Love Patterns

by Michael B. Malone

  “Any hints about what clothes to take?”

  A rare grin crossed Dr. Taylor’s narrow, craggy face.

  “Since the Iraqi government are sponsoring the trip, we’ve decided the sponsorship applies to clothes as well. We’ll be outfitted at a specialist store in London.” He became more serious. “Have you had all your vaccinations?” On being assured that Alan had, he continued. “I suggest that you visit your dentist. You can run the risk of catching hepatitis or even AIDS if you need dental work done in Iraq. Their sterilisation procedures are suspect.”

  Alan assured him he would make an appointment that afternoon. He asked, “Are we still meeting Dr. Sadiq at two?” Dr. Taylor nodded. Alan left him poring over his lists.

  Dr. Sadiq expressed himself pleased at Alan’s progress when they managed to have a long conversation together. After arranging another meeting for the following Monday, Alan left to meet Kirsty. They stocked up on food for the weekend then returned to his room.

  “I’d better see Claire tonight,” said Kirsty.

  “Do you want me to come?” Alan asked.

  “I’d better sound her out first.” She gave Alan a coy look. “It has been two days since we slept together.”

  They didn’t need words, their eyes spoke. They snuggled under the duvet and made up for all the skin contact they’d missed. Later they squeezed into the tiny shower compartment and had a giggling shower together.

  That evening Kirsty visited Claire, who greeted her with a smile which vanished when she mentioned she was going back to Edinburgh for four days. She listened sullenly to Kirsty’s praise of Alan’s parents.

  “You won’t be needing me anymore then,” she burst out angrily.

  Kirsty looked at her in dismay. “I’ll always need you Claire!” she exclaimed. “You’re my sister for goodness sake, I love you.”

  Claire apologised. “I’m sorry Kirsty, I’ve just had a bad day.”

  But there was a growing estrangement between them and Kirsty soon left, with a sense of relief, to join Alan.

  They had a lazy weekend. Kirsty bought a present for Katie’s baby. On the Monday, after Alan’s Arabic lesson, they went to Kirsty’s house where she packed a case for the trip to Edinburgh.

  Chapter 36

  The train journey was more relaxed this time and Kirsty was full of questions about Katie, her husband Euan, and their baby Caira. When she arrived at his parent’s house, a slim young woman with fair hair opened the door. She and Kirsty eyed each other with interest and again Alan felt he was a bystander. Before he had a chance to introduce them, his sister exclaimed.

  “You must be Kirsty, Mum has told me a lot about you, come in.” She took Kirsty’s hand and led her inside.

  Alan lugged the cases upstairs and when he came down, the two young women were sitting close together in the lounge talking animatedly. They eventually chose to notice him.

  Katie remarked. “Mum’s out shopping, she’ll be back soon. She left sandwiches for you.”

  She started to rise but Alan motioned her back. “I’ll get them.”

  He returned a few minutes later with a loaded tray and set out plates and cups. They smiled as they reached for sandwiches, then continued their conversation. Alan shrugged and poured coffee for them then started on the sandwiches himself. He heard Kirsty mention Caira. Katie left, and Kirsty took his hand and confided in a whisper.

  “She’s lovely.”

  Katie returned wheeling a pram and they were shown Caira who was asleep.

  “When can I get to hold her?” Kirsty asked.

  “I’ll give you a shout when she wakes up,” Katie laughed. “You can help me bath her if you like.”

  When the baby awoke, Kirsty pleaded to hold her and was fascinated when the infant’s tiny hand gripped her fingers. Feeling out of place when the two women started to indulge in baby talk, Alan decided to unpack. The women talked about Alan, his trip to Iraq and about Kirsty going to university.

  When Alan returned to the lounge, his mother had arrived. They spent the afternoon chatting. Alan’s father arrived, and they had an early tea. Afterwards the two men went out for a drink, leaving the women looking through old photograph albums.

  Seated at a quiet corner table, they talked companionably about football, religion, politics, women and the state of the world, then ambled home again in the warm summer evening in a slightly intoxicated glow.

