“Don’t be naughty. You are thoroughly beautiful,” said Albert panting.
“You are too kind,” she said.
“Do you mind to see each other on another occasion?”
“Yes, I’ll give you my telephone number. I do not to want to annoy you, but I need to look after my mum, so I have not been far from the center of the city for too long. I am also busy with my private lessons. A ten-year-old neighbour of mine wants to learn Polish and I charge her ten euros per hour. There is a strong conflict between her and her classmates. She wants to be the genius of the classroom. Now I almost forgot the reason why I am here. I would like you to suggest to me what I should do nice to cook.”
“Here is some lamb. It’s free for you,”. said Sylvanus.
“Are you joking?”
“Absolutely not. Take it. It’s a kilo.”
“It’s awfully kind of you. Now I have to go. Don’t forget to call me for a day out. Bye.”
“Bye Ravina,” said Albert blushing.
“You see,” said Sylvanus, “we have sorted out the mystery. She was simply involved in a domestic accident. I also suggest you that you should date her without my presence. I am by far too cumbersome.”
“It’s too early.”
“No, it isn’t. You have not to show off shyness. You are a boy of good qualities. I’m not saying that you have to display them in a window but let’s concentrate. There is another customer arriving.”
“Good morning,” said a short lady with flashy red hair.
“Good morning to you. What can we do for you?”
“I am looking for some pork. A not very big piece. My neighbour told me that your meat is unique. I have special guests this evening and I don’t want to disappoint them.”
“You won’t, I’m sure. This is what suits your needs most. It’s twenty euros but we give it to you for fifteen euros.”
“Thank you. Here are the notes and have a nice day.”
“The same with you,” answered Albert shivering.
“You see, Albert,” said Sylvanus, “our business is going like a bomb. I want to save some horse meat for Jill and Araon. You can take it to them during our lunch break. I will go home to cook something for you.”
“You can heat the lasagna in the microwave oven. We should be ready to come back home at half past four.”
“So, be quick. See you later.”
Albert arrived at Araon and Jill’s flat sweating. He caught them dancing a tango. “Albert, what good wind brings you here?” they shouted.
“I don’t want to disturb you. I have a gift for you.”
“Let me see. It’s just what we need for dinner. We are three of us to eat.”
“I see. I’m glad about it. My visit should finish here. I want to have a nap after lunch before I go to work. Just call us when you want to spend a day out with us. Bye for now.”
“Bye Albert and thanks a lot,” said Jill accompanying her friend to the door. “We will also take a healthy nap until half past four. This is what they call synchronism with our friends. We have all the time to arrange something for the evening. Do you know what comes out from my bloody head? I was thinking of the Great Bear that makes all the effort to not appear observed before attacking his enemies. I am not teaching you sort of scientific notions. It’s just what I felt when I saw Albert today.”
“You must be very tired. Come on forget everything and allow yourself to slacken,” said Jill bringing him back to reality.
When Jill was pampering herself in the toilet, Araon was lying dumb and drowsy in bed. His mind was flying in the quite distant future. He was in the delivery room with Jill sporting an extra-large tummy trying to resist the pain of the uterine contractions. She didn’t show sufferance and that thanks to the epidural she had booked for nine months earlier. She pushed and pushed the baby who came out all dirty and shouting like a cat. The doctor bathed him very well and went back to take Jill’s placenta out after giving birth.
“Good morning sweetheart,” Jill groaned watching her baby. She turned her face in the cushion and fell asleep. Araon was speechless. He had the sensation of being awkward and foreign to the situation. Van der Baast had allowed him to stay during Jill’s laboring to let him cut the umbilical cord but he believed he was useless.
“Now it’s time for you to go back in the aisle. You have attended the big event you have been looking for nine months and… what else? Consider yourself to be lucky enough to have a baby boy in your offspring. Jill needs to be quiet as soon she will nurse her baby for the first time.”
“Thanks a lot for your assistance. I’ll go out immediately.”
