Gate Deadlock (21 page)

‘But you do it all the time, Susan and Tom do
it.’

‘It’s not the same. We are soldiers. We are
trained to do so, it is who we are, what we do. It isn’t common
even in my world for normal people to travel in time.’

‘Fine.’ I said stubbornly. If you don’t help me
I’ll find some other way. Let’s see what Susan and Tom will have to
say about it. I’m sure they will be more willing to help.’

‘I doubt it.’ he said calmly.

‘We’ll see about that.’

‘Emma, this discussion is over.’ he said in the
same abrupt tone.

‘Fine.’ I stood up and started putting
everything on the tray. He helped me and before I was able to touch
the tray he had lifted it and carried it to the kitchen. I followed
him and started putting the dishes in his brand new dishwasher,
making sure my every movement revealed my anger.

Christopher was leaning against the kitchen
table and I was absolutely conscious of his staring, but I was
still too angry to respond. Acknowledging my sulkiness, he came
behind me and put his arms around me as his lips were brushing the
back of my neck. I heard him chuckle.

‘What?’ I tried to sound cold and surly but I
knew my defenses were about to go down.

‘It is the first time I see you angry and…I like
it.’ he whispered kissing me behind my ear. ‘The way you knit your
eyebrows, how you keep your lips tight, and the sparkle in your
eyes… And the best of all… the red on your cheeks. You’re just so…
irresistible.’

‘You’re crazy.’ I said, accidentally dropping
the last plate in the sink. My hands felt unsteady under his
scrutiny. He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me towards
him.

‘I haven’t finished the washing up yet.’ I tried
to sound angry again.

‘Forget it. Your time is over.’ he whispered,
making my heart pound. He lifted me in his arms and carried me to
the bedroom. He put me on his bed softly.

‘I am still angry, you know.’ I told him as he
was getting rid of the T-shirt I was wearing.

‘I know. Keep it up. I like you even more when
you’re angry.’ he said, drawing a path with kisses from my breast
to my lips.

‘I’m …not…going…to… give up.’ I tried to
say.

‘I know.’ he whispered. ‘You will fight.’ Then
he stopped and looked into my eyes. His look was full of passion
and desire, but when he spoke he sounded amazingly serious.

‘When you get to a deadlock, will you please
remember that I love you …that you are my life…my heart and my
soul…belong to you…wherever I am…whatever I do?’ As he said that,
he stopped in between words to kiss my lips. ‘Promise me…you won’t
hate me.’ he pleaded without stopping his kisses.

‘But …I can never hate you. Whatever you do or
say, you just…make me love you …more.’ I whispered.

He stopped kissing me and looked at me with
burning eyes. ‘Promise me.’ he demanded. His perfect face, suffused
with the weirdest expression, almost unearthly, made me shiver. How
could I deny him anything?

‘I promise.’

He sealed my promise with a deep, passionate
kiss. I could not remember anymore why I was angry with him. I only
craved for his love, anxious to show him how deeply I loved him and
feel his torrid passion overwhelm my whole existence once
again.

The next morning I woke up in my angel’s arms.
Every morning I found him lying next to me, waking me up with sweet
kisses, and every time I experienced so much happiness and
gratefulness that I became emotional. Christopher knew it and tried
to joke about small, unimportant things to make me smile.

We had breakfast in the porch, gazing at the
calm sea.

‘I need to drop over to my apartment to get a
few things.’ I said after we had finished breakfast. I couldn’t
postpone it any longer.

‘I’ll drive you there. I need to take care of a
few things too, and you should spend some time with your friends. I
have monopolized you long enough.’ I felt his warm breath as he
brushed his face in my hair.

He was right. It had been a long time since I
had last really talked to Kate. But I was not sure this was how I
wanted to spend my day. Mainly, I did not want to spend it away
from him, but he knew this of course. I moved closer and rested my
head on his strong chest.

‘I can stay with Susan.’ I said casually, but he
guessed the implication of my suggestion and gave me a warning
look.

‘Susan and Tom are on a mission.’ he smiled
triumphantly.

‘Well, they will be back, won’t they?’