  Katie turned another page of the album and Kirsty looked intently at a photograph of Alan in his late teens wearing his school uniform. She gasped as she was transported back to when she was small. With startling clarity, she remembered a young god smiling down at her and touching her cheek. She remembered the smell of damp grass, the sounds around her, the breeze ruffling his hair and the feeling that something mysterious and yet strangely familiar was happening to her.

  She became aware of Katie shaking her arm and Isobel’s concerned look. They felt her amazement as she explained.

  “I’ve just remembered. I met Alan five years ago. I was in Edinburgh playing hockey and he’d been playing rugby. I bumped into him and nearly fell but he caught me. He touched my cheek and smiled at me.”

  She gave Katie and Isobel a dazzling smile. There was a long silence while Isobel and Katie looked at her, then at each other. “That’s …” Katie stopped, lost for words.

  Isobel interrupted. “It’s like something out of a fairy story.”

  “And he’s never recognised you?” Katie queried. Kirsty paused, remembering.

  “He’s had a strange look a few times as if he was trying to remember something, same with me. There’s been times when it seemed as if a memory was trying to surface.” She grinned, “Mind you, I’ve changed quite a bit since I was twelve.”

  Katie glanced at her mother who was staring at Kirsty with a bemused expression, then looked back at Kirsty.

  “I wish I could see his face when you tell him.”

  “I could put my hair in plaits and see if he remembers me,” Kirsty laughed.

  “You could pretend to fall and let him catch you,” suggested Katie.

  Isobel recovered her voice. “He might be so shocked he’ll let you fall.” They heard the front door closing.

  “We’ll make ourselves scarce,” said Katie and ushered her mother out.

  “Where’s Kirsty?” Alan asked them.

  “In the lounge waiting for you,” smiled Katie. Puzzled, he entered the lounge, hearing the door being closed behind him. Kirsty was standing near the window. He gave her a quizzical look.

  “What’s up?” he asked. She gave him a radiant smile, looking at his face closely, as if examining.

  “We were looking through the albums and I saw a photograph of you when you were seventeen. I remembered you!” Alan’s face took on a puzzled look as he cast his memory back. Kirsty waited, looking up at him, then unable to contain herself, burst out “I’ve loved you ever since I was twelve Alan.”

  A strange thrill ran up and down his spine. He gasped:

  “The hockey match!” He stood for a while lost in wonder remembering a little red-haired girl in plaits looking up at him in adoration.

  “That was you?” he gasped. His hand reached out to touch her cheek, then he bent his head to her upturned lips. A whisper of singing, soaring and yearning like a love song circled round them, Kirsty eventually pushed herself back, gasping for breath

  “When I first heard your voice and saw you, I recognised you, but I couldn’t remember from where.”

  Alan gave a huge smile. “I saw you score a goal and Claire, it must have been, with her back to me, waving her hands in the air. It’s strange, even as I watched you I felt attracted to you, then you bumped into me and something happened.” His voice took on a puzzled note.

  “It was as if something inside me looked out.”

  “I felt the same,” Kirsty declared. “I think something inside me has been waiting for you, that’s why I wasn’t much interested in boyfriends.”

&
nbsp; “I’ve been searching as well,” he said. “Whenever I saw a girl with red hair, I felt an urge to see her face. Until I met you I was always disappointed.”

  They looked at each other silently for a while, then they came together, and their lips fused. They stayed up late that night, talking in hushed voices. For the rest of their stay, whenever the pair appeared, the rest of the family lowered their voices just a trifle, as if in the presence of something mysterious, and Isobel could often be caught, smiling, and giving Kirsty strange faraway looks.

  They slept late the next day then after breakfast borrowed Isobel’s car to go for a picnic to a wood, where Alan had been for picnics as a young boy. They wandered deep into the wood, enjoying the dappling of the sun through the leaves, to a grassy clearing Alan remembered.