Araon left the delivery room with a sense of guilt. It was half past ten in the morning on 11th February. He had to register the name and date of birth of the baby in the municipal district. The name: was it Rokin? Sure, he had not to make mistakes. But he must to be sensible: he shouldn’t annoy Jill in those precious moments. He felt the presence of Van der Baast and he got the inspiration to call the baby after his and Jill’s favourite street. But as shameful as he was, he didn’t miss the occasion to mention the finding of a skeleton while digging in a yard. The carbon fourteen analysis revealed how old it was. It was likely to be a recent death. Was it the missing corpse they were waiting for a long time? The DNA found by Van der Baast in the handkerchief could confirm it all. Did criminals hide themselves with that strategy? They would send the DNA details to the scientific body anonymous and everything would end up perfectly. They wouldn’t be accused of concealment of signs. But what about Jill? Definitely he would need to conquer her again after the disclosure of the hazard of not having shared that secret with her for such a long time. He started to devise some excuses. Yes, he had to protect her from any sort of anguish that stuff might have brought to her. Did he need to negotiate something more relevant? Hopefully there was Van der Baast always at their side. And to add calamity upon calamity he had to face the evidence that it was a frightening and thundering winter. Everything was perfect but the revealed truth and the weather. What an irony! Araon was able to deceive himself under those great burdens.
Van der Baast thought well to be cunning. He apologized he couldn’t stay with Araon for duty reasons longer than due. There was a bit of truth in it after all. Jill and the baby would be carried out of the delivery room very shortly. They had to take some blood for the general analysis of the haeomoglobin and general health values. Here came a nurse with a bottle of blood. Everything was proceeding smoothly.
“Your wife will be out soon. Please wait for her outside. She has her own room where she will stay for a week and she is free to feed her baby all the time. You cannot see your wife before twelve. Thank you for your cooperation.”
Araon was a sort of obedient childish guy. He did what he had been recommended and got some coffee in the attendance room. He picked up a magazine with gossip to kill the time. There were articles about William and Kate’s baby. Yes, the royal baby. And it was not missing a hint of malice about the commentary of Elton John about Dolce and Gabbana’s spiteful acrimony for gays’ adoptions. Hopefully Araon was not concerned with candy. To his surprise he found in the room a copy of Blade Runner. A well renowned scientific magazine. He was disgusted by the atheist version of facts formulated. Those didn’t match with his strong faith in God and the existence of the universe. What boredom! As a propitiatory ritual he got a bar of chocolate which was supposed to be the lunch of the day. He was too nervous to savour a tasty meal. He was considering how the amount of dopamine and endorphin in Jill’s brain might have helped her in the moment of giving birth with the help of the epidural as well.
Twelve o’ clock was a bit distant. He was looking forward to seeing his wife and their little Rokin. Yes Rokin. He was sure that Jill had opted for the same name as him. A moment of distraction and a girl of about eight passed by sporting a very short miniskirt. It was such a nasty sight! But finally, the big moment arrived. Twelve o’ clock, time for feeding the baby. A
raon was so moved when he saw Jill. It was just a question of tenderness. It was the reflection of a mature love.
“Honey, don’t you feel cold with such a nightdress?”
“Oh no. It’s wool 100%.”
“Give me a kiss. We must celebrate the most beautiful day in our life,” he said.
“Sweetheart can you tell to the nurse on my behalf that I don’t want to eat chicken? Some good cheese would be enough for me. And what about you? What will you cook this week while I am in hospital?” Jill said.
“Don’t worry about that. I can be a practical cook if I want to. Let’s think of the baby. I have to register his name and date of birth at the municipal district. Do you agree to call him Rokin?”
“Sure. This is a good choice.”
A nurse entered the room and asked Araon to leave. The time for the visits was supposed to be from one to two o’clock. He left the room with mutual consensus. He was a good chap. Now he managed to let Albert and Sylvanus know about the happy event. “Hi Albert,” he said on the phone. “It’s Araon speaking. Do I disturb you?”