‘I guess so. But they won’t be coming back
today.’

He had won this one. My plans could wait a
little longer. I tried to hide my frustration and changed the
subject. ‘Will you be long?’ I asked him.

‘Just a couple of hours.’ he reassured me.

I did not want to know where he was going. I did
not want to hear anything about the League right now. I needed to
pretend we were normal, ordinary people, discussing their plans for
the day.

Christopher took me to my apartment an hour
later. From the car window, it did not seem the same; it was not my
house anymore. My house was wherever he was.

He noticed my unwillingness to get off. ‘It will
be just for a couple of hours, I promise. Try to catch up with your
friends, Emma. You need them too. Call me when you are ready to
go.’

I put my arms around his neck and kissed him
softly.

‘See you later.’ he smiled.

My apartment seemed strangely small. I knocked
on Kate’s door but there was no answer. I thought it might be
better this way. If she were not in, I would have a perfect excuse
to be with Christopher sooner. Of course, he had said he would be
busy for the next couple of hours. At that moment, time away from
him seemed too long and frustrating.

I went into my room, opened one of my suitcases
and started filling it with my clothes. I did not know how many I
needed, considering the possibility that Plato accepted my offer. I
smiled at the thought of how my clothes would definitely be
old-fashioned in Christopher’s world. I put my dirty clothes in the
washing machine but I decided to give the clothes he had bought for
me to the dry-cleaner’s, worrying my washing machine might ruin
them. I checked my watch.

All this had hardly taken me half an hour. I
turned on my laptop and looked at my e-mail. My inbox was full of
unread messages. This would keep me busy for a while. I started
clicking on each one, taking my time to read them.

I was startled by the knock on the door. I
turned and saw Kate’s face in the opening. She looked drowsy,
probably having just got up.

‘Hey. Good morning. Can I come in?’ she asked
warily.

‘Do you really have to ask?’

She came in and dropped herself on my bed,
yawning.

‘How come you’re here? Everything okay with
Christopher? ‘

‘Everything is fine.’
for now
, I thought. ‘I just needed a few clean
clothes.’

She looked disappointed. ‘That means you have to
go right away?’

‘Not necessarily. I still have about an hour.
Why?’

‘Nothing really. I just …hoped you would stay
longer.’ She looked really disappointed and, for some reason, I
felt the guilt of having let her down again.

I left my chair and went to lie next to her.
‘What’s wrong?’ I asked her, stroking her hair. ‘Anything wrong
with Tony?’

‘No. Tony and I are just fine. At least, we’re
fine now. It’s a long story. I only … miss my friend. I worry about
you Emma. You don’t show up, you don’t call. ’

‘How can you be so silly and let yourself worry
about me?’ I teased her. ‘I’m in very good hands.’

‘Are you? I have a very strange feeling about
Christopher, Emma. You just seem so attached to him. I mean…you
left summer school. He has changed your life in a month. What will
happen after he finishes with the supervision of the project? Have
you thought about it?’

I wanted so desperately to open my heart to her,
tell her everything, as any girl would confide her best friend,
without worrying about the consequences. But I knew this would only
put her life in danger. So I decided to lie again.

‘He has a few ideas about working in U. K. this
year. But nothing is certain yet. How can you ever be certain when
it comes to love?’ I had said this last one as if I was talking to
myself.

‘It is love then? Are you sure?’

‘Oh yes, it is absolute, mad, compelling love.
Nothing I can describe to you in words. It is so …beyond anything I
could ever imagine. But…it is torturing too.’

I was speaking with my eyes fixed on the
ceiling, picturing his face on it, his beautiful lips smiling to
me.

‘Wow! I had no idea. Girl, you are really
love-sick.’ she laughed. ‘I’m happy for you, happy you feel this
way. I have to admit, I thought you were just trying to get even
with Colin.’

‘Colin? I couldn’t care less about him right
now. Ever since the incident at Tina’s wedding, he simply disgusts
me.’

Kate looked at me surprised. ‘You never really
told me what happened that night.’