  It was a magical day. They enjoyed their picnic then drowsed in each other’s arms and the sunlight dripped honey. Bees droned, birds chirped in the background and there was the scent of grass and wild honeysuckle in the air. They made daisy chains, took their clothes off and garlanded each other, then wandered farther into the wood, the grass a soft carpet beneath their bare feet, the warm breeze stroking their bodies. Feeling like Adam and Eve in paradise, they made leisurely love against an old mossy beech tree, then made their way back to the clearing, where they dozed contentedly in the warm tranquil afternoon.

  Alan awoke to find Kirsty kissing his back. He lay for a while enjoying the sensation then turned on his back and stretching luxuriously sighed.

  “I dreamt that it was raining kisses.” Kirsty’s nose crinkled when she laughed. He lay on his side and stroked her face.

  “Kirsty?” She gazed into his eyes. “Will you marry me?”

  She looked serious. “I’ll have to think about it.”

  “Oh!” Alan felt subdued.

  “Alan?”

  “Yes Kirsty.”

  “I’ve thought about it.” Alan didn’t know whether to feel hope or despair.

  She grinned. “Of course I will.” His eyes seemed to be trying to devour her.

  She became serious. He stroked her throat with his fingers, then his lips closed over hers. They made love again and she cried in wonder as she felt the beating of wings and it seemed for a moment as if her soul soared out of her body. After a while they dressed and left their temporary Eden.

  They stopped at Alan’s house just long enough to change their clothes and tidy up, then refusing the offer of coffee, they left, saying they were going shopping. He took her to a jeweller, where Kirsty could hardly contain her excitement.

  She spent the rest of the afternoon trying on rings, until she eventually settled for a diamond ring surrounded by small emeralds, which she said felt just right. As they walked back to the car, Alan had to guide her, as she was so engrossed in holding her ring up to let the sun sparkle the diamond.

  They arrived home in time for tea and made their announcement. They were showered with congratulations. Isobel and Katie admired the ring.

  “I just happen to have a bottle of champagne in the fridge,” announced David.

  “You knew?” Alan asked, amazed.

  “Of, course we did,” replied Katie. “It would take a blind person not to know, the way you sneaked in, then out again, grinning at each other.”

  “Oh!” He felt sheepish while Kirsty giggled.

  The champagne was opened with a pop, their glasses were filled, and they were repeatedly toasted.

  “Shall we go out for dinner tomorrow to celebrate?” David asked. Alan and Kirsty happily agreed.

  Kirsty realised she had nothing suitable to wear for dining out in style.

  “I’ll have to go shopping for a new dress.”

  “I’ll come with you,” offered Isobel. “I’ll buy the dress as part of your engagement present.” Kirsty protested, but Isobel insisted, so they agreed to go the following morning.

  Everyone chattered happily during tea then Alan and David offered to wash the dishes, leaving the women making plans. In the kitchen David smiled resignedly at the subdued murmur.

  “They will have your whole life mapped out for you by the time we’ve washed the dishes,” he remarked wryly. Alan grinned.

  He slept late the next morning and woke to find Kirsty and his mother gone. After breakfast he helped Katie bath Caira then packed a large suitcase for Iraq. When the two women returned, Kirsty was dancing with excitement.

  “You must see my dress,” she squealed and rushed to her bedroom trailing a pair of carrier bags behind her.

  “I hope you didn’t go overboard Mum,” Alan grinned.

  “She wouldn’t let me,” she retorted.

  Kirsty appeared, and Alan gasped. She was wearing a green strapless, knee length dress which showed off the creamy skin of her shoulders. She had green shoes to match and a green purse, He thought she looked like a wood nymph as she twirled around with her red hair flaring out, looking at him for approval. He didn’t need to say a word his expression was enough. The rest of the family smiled at her excitement.

  She went upstairs then reappeared wearing her jeans and jumper.

  “This will be my first really posh dinner,” she confided to Alan when they managed to have a few moments alone. She spent the rest of the afternoon like a cat on hot bricks.