“No, go ahead. To hear from you is always a blessing.”
“It’s just to inform you that a certain baby boy arrived. He has been called Rokin as anticipated.”
“Congratulation! It’s a long time since me and Sylvanus has such good news. And it comes to console me. I have just had an argument with Ravina. Hopefully it’s nothing serious, but it hurts. I hope not to be forced to swear I cannot love again. Good for Sylvanus who had decided to stay single. But—” The phone was interrupted. Araon dialled the phone number again but nothing happened. Never mind. He had communicated what he was nervous to do. Suddenly Araon went back to the real world.
“What were you doing all this time? It was if you were deaf,” Said Jill to spur him.
“Nothing, love. I was just dreaming with closed eyes. It was about what will be the most beautiful day in our life. Do you ever think of your giving birth in advance?”
“You are not a solitary dreamer Araon. I love you. She closed her eyes and that was it.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Samantha was out of bed early that Wednesday morning. It was supposed to be a busy and entertaining day for her. During her work break, she would go to the bank with the cheques nicely hidden in her handbag. To open an account was quite easy in London. A letter with her written address was enough. She would have told the bank assistant that the signature on the cheques were of the lawyer who delivered her the money she had won in a lottery. Everything had been perfectly planned. Now it was routine matter for her. In five minutes, she was at Versace shop. The assistant was a bit embittered because of her look. She had chosen to wear a patterned gown but with no makeup.
“Do you know that today is a particular day for us? You should dress in white and wear a bit of make-up. Go in the changing room, wear this dress and this light lipstick. The nephew of the USA Secretary of State, John Kerry had requested a wedding dress from us and he is coming to collect it today. Be quick, please.”
Samantha was a bit worried about the way her boss came down on her. She immediately dressed herself up as requested and went to the shop window. An ambulance siren broke the silence. Samantha looked visibly troubled.
“There is nothing to be worried about. You will get used to hearing it every day. Now do your job. Our special guests will arrive shortly.” her boss said.
And the couple didn’t delay. The bride-to-be was accompanied by her dad, a US billionaire. She was smartly dressed for the occasion and she entered the shop first. She gave a quick glance at all that luxury and introduced herself. “I am Pat. Pat Kerry as you know. I’m here to see my wedding dress.”
“It’s here. Ready for you madam.”
The assistant went to take a white silk dress trimmed with lace and with pearls everywhere. “It’s fantastic,” said the woman frenzied. “I’m looking forward to wearing it. Dad, say something. Do you like it?”
“It’s exactly what we wanted.”
“I guess you are ready to wear it to check if it fits you.”
“Sure,” interrupted the assistant. “Here is the dressing room.”
Pat didn’t wait to hear that invitation twice.
When she came out wearing the dress, all the people present stared in disbelief. She was enchanting. “You look gorgeous,” said her dad. “I wish to pay with a cheque if it is possible,” he addressed himself to the shop assistant.
“Sure. It’s forty-thousand pounds.”
The man paid immediately with no objection and he left the shop with his daughter and the dress folded tidily in a suitcase.
Samantha was speechless. She felt terribly nervous. Lunch break finally arrived and she went to the nearest HSBC branch to consign her check to a newly opened bank account. The bank was not crowded and she was able to talk to the manager immediately. “What can I do for you my lady?”
“I am here to open a bank account. I have with me some cheques for five-hundred thousand pounds. Here is my passport, the copy of my working contract and my address.”
“I see. You don’t live very far from here. Actually, is on the corner. May I ask you, where all this money comes from? It’s a good amount,” the manager said.
“Well, I won it in a lottery. The signature on the cheques belongs to the lawyer who delivered the money to me.”
“I see. I think there is no problem. Would you like to have a debit card? I would suggest that you should choose the gold card. You can collect up to ten thousand pounds per day. And besides this there are a lot of services such as shopping delivered at home, tickets for gala nights and other wonderful advantages. I have also a cheque book for you.”