That night was unforgettable. It was my first
night with Christopher. It was the start of my new life. But I was
not going to share that with Kate. I started describing the
incident with Colin at the wedding reception, how Christopher had
come to my defense and how Colin had abased himself by turning
Daugh against me, who took his turn to dispraise Christopher. Of
course, Daugh had his own reasons to dislike Christopher, but there
was no reason to reveal this to Kate. I only told her about
Colin.

Kate blinked. ‘I just don’t get it. Colin came
to make up with you and he brought another woman with him? What was
he thinking?’

‘I’m pretty sure he did it out of pure vanity.
He didn’t want anybody to notice he had come for me. He wanted to
make it look like I was the one who wished to get together again.
Besides, he wanted a back up in case I turned him down.’

She seemed thoughtful for a moment. ‘I guess
there must be some truth in the rumors then.’

‘What rumors?’

She hesitated for a moment, considering whether
it would be wise to let me know.

‘Well, some of us thought that he was dating you
for your connections with the academic community, you know, your
stepfather, and Daugh… We all know how ambitious Colin is.’

I nodded in agreement. ‘Over ambitious… and
quite haughty.’ I added. We both laughed loudly. It was so
refreshingly delightful to be with Kate again. I realized how much
I had missed this.

She became serious when she talked again. ‘You
were good for him, you know. Whenever he was with you, I always
thought you brought out his good side. I can’t believe he could be
so fair-faced. No, I think you were too good for him. Pity it
didn’t work out. It’s his loss anyway.’

‘He’s out of my life. Forever. My life belongs
with Christopher. It always will. It’s as simple as that.’

We were both silent for a few minutes.

‘Enough about me. Tell me about you and Tony
now. I want to know everything I’ve missed.’

She smiled, contented with my question, as if
she had been expecting it all along.

‘This needs a lot of coffee.’ she said. ‘Come
on.’ She got up and walked out of the room. I followed her looking
anxiously at my watch. Surely time was flying when I was with Kate.
There were forty-five minutes left.

We made two huge cappuccinos freddo, put on our
sunglasses and sank in the bamboo armchairs, under the shade of the
olive tree in our garden.

Kate started explaining to me how Tony had been
induced by Mick and Bill to follow them for a crazy weekend on the
island of Myconos, a boys’ weekend they had named it. Poor Tony was
challenged to prove to them how much Kate trusted him and would let
him have fun with the boys whenever he wanted. His ego was hurt
when Kate got mad about this boys’ trip. Tony put his foot down and
after an awful fight with Kate, he decided to go with the boys.

Of course, he was at her doorstep on Monday
morning, at the crack of dawn, begging her to forgive him. Kate
played tough and tortured him for as long as she could take it.
Then, realizing she had made her point, she decided to forgive him.
Since then, Tony had been trying to make up for what he had done by
“treating her like a princess’’ as she said proudly.

As Kate was talking, I realized how different
her relationship with Tony was from what Christopher and I had. I
could not help envying her insignificant, almost trifling to me
apprehension about their argument. But wasn’t this how a woman in
love was supposed to feel? Wasn’t this the normal, healthy state
lovers should be in? Why should I be the only woman on earth right
now to worry about chasing the love of my life in the realms of
time?

I was glad I had my sunglasses on, otherwise it
would be very hard for me to explain to Kate my sudden plunge in
grief. I took a glance at my watch. My time with Kate was almost
over. My cell phone was on the table, almost yelling at me. Kate
noticed my abstractedness with a sigh.

‘Do you really have to go?’ her face was filled
with dismay but my heart was already replete with remorse for her.
She had always been an open book to me, trusting me with her fears,
her hopes, her dreams and I had been avoiding her in return, lying
to her, even putting her life, involuntarily, in danger. I could
not have been a worse friend.

‘I think I can stay for lunch…only if you let me
cook!’ I said.

Her face became bright at once. ‘That was my
intention.’ she teased, making us both laugh.

The sound of Christopher’s horn startled us.
‘Oops! Too late I’m afraid.’ Kate frowned.

‘Would you mind if Christopher joined us?’ I
asked, hoping for a golden mean.

Her eyes widened with surprise. ‘Are you crazy?
Mind about having a gorgeous man around?’