerly. “Yeah, all the bits and then joined ’em together here.”
“I hope they’re joined together properly,” said Leah with a shudder, looking out again at the huge body of water. “I wouldn’t like to be in the rooms underneath if it started to leak!”
“Don’t worry, they welded all the parts together real well,” the boy assured her. “I know ’cos I watched this video on YouTube about how they made the pool. There’s even a system of jacks under the pool so that different sections can change level and stuff—like if the hotel towers start shifting or swayin’ around, ’cos of wind and gravity, you know—then the pool won’t crack. Imagine if the pool did crack though!” His eye sparkled with excitement behind the thick lenses. “It would be like a Hollywood movie or somethin’! You know, people getting stuck in a hotel room below and everything flooding with water…”