“For me it’s fine. I’ll follow your advice.”
“Just be patient for a few minutes and everything will be ready for you. Here is the debit card, the cheque book, the bank account details such as the bank account number, the sort code, the IBAN and BIC number. I wish you good luck. Have a nice day.”
“The same to you.”
Samantha was finally free to shriek. Her joy permeated her very thoroughly. She was free to go back to her bloody place of work but not after she swallowed a sandwich with wurstel and the assured Coke. She faced her duty with mixed feelings characterized by ups and downs.
Her boss complained eventually. “Are you falling in love?” he asked.” You look forlorn. Don’t forget that a commitment is a commitment and you have not to leave the job for any reason.”
“The fact is that I didn’t sleep well last night and now I feel nervous. And then that stupid coffee. Not that I am addicted to it but…”
“Simply guarantee me that you won’t leave the job. You have to abide by the law.”
“That’s fine. It’s guaranteed.”
Half past seven arrived quickly. “It is a pity,” she thought, “that I have nothing else to do other than going back to my flat.” She needed some entertainment. But she didn’t forget that she was to receive a phone call from Lucia. And so the phone… “Hi Samantha, it’s Lucia speaking. How are you?”
“Very well, thanks. I was just thinking of you. I went to the bank today and I can assure you that the operation has been a success. My money is safe and under no suspicion from anybody.”
“Great. Now you have just to relax and enjoy yourself. I can come to visit you at the end of the summer. I wish you good luck for now. I apologize now I have to go. Bye Samantha.”
“Do not worry. I’m looking forward to seeing you again.” Samantha was so distressed that she didn’t know if she wanted to go out or not. She expected Phil would call her but she was a bit frightened that he would ask her to sleep with him too soon. She had to be very cautious. She wandered in her flat looking for ideas on how to spend her evening. She watched the pile of DVDs on the shelves in the sitting-room. Al Pacino, Michelle Pfeiffer were her heroes all lying there among the dust. She had many options but she had not to forget to go to sleep no later than midnight. She picked T
he Witches of Eastwood. There was a brilliant performance of Jack Nicholson who played the devil. The movie was terrific but there were some scenes too overwhelming so that she went to the toilet being sick. The movie reminded her of the boyfriend she was dating that time. He was an awful person, so pompous and puffed-up, so cynical and, last but not least, he hadn’t the slightest intention of taking their relationship seriously. He treated her as a sort of escort. That’s why she had some qualms towards Phillip. She was thinking of him with a sort of regret but she decided to carry on dating him. She switched off the movie and went to clean the toilet with some ammonia.
Her poor phone was working again. She went to answer to the call but no voice could be heard. The phone carried on ringing and stopping ringing continuously. She watched the number that appeared on the screen and she realized it was the boss who dragged her into her misadventure of the past. She was frightened that she would never get rid of him. She hoped things wouldn’t be like this, bloody bastard!
Mark Ward was driven by a certain human instinct to the pub of the door splattered with blood early in the morning. As soon as he arrived, he noticed the glass of the door broken with a stone on the pavement. Shocked and exhausted he entered the place to talk to the owner of the pub. He had an unobtrusive appearance. “What happened to you?” asked Mark immediately.
“Something very disturbing. When I arrived at work earlier, I found the door open with the glass broken. There was a piece of paper next to some beer crates. I definitely don’t need to use bullet-proof glass but I must be wiser. This is a quiet place joined by meek people. I do not know what to think about the happening. Now please sit. Would you like a cup of coffee?”
“Yes, please. And when you contacted the police what did they say?”
“Simply that there is nothing to be worried about. They said that somebody dotty might have done it. They will come to have a look later on this morning. Luckily, I found that nothing was missing or had been stolen. What about you? It’s a long time that I know you by sight and that I wish to have a good chat with you,” said the pub owner.
The Red Box Page 37
