by Max Howell
“I will have everything for you in an hour, and I will tell the nurse to check you out of the hospital. Will you be all right? Do you need anything?”
“No, but thanks anyway. I just need some time to think.”
“Best of luck, Mrs Christensen.”
“Thanks, doctor,” she said dully.
As the doctor left the room, Faith rolled over on her back in the hospital bed and looked at the ceiling. A fan was turning over slowly, and she thought how her own life was now ticking over, much faster than the fan. Her pent up emotions were suddenly released, and she turned over and buried her face in the pillow, weeping unashamedly. She cried out plaintively, “Mark … Murray … I love you both so … we have so little time … so little time …”
Faith told her mother and Terry the terrible news she had received, and then flew as quickly as she could to Casino after going to the US consulate to secure a visa. Fortunately she had a passport from a trip she and Toch had made to Fiji. She caught a taxi from the Casino airport, and as soon as she arrived home she sat down and gathered herself. She knew what she had to do, she had gone over and over it again, but she was terrified of Mark’s reaction. What if he would not have anything to do with her? She could scarcely blame him. Then she would have to force him to see her. What if Murray answered the phone? She would then hang up, and ring again later. What if Mark said her name, and Murray would hear it? She would have to gamble on all that.
Trembling, she dialled Mark’s home number at Berkeley, one that Murray had given her. She counted out the dial tones … one, two, three, four. She could feel her heart beating, and the pain in her stomach momentarily disappeared.
There was contact at the other end.
“Mark Jamieson speaking.” Her heart stopped as she heard his voice, its resonance, so wonderful to her ears. She hesitated for a moment, and took a deep breath.
“Mark?”
“Yes, this is Mark. Who is speaking, please?”
“It is … it is Faith!”
There was silence at the other end, and finally Mark gathered himself. “It is who?”
“Faith!”
“My God, I do not believe it. I have dreamed of this moment, and now I do not know what to say. I just cannot believe it. Faith …”
“Mark, are you alone?”
“Yes, Faith, I am. But is it really you? After all these years? Can this really be true?”
“Yes, it’s me, Faith … after all these years.”
There was a pause as they both attempted to gather themselves. Faith spoke first. “Mark, I want to see you. I must see you. I do not want to explain it all now, is that all right?”
“You know it is … you know it is, Faith … I never dreamed I would see you again in my lifetime.”
“I’m flying to America in two days’ time. I will be arriving in San Francisco next Wednesday on QANTAS at 3 pm. Will you meet me?”
“You know I will.”
“Would you check me into a hotel?”
“Certainly. I would have you stay with me, but I have a young Australian staying here. He is at the library just now. I will make arrangements for a hotel, do not worry, and I will be at the airport. I can hardly wait, I cannot believe it!”
“Do you have the time?”
“For you, Faith, I will always have the time. It has been a long time between our meetings, and I never thought this would happen, and besides, it is our summer break here, and I have no teaching engagements. I am just doing research at home. What happened, Faith, what happened? You were my life, my hope … I have never got over you. What occurred is forever seared in my heart. Why are you calling? Where have you been? How do you feel? I … I have so many questions, so many things I want to know. I just cannot believe it is you! Faith, my little girl from Randwick … this is like a dream … but at the moment a dream come true.”
“I cannot answer your questions now, Mark. It would take me too long. When we meet I will tell you everything. Until then, I will see you Wednesday in San Francisco.”
“Wednesday, 3 pm, QANTAS?”
“That is right, Mark, Wednesday. See you then.”
“See you then.”
She hung up, her heart racing, and her hands trembling. After all these years, they were to meet again. Would he be disappointed in her, not like her? What if he did not love me anymore? What should she wear, oh what should she wear? There simply was not enough time to buy a new dress. She would look so ordinary, so plain. She had read so much about American fashions. They seemed much further ahead in San Francisco. We are about two years behind. Mark is sophisticated and educated, so perhaps my dream will be exploded in my face. He will see me as a country hick, an uneducated, dull person. What have I done? I should have stayed at home. What does the future hold? And what about Murray? How will he react to all this?
Mark put down the phone. His hands were shaking. He loved her still, he had always loved her. The sound of her voice had thrilled him. He had felt his cardiovascular system race as he talked to her. He had read in recent years that love was a chemical attraction, and here was evidence of it. Her voice had an amazing effect on him. He never thought he would hear from her again, though he had always hoped. Why did she suddenly want to see him? My God, he recalled, she is married. Maybe her husband is coming as well. And she had a child, maybe the child will be with her. But then he recalled the conversation. She wanted to see him, she must see him. It sounded like she would be alone, and it sounded as if there might be trouble. Otherwise, why would she call? What could it be? The questions kept coming up in his mind the following four days. Wednesday, 3 pm, QANTAS. Every time he thought of it a flood of memories came back to him, those beautiful moments over twenty years ago. The first time they kissed, their first bodily explorations at the Olympic Village, and their first and wonderful sexual experience at Centennial Park. How much I loved her! Maybe she will not love me now? My hair is greying, I keep pretty much to myself, I lead a pretty dull life with my teaching, coaching and research. No matter, it will be wonderful to see her again, my glorious girl of so many years ago. Even if she arrives with her husband and child, it will be nice to see her, to talk to her. How wonderful, how beautiful she was. I can scarcely wait until Wednesday.
