Bech had chosen to stay away from Jade for a while. She avoided places she knew he would be, like the public library, the open-air bar, or the washing bay near the open-air bar. She did not answer his calls or messages, even though she read each of his messages twice, first for an overview, then for context. Today, she was at home, trying to catch up with her reading. But she just couldn’t keep him out of her mind. It had been a week since their last encounter but every day felt like a loop, replaying until she fell asleep. Once or twice she had had the same dream as the first one, but this time the dream began with Jade confessing his undying affection for her and kissing her passionately. She had woken up in the middle of those nights sweaty but cold. The memory of the dream and his kiss sent shivers down her arms.
She strolled into her cozy kitchen and prepared a cocoa beverage. The afternoon sun was merciless with the heat so she made it very chilled. No sooner had she returned to her seat in the hall to enjoy her beverage than she heard a soft knock at the door. She groaned silently. Who could the intruder be? She was not expecting anyone today.
She looked around her hall quickly to be sure nothing was out of place, then she went to get the door. Now, unfortunately for her, her door didn’t have a peephole; so she saw the uninvited visitor only after she had opened the door, and her social graces did not permit her to shut it in his face.
“Good afternoon, Bech. You look well.” Jade started. “I was worried because you didn’t reply to any of my attempts to reach you.”
Silence. Bech still stood at the entrance, looking at him the short distance down the steps. She looked at him like she had never seen him before, and indeed, she had never seen him before. Had his chin always been this smooth?
“Bech? May I come in?” Jade quickly looked around for any stalkers. “Shelter me from the sun please.” He didn’t want Bech to be bothered until she had heard everything from him.
She moved aside to let him in. He whispered his gratitude and automatically made himself comfortable on the single-seat sofa. He spread himself out in a stretch and collected himself almost immediately, seeming to recall that things were not the same anymore. Also, Bech had not sat down. She was standing near the pillar between her kitchen and the hall, a strange look on her face. Jade cleared his throat.
“I know you’re very busy, Bech, but I’ve been trying to get you alone since that night three weeks ago.” Still silence, the sort so loud that it disturbed the soul. Jade got up from the sofa and stood right in front of Bech. He touched her chin with his thumb and lifted her head so that she was forced to look at him.
“I’ve never been this vulnerable with any other woman apart from you, Bech. That night was not… it was not an ordinary kiss, Bech.” He closed the distance between them, their bodies nearly touching. Jade fought his reaction to her with all his might. He came to talk, and that’s what he’ll do. If any good thing came out of the talk, good. He knew Bech was more likely to throw him out than allow anything else to happen between them.
She reached out and held the hem of his shirt. Because of their proximity, she could see the dark pools of Jade’s eyes. She saw sincerity. But… she shook her head, making Jade hold her shoulders. She flinched and whimpered, still not saying a word. Her eyes were brimming.
Sensing her tension, Jade released her and stepped back, looking at her curiously. He inhaled and exhaled slowly and asked her again, “Can we talk? It’s all I came to do – talk.” If anything more happened…
Bech led the way back to the hall. Jade went back to the single seat and Bech sat where she was sitting before the interruption. The precipitation on her glass of chilled cocoa beverage had gathered under the glass. She sighed and took a sip.
Jade waited for her. When she nodded for him to speak, he said, “I can’t say I love you yet, Bech, but you evoke strange emotions in me. I want to protect you, even from myself, but I want to have you to myself. I want to be the guy you turn to when you need someone. I want to be your best friend. I want to be your lover, too, Bech. Your kiss is seared on my mind and in my heart,” he moved from his seat, not realizing he was now kneeling, “I have never felt this way about any woman before you, Bech.”
Bech scoffed, “Of course, you use and dump them like your kind does. What are emotions to you?”
“I’m serious, Bech.”
“You may be, but I don’t want to be hurt.”
“I’ll never hurt you. Let’s begin slowly. Let’s get to know each other intimately, more personally. Aside our meetings with Lily, let’s find time alone to be together. Lily would understand…”
“How about the other one?”
Jade sat on his haunches. “Which one?”
“The one you were with after Lily and I left you in the bar.” Bech scoffed again. “You kiss me one night, reviving every fiber of my being, and you’re with another woman the next minute. And here you are today, declaring your intentions? Come on, I may not be beautiful but respect my intelligence. Ha.” The tears she had fought earlier welled again.
Jade thought for a moment and got up and forced himself on the seat Bech was on. He took her beverage from her and placed it on the table. Then he held her hands in his and looked straight into her eyes, saying, “If you’ll hear me, I’ll tell you everything.”
“From the beginning?”
“From the very beginning, Bech. I’m going to cut my heart open…”
Just then the door flew open and they were overpowered by a strong perfume which only Lily might favour. Her voice followed the perfume, “Bech! I brought news! Bech… oh, you!” No scientist can calculate the speed with which the slap landed on Jade’s cheek. Even though Lily’s hand was smaller, the unexpectedness of the slap made Jade’s face sting. Everything happened simultaneously: both Jade and Bech asked Lily why she slapped Jade as Lily tried her best to evacuate Jade from her friend’s room, beating and dragging and pushing him out. Lily kept crying, “Liar. You liar! I trusted you and you lied to me. All these years.”
Finally, Jade managed to calm Lily down and excused himself, wondering what he had done to deserve such treatment from Lily, his buddy. Meanwhile, Bech soothed Lily while wondering what dark truth Jade was about to reveal. Was he a fraudster? Was he a prince in a foreign land and he just tested her? Could she trust a man again after everything that had happened to her, beginning with her father?
When Lily’s tears had slowed to a trickle enough for her to talk, Bech asked her what her news was.
“Bech, Jade lied to us. He’s not who he says he is. He’s been dead since 1999.”
Bech was taken aback. “How’s that even possible? We’ve known him since university. We ate and drank with him. I kissed him back, remember?”
“That’s not what I mean, Bech. Come on, you’re too innocent.”
“Speak clearly, my friend.”
“Do you recall that when we were in the university, I confided in you about my best friend who went MIA after I lost my family?” When Bech nodded, Lily continued, “It so happened that she had a buoyant affair with one young man. He was mysterious. No one knew him because he was not from our neighbourhood. I don’t know how he met my friend…”
“Lily, get straight to the point: what happened?” Bech could not see where the story was leading to.
“Well… that friend of mine happens to be Delilah Duncan. Do you know her?
“You know me. I don’t know anyone else except you.” They smiled and hugged briefly.
“Well, Delilah is back, and she’s out for blood.”
“Okay…” Bech said, “How is this my business? It’s a free world and she can stay where she wants to stay. Why would you run all the way to tell me this?” Bech hissed.
“Because, dear Bech, your man is her magnet. She’s after Jade.” She said with a flourish. “Jade is the man who made my friend run nearly mad so many years ago.”
Bech sat upright. How could she be so unlucky?! The tears she had been holding back flowed freely down her cheeks.