  They travelled by taxi to a hotel at the east end of Princes Street where they celebrated with champagne. During the excellent meal Alan became aware of the furtive admiring looks directed at Kirsty by young and old men alike. The thought crossed his mind that he ought to cancel his trip to Iraq. How could he possibly leave her? But he was committed. It would cause too many problems if he pulled out now. He smiled to see her moving her hand slightly, so her ring would catch the light from the chandelier. She fell asleep in his arms in the taxi journey back home, and he had to help her upstairs and put her to bed, where she went straight to sleep, snoring gently.

  Next day, Alan took Kirsty to the playing fields where they had first met. They strolled around looking at the games in progress. She put her arm around his waist and pulled him even closer and confided, “I think we are meant to be together.”

  Alan nodded, “If you told Claire about us meeting before, it might make her change her attitude.”

  “It’s our own private business and nothing to do with her,” she retorted. He was surprised at her vehemence but didn’t comment further, but regretted that the sisters seemed to be losing the closeness they’d had.

  They returned to the house where she helped him with his Arabic lessons. Later they had a photographic session in the garden, taking pictures of each other.

  Isobel agreed to lend him her car for a week, so they drove back to Dundee on the Sunday morning, after Kirsty had reluctantly promised to arrange a meeting between Claire and Alan’s parents.

  Leaving Kirsty unpacking the cases, Alan went to the university but the preparations for the trip to Iraq were well under way and there was little for him to do but turn up for the sleeper to London in three weeks’ time. Dr. Sadiq was again very pleased with his progress in Arabic and affirmed that Alan would graduate to the third tape soon. When he returned he found Kirsty had unpacked and tidied up. They walked to the sports shop in Commercial Street where she was to start work on the Monday, as a shop assistant, and where she’d worked the previous year, covering for staff members on holiday. She checked the arrangements and the time she was to start.

  “Could you drive me to Claire’s to tell her the news and show her my ring?” Kirsty asked Alan.

  He agreed, happy for her in her excitement. He drove her to her house and waited outside in the car while she went in, eager to show her ring to her sister. Claire was in a sullen mood. Frank didn’t seem to be as interested in her as he had been, and she found it infuriating, as she could usually make men do what she wanted. Kirsty getting engaged seemed the last straw to her.

  She looked disparagingly at the ring and sneered. “Alan is just playing with you and giving you a bauble won’t change anyt
hing. You are making the biggest mistake of your life. You won’t see him again after he goes to Iraq.”

  She hardened her heart at the hurt in her sister’s eyes, telling herself it was for Kirsty’s own good. Kirsty who’d been so excited and had wanted to share her happiness with her sister, left tearful and resentful.

  Alan took her back to his room where she told him what had happened. He felt like strangling Claire, but hid his annoyance and consoled Kirsty, telling her that Claire would eventually come around; that she was really a decent person underneath and that two sisters who loved each other couldn’t possibly stay estranged for long. Kirsty finally cheered up, but Alan had a presentiment that a lot would happen before he and Claire were reconciled.

  Chapter 37

  Awakened by the alarm, Kirsty and Alan had a quick breakfast then walked together to the sports shop. After a lingering kiss, she disappeared inside, after arranging to meet him at lunchtime.

  At the dentist Alan found that not much needed to be done. He spent the rest of the morning at the university then left to meet Kirsty. As they walked to the union for lunch, she told him about the morning’s work.

  For the rest of the week Kirsty arrived home tired, so they went to bed early and lay talking, practising speaking Arabic and making plans, until they fell asleep.

  Kirsty began to get her “working legs” as she put it and wasn’t so tired. Alan’s mother let him have the car for another week and they went for car trips to St. Andrews with its famous championship golf course and to quaint fishing villages on the Fife coast. They lived for the present, trying to fill their days with experiences, but Alan’s departure was looming, although they tried to push it to the back of their minds.

  Kirsty lightly stroked Alan’s back after they’d made love. She was snuggled into his chest, his arms around her head, “Alan?”

  “Yes darling,” he murmured sleepily.

  “I’m not made of china, you can be …” she hesitated, “rougher with me if you like. I won’t break.” He had become, so gentle with her lately, as if he was afraid to hurt her.