CHAPTER 16.
TOGETHER AT LAST!
The last hour of the QANTAS flight seemed the longest of Faith’s life. She went to the restroom to re-arrange her hair, and was as perplexed as she had been when she was young that she could do so little with it. She looked in the mirror at her dress. Would he think it was old-fashioned? It was floral, which is what he used to like. But that was so many years ago. She fretted as she looked into the mirror. She was slightly thinner than when she was young, and the lines of age had started to appear around her eyes. She patted her stomach, which was as flat as it ever was, and looked with some pride at her narrow waist. But, she thought critically, I look like a country school-marm from Casino. He will laugh at me! If he does, I will just die … I will just die.
Mark was at the airport an hour early. He had told Murray he was meeting an old friend from Australia and did not know what his movements would be the following few days, but he would call him. All he could think of at this time was Faith, and himself. Would she recognise him? Would she think he was an old fuddy-duddy? How would they feel about each other? All these thoughts, and many more, ran through his mind as he waited for her in the airport.
As Faith walked out of the waiting area, her heart was thumping. Would he be there? Would he recognize her?
As she walked towards the exit, she saw him. They looked into each other’s eyes. The room suddenly swirled around, and she fainted. Mark looked at her prostrate body, and rushed forward. Others crowded around. He lifted her up. “Faith, Faith, are you all right?” She was in his arms, and he noticed how light she was, and how she smelled. He had always remembered that smell. Maybe, he thought, that was the chemistry of love he had read about.
“Faith, Faith,�
�� he repeated.
“Is she all right?” he was asked, as people surrounded her. “She looks so pale.”
She slowly came to, and her eyes focussed on Mark. She realised she was in his arms. She said, simply, “I love you, Mark, I have always loved you. There is not a moment since I have known you that I have not loved you. I just seem to be always making a fool of myself over you. I have certainly not improved with age.”
“It is all right, Faith, do not worry. I love you too.”
He helped her to her feet. “I wanted you to think I was more sophisticated and mature. Here I make a complete idiot of myself. You always had that effect on me, you know.”
“Actually, Faith, I did know. But I do not remember you carrying it quite to this extreme.”
She laughed, and as she did Mark admired her face and her teeth. She had changed so very little. “No,” she said, “but I came close a couple of times.”
“I seem to remember,” he said, smiling. It was as if they had been transported over twenty years back. He helped her to the baggage area, but neither paid much attention. Faith felt she was a young girl again, held in Mark’s arms. Mark’s arms! How she had longed for that, how she had dreamt about it, how many nights she had lain, awake, imagining it? “Oh Mark,” she said, in pure simplicity, as he held her hand, “you feel so good.”
“So do you, Faith. I never thought I would see you again.”
“Neither did I, but here we are. Please do not ask me any questions, not now.” She turned and kissed him. Her knees started to buckle again, and he held her up as he felt her body go.
“You never could handle one of my kisses.”
“No, I never could, and I guess, as I said, age has not improved me.”
He helped her to his car, and soon they were speeding onwards to San Francisco. He placed his hand in hers as he drove and he could feel her trembling. My God, he thought, the years we have wasted. The hours, the minutes, the days we have lost.
He turned towards her, almost pathetically, and said, “What went wrong, Faith, what happened? I loved you so, you were and are everything to me … everything.”
“Please, Mark,” she said with deep emotion, “not tonight. Tonight is for us. To-morrow, if we can handle it, are the explanations. Tonight is for us, we deserve it. It has been so long. Please, tonight it is as if we were young again, those beautiful young fools from Randwick, so deeply in love.”
“They were wonderful years, Faith.”
“They were the best years of my life.”
He tried to show her the sights as he drove from the airport, most of which she remembered from his letters when he first came to the United States, and from Murray’s more recent impressions. It was all so exciting for her, but they were nothing compared to having Mark next to her in the car, and feeling his hand. He has changed so very little, just a little grey. If anything, she thought, he is more tanned, probably from coaching in the sun. Age suits him, she thought.
“I have checked you in to the Travelodge at the Wharf just near ‘Fisherman’s Wharf’, ‘The Cannery’ and ‘Ghiardelli Square’. I thought it might be nice for you to go for a walk at night-time. There are so many wonderful eating places around there. I will enjoy taking you to some.”
“That would be nice, Mark. I have always dreamed of being here with you.”
“And I with you, Faith.”
As they neared the motel, Mark said, “You know, I did not know your married name, so I put my own name down on the room. I hope it is all right.”
She looked at him. “My husband is dead, Mark, he is dead … but I do not want to talk about that to-night.” Then she smiled. “As for the name, I have waited a very long time to be Mrs Jamieson. I should have come sooner.”
He pressed her hand. “I wish you had.”
When they checked into the motel, he kept his arms around her. He looked at the manager and said: “Jamieson, room for two,” and soon they were standing in the room alone. He took her in his arms, and he could feel her trembling. Oh, how he had remembered that!
“Please, Mark, please lie me down. My legs are like jelly, and I will make a fool of myself again and fall in a faint.” He helped her to the bed, and took off her shoes.
“Is that better?” he asked.
“Yes it is.” But try as she might she could not hold back the tears. They were tears of happiness, joy … her dream had come true at last.
Mark put his arm around her, saying: “Now, now, everything is going to be all right, it will be all right. We are here together. Everything will be all right. Just relax and take it easy. There is no hurry. Just calm down.”
“Oh Mark,” she blurted out, “there has never been a single moment when I have not loved you, not a moment since I first met you. Can you believe me, Mark, please, please believe me, never for a moment did I stop loving you?”
“And I have loved you, Faith, every moment of every day. There never has been another. But how could you …?”
Her hand went over his mouth, covering it gently. “Shh, shh, not tonight. Mark, please make love to me. I have longed for this so very much.”
He looked at her and smiled. “By the way,” he said, “You have hardly changed at all. You look exactly the same.”
“You always were a flatterer, Mark. Actually I was just thinking how little you have changed.”
“And I like your dress. It suits you. It is how I remember you.”
“I thought you would think I was not very sophisticated, and would not match up to your ideas of a San Francisco or Berkeley woman.”
“You need have no fears about that, Faith. You look absolutely beautiful.”
He took her in his arms, and caressed her. His mouth went over hers, and she closed her eyes, all the cares and worries of the world seemingly leaving her. She was alone, with Mark … alone, in San Francisco, like she had dreamed about so many times. She felt his hand go down her back, and feel her waist and rear, and the top of her thighs. “You feel the same, too,” he said softly, and she smiled, her eyes still closed, love surging through her body. It is all so wonderful, she thought, his hands are so gentle and caressing. She had a feeling of weightlessness, as if she were being transported through the heavens, floating away, floating away above the clouds, where it was all so peaceful and quiet. She felt him unbutton her dress, and loosen her belt. She helped him as he slid off her dress. He then slipped off her garter belt and stockings, and she lay there with only her panties on. He quickly took off his own clothes, and he slipped in between the sheets. It was cold at first, and she clung to him. As she did she felt his hardness against her.
His hand went between her legs, to her groin, and he was surprised how wet she was. He had forgotten that. He looked at her breasts for a moment, they were as he remembered, small and firm, and he put his mouth over one, and played with the nipple with his tongue. He then kissed the other. Each time he could feel a tremor run through her body.
With his mouth over her left breast, he worked her panties off her hips and down her legs. She was lying next to him, their nude bodies merging. His hand went between her legs again, and was wet from her sexual fluids.
“Please, Mark, please, I need you,” she implored.
He turned her on her back, and entered her easily. Her contractions were strong and violent, and in a few seconds she had an orgasm, as he did also. “Oh,” she cried, “it was so wonderful, Mark. Oh Mark, I love you so. My body is churning inside. I just cannot describe the feeling, I have never felt like that towards another person.”
Mark pulled her to him, his love for her enveloping him. “It was wonderful, Faith, just wonderful. I tried when I got married, but I could not consummate it. Only with you. You spoiled me for anyone else. You have always haunted me. With you that was so beautiful, so right, so easy, as if we were made for each other. At times I wondered if something might be wrong with me, but it was all because of the perfection we felt for each other.”
Their bodies wer
e intertwined, and they kissed and made love for the next few hours, each time better than the one before. Once, at the end of their love-making, he bent down to kiss her stomach, and noticed the recent cut near her navel.
“What happened there?” he enquired.
“It is nothing. Just a little check they make on women these days. I had it a little while ago, but it is nothing.”
“All right, but let me know if I ever hurt you.”
“You could never hurt me, Mark.”
“Good,” he said, “But listen, I do not intend to have you spend all your time in San Francisco in bed, much as it has entered my mind. Let us get dressed and go out and eat.”
“I do not need to, Mark. I am happy just to have you with me.”
“You will have me when we go out, too. Come on, it will be good for you. I want to show you San Francisco. After all, I am a teacher, you know.”
“All right, if you say so. You know, it just occurred to me, that this is the first time we have actually been in a bed together.”
Mark laughed. “You are right. It is a lot more comfortable than Centennial Park, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, but I must say it did not worry me at the time.”
“Me either.”
They dressed and walked around ‘Fisherman’s Wharf’, ‘The Cannery’ and ‘Ghiardelli Square’. Faith was entranced by everything she saw, the wharf area, the vendors selling crab and shrimp, the tourist stores, the dress shops, the book stores, the restaurants. She held Mark close to her, feeling secure, happy and loved. He then walked her down to the water, and he pointed out the sights. “It is all so perfect, Mark. Surely it is one of the most interesting places in the world. The setting is magnificent.”
“Yes, I never tire of coming here, and I have often hoped that I could walk it with you. My dream has come true.”
“And mine.”
“As I said, I love it here. Only Sydney can match its beauty. I miss it too.”
